Its been seven weeks since I got to Sweden to live and work. The first four went off in a blur of living well in perfect weather and travelling within Sweden and Denmark. Most times I felt I was inside a picture postcard!
R and A left in the fourth week. That weekend was the start of the Malmo festival. My friend from Texas stayed over for the weekend. So I eased into real life really slowly.
On Monday, people were back at work from a four week long summer vacation. I was introduced to a lot of them, almost all over 6 feet tall and named either Bo or Lars or Johan. It will take me a few more weeks to get names sorted. One way I have learnt to deal with my lack of height, is to stand away from a very tall person and not crane my neck to make eye contact. Having a loud voice helps overcome the physical space!
I have been getting physical evidence of being more settled here. This is in the form of junk mail in my mailbox. This is exactly like in the US, with heavy promotions from super markets and a whole catalog for tools!!
I finally did get a hair trim. I did come out without rainbow color hair. Almost all the salons have a "drop in welcome" board. (my street has 6 of them). Perhaps its lost in translation, but not one of them had an appointment for at least a week when I dropped in. I finally chose a salon that is part of a mall. The girl at the counter was really sweet and did a good job with my hair.
I also managed to get my eyebrows threaded. When we moved from Dubai to the US, my biggest worry was to find a place that does threading. Fourteen years in, there are threading services offered
from the homes of providers to the corridors in a shopping mall and everything in between!
I found Salong Sadaf on a street off the vegetable market. It was a rainy day and I had already eaten a fourth of the Iranian bread that I had picked up fresh from the oven. I walked in without an appointment and waited in the midst of Arab women who had shed their hijabs and abayas sine they were in the midst of only women. There was a constant stream of chatter in Arabic, interspersed with loud laughter. I wish I had managed to pick up at least a few more words. After I lived in Dubai for 7 years, I know how to say thank you, friend and the number five in Arabic. Gestures and a few common words like eyebrow and threading got my work done. The ladies who run the place there spoke some Swedish in addition to Arabic. If they immigrated to Sweden, where was the need to learn English other than to communicate with someone like me.
I am so enjoying cooking here. The kitchen is a fourth of my kitchen back home. I am making do with the pots and pans that came with the kitchen. This has forced me to take short cuts. I now use canned beans and tomato puree (all packed in tetra recart of course). I also don't make my own yoghurt. There is plenty of excellent quality yoghurt available in the stores. There is something about better ingredients that make you a better cook. I do miss my weekend routine of baking sourdough bread.
This brings me to my happiest place in Malmo so far. This is the farmers market I have been religiously visiting each Saturday. This farmers market is more a vegetable sellers market and is not catered towards Chardonnay sipping, lululemon clad yogis. It's for the regular person. The stalls are run by Arabs, Afghans and Turks who sell fruits and vegetables and leaves of all kinds and colors. It reminds me of how my parents bought produce in India, from a cart and not a refrigerator. There are native Swedes who sell the most delicious berries and beets and home grown tomatoes. Again, my laziness in learning at least a little Swedish is glaring when the sellers tell me what to pay in Swedish and I stare blankly back. It takes a Somali girl to translate into English.
The Iranian bakery sits at the edge of the vegetable square. It is most famous for its sesame bread that is packed hot off the oven and an amazing array of baklava and Iranian cookies! The clientele is all mixed, just like for the farmers market.
When food, produce and desserts they are that good, it doesn't matter who is selling them since the joy they bring is universal.
Monday, September 4, 2017
Friday, August 4, 2017
Settling In
It is exactly three week since we moved here. I am not exaggerating when I say that it feels longer. It has helped to have R here with me. He does the heavy lifting(literally) and has been discovering the country. He has made use of the summer pass and travelled across the length and breadth of southern sweden in two weeks, making the most of the great weather!
Ananya joined us last week. We were seeing her after over two months and were ecstatic to have her over! We made a trip to Stockholm by train and visited a wonderful modern city. However, all of us were relieved to be back at home in Malmo!
Contrary to what my recent Facebook posts may suggest, I am in Sweden to work and not vacation. Its just that we came to the country at the best time and I can't resist recording the sights.
