It's That Time of Year Again...

Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween. (Well, maybe I loved it more when I was a little kid living on thirty something street in Manhattan and the folks in the neighborhood who answered their doors gave us pennies, nickles and dimes, instead of candy.) Counting all our moolah at the end of the day was a thrill.

But curmudgeon that I am, I'm never happy about throwing money away on bags of candy, especially when it's not going to do the kids' toothies any good (but more especially because the candy's not all for me). I must say that Halloween seems tailor-made for candy makers and dentists. But maybe that's just me.

And of course, I always worry about what to buy. I go by price, obviously - cheap candy is just as good as the more expensive kind - that's my mantra. Of course no one wants to get a rep for giving out only junky stuff. But I stopped worrying about that ages ago.

And just how much is enough? Used to be, you stopped giving out candy too early and kids might soap your windows or throw toilet paper around your yard (?!) Not that this ever happened. But just the possibility is enough every year to cause a worry-wort alert. So I've, more or less, learned to judge how much to buy so that I'm not stuck with too much at the end of the night.

It's not a precise science.

In truth, I've never had any Halloween mishaps except for one year when someone covered my car with shaving cream. Ah, fun.

And another thing: Should I buy candy that I, personally enjoy? - a BIG RESOUNDING NO! I simply cannot be trusted not to eat it. (Those little yellow wax paper wrapped Mary Janes are evil!)

So, to be on the safe side, I buy stuff that I probably won't eat.

Do you do that too?

This year it's lollipops. I bought bags of lollipops and that's it. This old curmudgeon has had it.

And yet -

My granddaughter is coming over. In costume, of course. She will be paraded up and down the street  by her proud poppa and momma to a chorus of 'oohs' and 'aaaahs' - she's so adorable.

I know what her costume will be, but I'm not sayin'....!

Hint.

So I'm looking forward to that. And I do, really, get a kick out of all the little trick or treaters in their costumes.

But I'm not looking forward to multiple heart attacks every time the doorbell rings and Rocky goes into paroxysms of barking.

 Can't help it, lady. I gotta' protect my turf.