Boo to the “Boo”

Every once in a while a friend or relative comments on what a “fun” mom I am. Never my children – mind you – only people who don’t actually live with me say such crazy things! And to some extent, it’s kind of true. I like fun traditions with the kids. But there is one tradition forced upon us every year about this time that I wish we didn’t have to participate in. That’s the annual neighborhood “boo’ing”.

You know how it works. Someone anonymously drops a bunch of goodies off on your doorstep along with a “We’ve been boo’d” sign that must then grace your front door until Halloween. I don’t mind getting treats (assuming they aren’t laced with poison or something), but with the offering comes an obligation to make copies and to then surprise 2 other households with similar treats or goodies. Oh – the torture! Copies are not all that easy to come by in my household. It requires pulling out the scanner, fixing the software so that the scanner will actually work, getting it saved, etc etc. Add in the time to either make a treat, or drive to the store to buy one, and it is a complete waste of an entire afternoon. (Unlike this blog post – ha ha!).

My husband dislikes this little attempt at neighborliness so much that he has attempted, in the past, to circumvent the visit by putting up “You’ve Been Boo’d” signs from years past to fool everyone into thinking we’ve already participated. This strategy actually worked for us one year, but unfortunately that year the practice was so rampant the boo’s came around twice, so we still got hit up on the second round.

So I realize I’m a total Halloween Grinch in this. I’m sure everyone in the world loves getting “boo’d” and the fact that I find it to be such an intrusive presumption on my time makes me just about the most miserable, non-fun mom in the world. I can live with that.

I’ll admit the last couple years we’ve just taken the treats and ignored the “pay-it-forward” portion. Not on purpose, mind you. We just happened to get “boo’d” at really inconvenient times and the making and delivering of treats to neighbors just never materialized. The worst part is that we were so busy this particular week, we didn’t get our sign put up in time and were “boo’d” again!

So, to circumvent the guilt trip that arises from our kids when we deploy that strategy, I’m putting up a sign.