Halloween's Haunt

It was our first Halloween in our "new" home. My neighbors told me to expect 20 or so children. I ran out of my 40 (bags of popcorn) treats within 30 minutes. Luckily, a new(er than me) neighbor came to the rescue with some candy.

My 5 year old almost lost his trick-or-treating privileges, actually he did lose them - for about 15 minutes. He was hitting his older brother and I told him "If it happens again, you will lose your trick-or-treating privileges and I'm not kidding." Didn't take him long to cross that boundary and then he was off to his room yelling and crying. After the crying stopped, I let up, and told him he was just going to miss the first 30 minutes. So he did, with much protest. But finally he relaxed and became a "door man" for the visitors yelling "Popcorn, get your popcorn here". I left him alone on the porch while I finished cleaning the kitchen, still pitching "Popcorn", like he was a baseball stadium vendor. When I returned, I found him telling a couple of kids "only one per family" to which I gently pointed out,"Everyone can have one". No telling how many families he had already rationed. Bet they are thinking,"Great, the new neighbors are cheap." Guess I have him to thank that my treats lasted 30 minutes.

My oldest once lost Easter Egg hunting privileges for hitting his brother. Today my friend, LeeAnne, told me when her daughter was 5, she lost her trick-or-treating privileges for 30 minutes too. It's good to know that I'm not alone here (ie misery loves company). What is it about the Holidays that brings out the worst in (most) kid's behavior?