I want to capture some highlights of the last three weeks.
1. Making it official! Thanks to my US citizenship, I could start work in Sweden before getting my residence permit card. I did the biometric testing the day I arrived and was told at the counter to expect it within a week. A week went by and no signs of it. I also needed to get my tax ID application in for my things to arrive from the US, and this needed the residence permit card. A week later, I called the help desk and was told that the card was probably lost and I should get another biometric screening done, an email response to the same question suggested that I wait till the weekend and then get in touch again. I decided to be doubly sure and took another long bus ride to the migration center, only to be told at the counter that it was too early to panic and I should get it within that week. I did get it within two weeks. Yesterday I submitted the form to get my tax ID and with that the last hurdle to get my things from the US has been removed. My things will arrive in Malmo early next week . I really don't have space to store all my clothes (mainly black or blue colors). that will arrive with my shipment.
2. Office and friends
A new place starts feeling more at home when you make friends. Almost all my new friends will have some connection to work. I met an ex colleague from Dubai after 13 years! She has moved to Sweden for good. I met a new Ukrainian colleague who is a vegetarian and seems to be more of a practicing Hindu than I am! I look forward to bonding with one of the few other vegetarians at work! I also got introduced to two other Indian and Pakistani men at work. Listening to and speaking a mix of Hindi and Urdu in Malmo was as comforting as eating daal chawal with achaar ( lentil rice with pickle) . I miss listening to English spoken in an American accent, non stop CNN on tv notwithstanding. Then again, only 10% of people have been coming to work. I look forward to the other interesting and comforting people I will meet.
3. Location, location, location!
I couldn't have chosen a better located apartment. It is literally one street off the city center. If my windows are open, I can hear laughter and chatter way into early morning on weekends. I just hope it stays just as lively and animated when winter is here. There are grocery stores a 5 minute walk away in three directions and a beautiful park in the fourth. I am literally living in a romantic comedy, the part where the heroine walks to her New York brownstone carrying groceries in paper bags. The only difference is that I carry my groceries in reusable cloth bags. The movies never showed her climbing 36 steps to the third floor with a computer backpack and two grocery laden bags.
4. Alexander Skarsgaard and the apartment
Yes, most Swedish men do look like him. The building manager certainly does. He came by to review what needed fixing in the apartment and answer dumb questions. He assured us that the dial on top on the cooktop vent does indeed vent, though it is noiseless. ( I keep a window open though ) the bathroom doesn't have an exhaust fan but does have a vent that lets the steam out. He brought me the much needed hair dryer ( not that it makes much difference when your hair goes haywire in the wind once you step out). The only flaw in the apartment is the size of the single bathroom. Then again bathrooms in the US are probably bigger than they need to be.
5. Grooming
I don't do much with my hair except an occasional trim when it looks wild. My street has at least six hair salons. My only concern is that I should not come out with rainbow colored hair which most patrons steeping out seem to have!
6. Almost home!
I had a feeling of being at home last evening. Is three weeks too early to feel that? I was cooking in the kitchen and Ananya was at the table, working on her laptop and R fixing some photos on his laptop. I had the key ingredients that make me happy, my loves and a kitchen that I love. Being in Sweden does help too!
Ananya joined us last week. We were seeing her after over two months and were ecstatic to have her over! We made a trip to Stockholm by train and visited a wonderful modern city. However, all of us were relieved to be back at home in Malmo!
Contrary to what my recent Facebook posts may suggest, I am in Sweden to work and not vacation. Its just that we came to the country at the best time and I can't resist recording the sights.
I want to capture some highlights of the last three weeks.
1. Making it official! Thanks to my US citizenship, I could start work in Sweden before getting my residence permit card. I did the biometric testing the day I arrived and was told at the counter to expect it within a week. A week went by and no signs of it. I also needed to get my tax ID application in for my things to arrive from the US, and this needed the residence permit card. A week later, I called the help desk and was told that the card was probably lost and I should get another biometric screening done, an email response to the same question suggested that I wait till the weekend and then get in touch again. I decided to be doubly sure and took another long bus ride to the migration center, only to be told at the counter that it was too early to panic and I should get it within that week. I did get it within two weeks. Yesterday I submitted the form to get my tax ID and with that the last hurdle to get my things from the US has been removed. My things will arrive in Malmo early next week . I really don't have space to store all my clothes (mainly black or blue colors). that will arrive with my shipment.
