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#Post#: 25782--------------------------------------------------
2022 - Another Halloween
By: Jack Date: November 2, 2022, 4:40 pm
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I guess, all in all, it was a pretty typical Halloween, but I am
tired.
You know how these things go - my youngest is possessed by the
Curse of Thorn, and I have to stop him from sacrificing his
youngest niece; Craig and his friends have a sleepover party,
play with a Ouija board, and summon a demon; our evil clown
decorations are brought to life and try to eat the
trick-or-treaters; and, after a couple of nice weeks, the
temperatures get into the upper 20s (c - nearly 80F). It's just
one thing after another.
We did have a good Halloween, though. Overall, the number of
trick-or-treaters is still down, but it was up from last year.
From what I recall (Zac or HBB asked about this in chat the
other day, and it took me a while to get things straight in my
head), 2019 was cold and rainy, 2020 was the Year of the Plague
Beast, and last year was starting to show some recovery.
I hadn't thought about it much, but I did a little research
after I was asked, and most families still trick or treat, but
many of them are going more with retail or mall trick or
treating, or with trunk or treats. I think we still get a lot
of people almost accidentally. Those who have followed this
site for a while might remember that they started construction
on our housing development in the late 90s, it went bust, then
was bought and finished in the early millennium. It wasn't too
long after that when the Bush recession pretty much destroyed
the housing market, so we are lucky in that we were able to fill
the housing development before that. I think a lot of the
reason we're starting to see a decline in trick or treaters is
simply demographics. A lot of the people who moved here around
20 years ago are through having kids, and their families are
grown and leaving home, and new families don't get homes in
America anymore, so we're just losing kids the right age to
trick or treat.
I know I haven't posted in a long time, so I'll just point out
that I only have four minors at home anymore, and that Kenny
will turn 18 this month. Craig only turned 17 a couple of weeks
ago, which only leaves me with Connor and Curtis, who are 13 and
11. We don't even do as much decorating as we once did - still
as much in the back and inside, since we do still have parties,
but the front yard is a bit simpler. We did stick with
tradition and give out treats outside, with older kids going
through a haunted carnival type yard, complete with live, scary
clowns (and a go around for the younger kids), since the weather
was so nice.
Since I mentioned minors, I should also mention that there are
currently six boys living here total (plus me), and a number
more who come home for college (I think there are currently 12
in college, though I can't tell you how many are graduating this
term, simply because Covid disrupted so many plans, and so many
of them are still making adjustments to their plans - I need to
sit down and count so I'll be sure how much space we need for
Christmas).
I think that's about it. I was just thinking this might be
something people wanted to hear about. If not, I apologize for
wasting your time.
Jack
#Post#: 25787--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: Leti Date: November 2, 2022, 6:04 pm
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Thanks a lot for sharing Jack! Wow Kenny is going to be 18 on
December ? :o
It is always good to hear from your kids.
Hugs
Leti
#Post#: 25788--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: afinch Date: November 2, 2022, 8:08 pm
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I was delighted to hear about it. It's hard to imagine Kenny
being nearly 18.
#Post#: 25790--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: Jack Date: November 2, 2022, 11:41 pm
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[quote author=afinch link=topic=2765.msg25788#msg25788
date=1667437737]
I was delighted to hear about it. It's hard to imagine Kenny
being nearly 18.
[/quote]
Tell me about it.
#Post#: 25793--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: Kittykat Date: November 3, 2022, 4:50 pm
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Kenny's almost 18??? Holy cow.
Glad to hear about your guys Jack, miss getting regular updates.
#Post#: 25796--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: Lia Date: November 3, 2022, 10:44 pm
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Thanks for the update. I love seeing your posts and new stories!
#Post#: 26232--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: kalico Date: January 8, 2023, 9:24 pm
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OMG cant believe kenny is that old already.
thank you so much for the update
hugs kal
#Post#: 26240--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2022 - Another Halloween
By: Jack Date: January 9, 2023, 5:04 pm
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It's kind of weird, but I don't have any real young ones left in
the house anymore. As I said, there is a gap where we have
step-grandkids, and where the boys are having biological kids
who are just toddlers. Curtis is going to be 12 in less than
two weeks, and all my others are already teens. Besides Moira,
who lives in Cali, so we don't see her often, the youngest of
the other kids (grandkids, nephews, cousins) is Paden, who is a
few months younger than Curtis. The only boy younger than that,
of whom I can think off the top of my head, is Royce Tidwell,
who's only 10, but he's pretty well tolerated by the older boys.
The older Tidwell boys still spend a lot of time over here, but
the girls and the two youngest don't. They have their own
activities, their own friends, and Mrs. T seems to have quit
trying to have kids, worked on her health problems, and seems to
be pretty well in control these days, so the younger ones aren't
the problem is was when she was trying to home school everyone
and handle two toddlers/infants.
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