We’ve been Ghosted!

We moved onto our street the fall of 1999 and absolutely love it. Not only are the houses some of the prettiest in the neighborhood, but the neighbors are very friendly, for the most part, and many socialize with each other throughout the year.

• Every August we hold a Block Party to celebrate National Night Out.
• Every December many of the neighborhood women get together for Ladies’ Night Out dinner and drinks at a local restaurant.
• And every October a friendly ghost roams the neighborhood, leaving goodies on people’s front doorsteps.

I don’t know what the kids are more excited about: finding treats on our front porch or putting together treats for one or two or three of our neighbors. Some years we’ve Ghosted the kids’ neighborhood friends’s houses; other years we’ve Ghosted older neighbors who may otherwise be left out.

The goodies are accompanied by two sheets of paper. One has a ghost saying “We’ve been Ghosted! Happy Halloween!” on it. It goes on your front door so neighbors know to pick another household to Ghost. The other sheet of paper contains the traditional Ghosting poem:

• “You’ve Been “Ghosted”
  This ghost haunts you happily
  from now through Halloween,
  and was delivered by a friend
  who left (hopefully) unseen!
• The spirit of the neighborhood
  has come to wish you well,
  someone, somewhere selected you
  to receive this happy spell!!
• You must display this ghost
  on your door so all can spy,
  that you’ve already been haunted
  by this spooky little guy!!
• Then fix a sack with goodies
  like the one given to you,
  ring a neighbor’s doorbell (leave the treats)
  and make them happy too!!
• HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This weekend I’ll have the boys help me put together some treats and decide who to Ghost. I think it’s important for them to experience how good it feels to do nice things for other people. Especially unexpected nice things that you won’t get credit for.

I wonder what they’ll choose to gift…