2. Office and friends
A new place starts feeling more at home when you make friends. Almost all my new friends will have some connection to work. I met an ex colleague from Dubai after 13 years! She has moved to Sweden for good. I met a new Ukrainian colleague who is a vegetarian and seems to be more of a practicing Hindu than I am! I look forward to bonding with one of the few other vegetarians at work! I also got introduced to two other Indian and Pakistani men at work. Listening to and speaking a mix of Hindi and Urdu in Malmo was as comforting as eating daal chawal with achaar ( lentil rice with pickle) . I miss listening to English spoken in an American accent, non stop CNN on tv notwithstanding. Then again, only 10% of people have been coming to work. I look forward to the other interesting and comforting people I will meet.
3. Location, location, location!
I couldn't have chosen a better located apartment. It is literally one street off the city center. If my windows are open, I can hear laughter and chatter way into early morning on weekends. I just hope it stays just as lively and animated when winter is here. There are grocery stores a 5 minute walk away in three directions and a beautiful park in the fourth. I am literally living in a romantic comedy, the part where the heroine walks to her New York brownstone carrying groceries in paper bags. The only difference is that I carry my groceries in reusable cloth bags. The movies never showed her climbing 36 steps to the third floor with a computer backpack and two grocery laden bags.
4. Alexander Skarsgaard and the apartment
Yes, most Swedish men do look like him. The building manager certainly does. He came by to review what needed fixing in the apartment and answer dumb questions. He assured us that the dial on top on the cooktop vent does indeed vent, though it is noiseless. ( I keep a window open though ) the bathroom doesn't have an exhaust fan but does have a vent that lets the steam out. He brought me the much needed hair dryer ( not that it makes much difference when your hair goes haywire in the wind once you step out). The only flaw in the apartment is the size of the single bathroom. Then again bathrooms in the US are probably bigger than they need to be.
5. Grooming
I don't do much with my hair except an occasional trim when it looks wild. My street has at least six hair salons. My only concern is that I should not come out with rainbow colored hair which most patrons steeping out seem to have!
6. Almost home!
I had a feeling of being at home last evening. Is three weeks too early to feel that? I was cooking in the kitchen and Ananya was at the table, working on her laptop and R fixing some photos on his laptop. I had the key ingredients that make me happy, my loves and a kitchen that I love. Being in Sweden does help too!
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Trash talk
Disposing trash in a new place is not something you think of before you move there. I did read about the extreme recycling that takes place in Sweden from an American perspective before I got here. Now that I am here, after the initial hesitancy, it seems to make sense.
I had been a community gardner in my town for four months before moving to Sweden. I participated in turning compost pile(a stinky and labor intensive process) just once. It took me the next three months to get rid of my shoulder and arm pain. A key ingredient to composting other than back breaking labor is kitchen waste. I started collecting vegetable and fruit peels and instead of tossing it in trash, added it to the compost pile in the garden. This reduced the frequency of trash that I set on the curbside from twice a week to once every three weeks. Yes, I do use a lot of vegetables and prepare them from scratch.
Back to Sweden. There are 6 bins in the buildings courtyard. There are only three apartments in the building, including us. I stayed away from the bins for as long as I could. I checked with a colleague as to what each box represented. He told me that it varies from each city and neighborhood and he is used to 8 different bins. I guess I was in a better situation.
I had made the big decision of leaving everything familiar behind to move to a new country for a new challenge. Sorting trash was not going to discourage me.
