Conker time has been and gone, although the conkers I collected for Kieron now live in my car a Kieron always manage to leave a few rolling around on its floor. Now it's time to think about Hallowe'en.
Kieron usually has one of his friends over for the evening and they dress up, giggling over their fearsome outfits before going round the local streets with me pointing out 'Hallowe'en happy' houses. At first, it's a case of jostling each other to see who will go to the door first before it becoming a race to beat each other.
Kieron has becoming quite an expert at deciding where to go, scoping out to see how many other ghosts, ghouls and other scary things are in the road. In Kieron's world, too many kids means sweets running out in the houses so we try to find quieter streets. I'm in a permanent state of worry as the outfits are dark, as are the streets and I imagine cars running the boys over, kidnappers grabbing them, the boys getting out of my sight and lost etc etc.
Fake squeals of fear when even scarier creatures open doors, chocolatey mouths, shouts of laughter, before going home to deposit the loot and taking Kieron's friend home with his share of the bounty.
Returning home for Kieron to decide what he'll give his big brother and sister and good old Mum gets the sweets no-one wants. Face paint scrubbed off, costume put away, sugar rush at it's highest, Hallowe'en over for another year.
The one was over for ever.
