The big day is almost here! Just two more days and the streets will be littered with little trick-or-treaters. All three of us Drummond women will be out in force.

I am sure that Paige will be too cool to hang with us too long, being a sophomore and all, but she has a super-cute honey bee outfit. She wore it to the Carthage vs. Carl Junction football game as the theme was costume night. I figured in this skimpy little costume she would literally freeze her stinger off, but when you are that age, looking cool is way more important than worrying about frostbite.

Allison is excited to be going as SpongeBob SquarePants. I have tried as a parent educator to ward off SpongeBob as a force of evil for years, but for Allison, being in the fifth grade, I have to admit that occasionally … accidentally ... I find myself laughing at the goofy yellow sponge and his dorky, senseless antics. Me? I am going as a pirate. Why a pirate? My sister-in-law had the costume and there was no way I was going to pay $30-plus to be anything else. She sent a matching boy pirate costume for Paul. I am not anticipating my success, however, in getting him in it. At best it sounds like he may go in camo as a deer hunter — basically because that is all he is doing right now anyway and he would be able to go as is.

Be ready for some little kids to get scared out there on Halloween. I don’t think that the bee, SpongeBob, the pirate or the hunter will scare them, but you’ve got to admit there are some super scary looking costumes out there, and if you are 3, then they are down-right horrifying! Talk to your kids about costumes before you go out, maybe even put on a mask yourself to show them that they are pretend. For younger kids, I might suggest making the trick-or-treat rounds early. I notice at my house, where I might add I am prepared for 200 some trick-or-treaters, that the cute little Elmos and ballerinas go out right at dusk. By 8:30, right about the time my lights go out, I am getting older kids in the creepy outfits, their pillowcases filled with candy.

Little kids aren’t the only ones that get scared at Halloween. I am not sure why, but I think a lot of us kind of like to get a bit scared at Halloween. Paige sure got scared for the season; she and her friends went to the movies to see some flick called “Paranormal Activity.” She’s seen a lot of scary movies in her day, but this one had her on a mattress on my floor a couple of nights. Last night she made it back up to her room, but I noticed she slept with the light on all night. I feel her pain; I still have nightmares about Jason and Freddy from those movies when I was her age!

Paul and I have daughters a year and a half apart in age, and to make our lives interesting they both have the same name — Allison. In the beginning it was a little confusing, but now I can’t imagine it any other way.

So, we had Allie D (my daughter) and Allie T (his) out a few weekends ago and they were all fired up with Halloween coming. They had the bright idea to go to a spook house. Paul and I complied, but we had a better idea that while they went, we would wait in the car. I hate spook houses. I haven’t been in one since I was probably the girls’ age. They scared me to death.

We went to Wolfman’s House of Screams and I told Paul to walk them up. Within a few minutes Allie T came running at top speed back to the car. She had chickened out. I tried to give her the talk that those people were just nice people with masks on, but in my heart I figured she was the smart one. As I talked to her I noticed something out of my side vision. I was in the driver’s seat and Paul had sent over a totally scary looking monster dude to sneak up to the side of my car. As I turned my head, I found myself looking him straight in the face, his pressed against my glass. Allie T and I together let out a scream that I am sure went on record as the loudest that place has ever heard. Paul, who still is laughing about this, said the car literally shook because we jumped so high. Needless to say, Allie T and I huddled in the car as Paul and Allie D went through.

No matter how you have your fun this season, be safe and enjoy! You can always sleep with the light on for a few days if it gets too scary!

Jane Drummond is a parent educator for the Carthage School District. Contact her at janedrummond@mchsi.com.