I surveyed the trash cans before taking the trash out. The brown one was for vegetable waste. The cart comes with a picture of an apple core. The laundry room had brown paper bags with the same logo and name as the brown cart. There are 4 blue carts. One for paper, carton and cardboard waste, another for plastic waste- containers and wrappers, the third one for clear glass and the last blue one for colored glass. Since we don't drink, that is one bin we will not use. The sixth is the green bin and that I assume takes care of the rest, that cannot be recycled or composted. There were stickers with pictures on all the bins. The words were all Swedish but that is why they say a picture speaks a thousand words. It helped to open each bin to see what was already inside. The first time I mixed the kitchen waste with general trash and put it in the green box. I separated paper and cardboard waste and placed them in plastic bags as instructed and put them in their right boxes.
Now that I have figured out what goes where, I need to make trash separation in the apartment more efficient. Vegetable waste now goes in the brown bag and will be placed at least twice a week in the brown bin. (I still use a lot of vegetables from scratch). I have one unlined bin for paper and plastic waste which will bagged separately when it is time to dispose them. And finally a lined bin for all other trash, which hopefully will not need disposal very frequently.
That is enough trash talk.
I had been a community gardner in my town for four months before moving to Sweden. I participated in turning compost pile(a stinky and labor intensive process) just once. It took me the next three months to get rid of my shoulder and arm pain. A key ingredient to composting other than back breaking labor is kitchen waste. I started collecting vegetable and fruit peels and instead of tossing it in trash, added it to the compost pile in the garden. This reduced the frequency of trash that I set on the curbside from twice a week to once every three weeks. Yes, I do use a lot of vegetables and prepare them from scratch.
Back to Sweden. There are 6 bins in the buildings courtyard. There are only three apartments in the building, including us. I stayed away from the bins for as long as I could. I checked with a colleague as to what each box represented. He told me that it varies from each city and neighborhood and he is used to 8 different bins. I guess I was in a better situation.
I had made the big decision of leaving everything familiar behind to move to a new country for a new challenge. Sorting trash was not going to discourage me.
I surveyed the trash cans before taking the trash out. The brown one was for vegetable waste. The cart comes with a picture of an apple core. The laundry room had brown paper bags with the same logo and name as the brown cart. There are 4 blue carts. One for paper, carton and cardboard waste, another for plastic waste- containers and wrappers, the third one for clear glass and the last blue one for colored glass. Since we don't drink, that is one bin we will not use. The sixth is the green bin and that I assume takes care of the rest, that cannot be recycled or composted. There were stickers with pictures on all the bins. The words were all Swedish but that is why they say a picture speaks a thousand words. It helped to open each bin to see what was already inside. The first time I mixed the kitchen waste with general trash and put it in the green box. I separated paper and cardboard waste and placed them in plastic bags as instructed and put them in their right boxes.
Now that I have figured out what goes where, I need to make trash separation in the apartment more efficient. Vegetable waste now goes in the brown bag and will be placed at least twice a week in the brown bin. (I still use a lot of vegetables from scratch). I have one unlined bin for paper and plastic waste which will bagged separately when it is time to dispose them. And finally a lined bin for all other trash, which hopefully will not need disposal very frequently.
That is enough trash talk.
Monday, July 17, 2017
In Sweden
It has been three days since we arrived at Malmo. I started work today.
I have visited Sweden a a few times over the years and have been struck by the variety of people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds. Our taxi driver from the airport
to the apartment was a Iraqi who has lived in Sweden for over 20 years.
Here are some observations over the last few days.
1. Our apartment is on the third floor. 36 steps up each time. So bags have to be light! No elevator. Laundry in the basement. Another 20 steps down.
2. Migration board is very well run. Polite people and the place has clean bathrooms and a play area.
3. Best time to visit southern Sweden in mid June to mid August. You get unlimited rides on public transport for the equivalent of 85 dollars and get to take two people under 20 years with you.
4. Almost all restaurants have clearly marked vegetarian options that do not include cheese pizza
5. Free wifi is available on all buses and trains. Using it also means that you run out of charge.
6. No sweat, they also have power outlets and the more modern ones have USB points.
7. Remember that American plugs will not work without adapters. So ride public transport for free wifi . But take a charger with adapter to really enjoy the experience.
