by Rachel Blain

Created on: September 29, 2009   Last Updated: October 04, 2009

I was Always worried about taking my children door to door trick or treating with all of the weirdos and poison candy scares out there. One year when they were really little ( like 4 and 6) I didn't have the money for a costume, had just moved to this small town , so I really didn't know anyone. Costumes cost like $30.00. Two kids = $60.00 to take them around for an hour and then worry about what they were going to be eating.

Of course my children were so excited about Halloween they couldn't stop talking about their costume (the one I couldn't get). This only compounded the problem.

Instead of feeling bad and guilty for not being able to get the costumes and not knowing anyone, plus the fact that I had to be at work at 4 a.m...

I Created ..... "The Phantom! "

This character turned out to be so absolutely wonderfull so I thought I would share him.

The phantom is for all of the children who don't dress up. Why? Because he is afraid of costumes. Yep - they scare him away! (saved 60 bucks.)

"The Phantom" has a black cape and carries a sword.

He hides behind buildings and mountains and stuff and waits for all the trick or tr eaters to go away (because he is so afraid of those costumes.)

Then he brings an awesome treat for the ones who do not dress up!

Wow, sounded great to them. My children would forgo the costumes and wait for the phantom that year...and every year thereafter.

Turned out to be a nice tradition. I went to the dollar store with $20.00 to get candy, gum etc... and a couple of those plastic swords, (just like the phantom carries) and a box of popcorn (20 bucks goes a long way at the dollar store when the kids are small.)

Next I rented a movie. The children would eat their popcorn and watch a movie while waiting for the phantom. Anticipation is in the air! They're kind of listening to the movie, but also have a sharp ear out for out for the Phantom.

About the middle of the movie or so - I quietly drop the stuff on the front porch, go out the back door and make a bunch of noise. The children hear it, run out the front door and wallah... two huge bags of candy and a toy light up sword!

Then I show up behind them and swear up and down the phantom just ran into the bushes, or behind the house and the children try to catch him.

Believe it or not - They actually seen the phantom run away! kinda cool

O.k, so Halloween for 20 bucks. No goofy expensive costumes. No poison candy scares. The kids have a total blast ! The good thing for me is that everything is done at home. Now II can go to bed at a decent hour so I can go to work at 4 am! Works out great for everyone.

A couple of years later the entire neighborhood became involved and we all tried to catch the phantom together!

Now that my children are teenagers I don't really do this anymore . Oh, I still say there is a phantom and mysteriously 10 bucks a piece shows up on the back porch. They just laugh at me now , but still do enjoy the money.

Hard to let the character die ya know. Though he doesn't make noise anymore, he's still fun and still only costs 20 bucks!

Fun thing about it for me was I could just make things up about "The Phantom." As the kids asked questions the character took shape. He's a totally cool character that you can change to your liking any time you feel like it . He doesn't necessarily have to have a black cape,or a sword, you can make him anything you want really.

One year we even seen him hanging around peaking over mountains a few days before Halloween

I always liked to be really dramatic about it ,but that's just me. The magic of childhood is a really great thing don't ya think?

Happy Halloween To All!

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