i suppose i should actually explain about accidentally becoming The Best House On Halloween

so about three years back i realized we didn't have anything for halloween, no candy, and it was the day of so i just sort of panicked and went through stuff i'd gotten from KawaiiBox monthly boxes but wasn't particularly interested in

we usually don't get too many trick-or-treaters, but the few that came by LOVED IT

the next year apparently there was at least one group where they'd come back after hearing our house talked up at school

then this past halloween that has become multiple groups excitedly flocking to our neighborhood *mainly for our house*, and one of them had gotten terrified that we'd moved after getting the address one off and just getting candy from our neighbors

(i suppose i could be seen to be making some sort of elaborate political statement here with not handing out candy but instead opting for small toys and the like, but really, it's not a childhood obesity thing or a healthy eating thing

it's an "i think a toy you can use more than once is more interesting than yet another candy bar" thing)

(last year i did a bunch of those squishy stress toys to give out and the kids went BONKERS)

but i am better at sourcing Cute Shit, so i'm gonna try to make sure the boys get a fair shake this year too. dinosaurs i think are the way to go.

of course gendering toys is bullshit to begin with but i don't think i can make all the first graders listen to that in a full half hour lecture on halloween, and besides, it's all in the same bowl so if a boy wants a cute thing or a girl wants a dinosaur it all works out