I woke up this morning when Randy’s alarm went off and was immediately fired up. Why the rage and not the normal roll-over-and-go-back-to-sleep? Oh, that’s right. I was still pissy about the kids that wrecked my trick or treating. Let me explain.
Trick-or-treating was from 2 – 4 pm Sunday in our neck of the woods. For the first hour, we had a couple handfuls of kids, all in costume, all with parents, all saying “trick-or-treat” and “thank you”. Adorbs.
Then around 3 pm, folks that weren’t from our neighborhood started to arrive. I can safely say they weren’t from around these parts because they drove up in carfuls, parked in front of our house and everyone tumbled out in a fashion that led me to believe they could have walked over if they lived in an eight block radius.
At first, everything was the same – costumes, parents, pleasantries, so I just thought “good for you, kids”; getting candy throughout the land on this day. But then a teenager with no costume, a pillow case and a small plastic bucket came up to the door. By this time I was rationing my candy (as the first year unpreparedness usually goes), so I pulled out two pieces (one per kid) which both dropped into his pillowcase. His comment “yo (yes, he literally said “yo”), this bucket is for my sister. My response went something like “I’m sorry, but I’m rationing…can you guys share?” He huffed off in a funk with an 18-month-year old girl (the aforementioned sister who at least was in costume) trailing behind. Seriously dude? Like you’re not going to eat all her candy anyway?
Kids kept coming to the door, just standing there, not ringing the doorbell, waiting for someone to walk by. With each group, there were less and less manners and costumes. I even had one group come up to the door twice. When I called them on it, one little dude, I’m guessing around 10-years-old, spat back “so?!”
Around this time, Randy came upstairs from the work he was doing in the basement and I went off with some very Crazy Old Lady comments about what was going on outside. He, in his always calm manner, told me it couldn’t be that bad, so I took a deep breath and asked him to get the door the next time. When the next swarm appeared (lots of teenagers/adults, less costumes), he handed out candy until he ran out, apologizing to the other kids who walked away huffy. One of those huffy kids – THE DUDE WHO WAS NOW BACK FOR A THIRD TIME.
And then I felt like I needed to sit in the dark from 3:30 – 4 pm feeling guilty since we had nothing left to hand out. The neighborhood was swamped. Our street was full of cars.
While we were being quiet, we figured out that next year we hang around for the first hour answering the door and then take Eggroll out for trick-or-treating in the second hour. Or we just buy a few extra bags of candy and take it as a compliment that folks think our neighborhood is where to go for the good stuff. I thought I was over it.
But then here I was the next morning, ready to punch a wall over the triple-dipping little Batman and the lack of manners these parents were teaching their kids. I was just about ready to get up and write a letter to the editor (what editor, I don’t know… does the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel even exist anymore?!), but then a very yogi thought crossed my mind, “just let it go”.
Simple as that.
Take the thought. Acknowledge the thought. Let the thought go.
But that kid was cheating the system and some adult in his life was teaching him how! Let it go.
They didn’t even bother with costumes! Or the “trick or treat” phrase! Or… Or… Let it go.
They made me feel guilty because I didn’t have any candy left for the last folks. It wasn’t them who didn’t stock up on enough candy, Maggie. Let it go.
Who thought three little words could do the trick, but they did. I fell back asleep just in time for my alarm to go off (figures), but got out of bed with a much clearer mind and a calmer heart than an hour previous. I’m going to take this phrase with me through the rest of the week and see how it works. It’s never good to get too focused on anything – bad or good.
Feel the moment. Enjoy it or get mad at it. Acknowledge it. Let it go.
Give it a whirl and let me know if it works for you, too.
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