8. There are lot of Arabs. Identified by their hijab. Girls as young as 12. However, they dress very modern and use lot of make up. Don't know how many are recent immigrants and how many from a longer time.
9. Helsingborg had a grunge band playing when we were there. Attended by goths all dressed in black. Adjacent parks populated by Arab families, enjoying sun and fresh air. Study in contrast.
10. I rode the bus to work. Took me 1 hour to get to work with 5 minutes walk on each side
11. I got a little lost on my way back. I boarded the connection going the other direction. Figured out my mistake and got off the next stop and waited for the right bus outside a tattoo parlor.
Could have avoided it if I had just asked the driver. But till you get lost how will you find yourself!
I have visited Sweden a a few times over the years and have been struck by the variety of people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds. Our taxi driver from the airport
to the apartment was a Iraqi who has lived in Sweden for over 20 years.
Here are some observations over the last few days.
1. Our apartment is on the third floor. 36 steps up each time. So bags have to be light! No elevator. Laundry in the basement. Another 20 steps down.
2. Migration board is very well run. Polite people and the place has clean bathrooms and a play area.
3. Best time to visit southern Sweden in mid June to mid August. You get unlimited rides on public transport for the equivalent of 85 dollars and get to take two people under 20 years with you.
4. Almost all restaurants have clearly marked vegetarian options that do not include cheese pizza
5. Free wifi is available on all buses and trains. Using it also means that you run out of charge.
6. No sweat, they also have power outlets and the more modern ones have USB points.
7. Remember that American plugs will not work without adapters. So ride public transport for free wifi . But take a charger with adapter to really enjoy the experience.
8. There are lot of Arabs. Identified by their hijab. Girls as young as 12. However, they dress very modern and use lot of make up. Don't know how many are recent immigrants and how many from a longer time.
9. Helsingborg had a grunge band playing when we were there. Attended by goths all dressed in black. Adjacent parks populated by Arab families, enjoying sun and fresh air. Study in contrast.
10. I rode the bus to work. Took me 1 hour to get to work with 5 minutes walk on each side
11. I got a little lost on my way back. I boarded the connection going the other direction. Figured out my mistake and got off the next stop and waited for the right bus outside a tattoo parlor.
Could have avoided it if I had just asked the driver. But till you get lost how will you find yourself!
Sunday, May 28, 2017
"Throw away the Bowlines"
I was going to call this post "Taking a Leap of Faith". I don't know what that exactly means. I interpret is as doing something risky with the belief that there maybe be a safety net to catch you. Anyway, it just sounded right at the interview! But deeper thought made me see the negative connotation to it.
Being an extensive user of Facebook, I remembered one of my posts from 2015. I think it conveys positivism without diminishing the adventure!
When the chance to work in Sweden for a year came up, I remembered this post. I turned 50 this past November and do not want to look back when I am 70 and regret not doing it. The offer comes with its risk. I do not have confirmation that i will get a role back in the US organization when I return after a year. Hence, the first title, "taking a leap of faith".
I am going in with my eyes wide open and so far have not let doubts come up. There are complications other than not having an assured job at the end of the year. My husband will join me off and on and I will be away from the US, except for a few visits, so will miss seeing my daughter on our monthly visits to Austin.
I have very strong role models here, whose steps I am following. First my mother, who lived with her two teenage girls in the late 80s by herself when my father worked in Yemen. Then my dear sister who did something similar with an assignment in London last year. And finally my sister and friends who sent their only girls, 2 oceans away to get a great education.
I am yet to apply for my visa, but have started this blog before the move. Am yet to meet the tax consultant for the pre move tax meeting and the packers for planning the move of personal effects. In my mind I have place holders for what the next few months will look like. Reality may just run roughshod over them.
I will not be in this frame of mind always. The long winter will perhaps get to me. Or missing my old life(I know I will get back to it in a year)- cooking in my kitchen, going into a food coma with dear friends, working in my garden at the community gardens, my book club, driving to Austin once a month to meet with Ananya, walking on the trails of Coppell or listening to NPR podcasts on my way to Denton will get to me.
I will miss my daughter the most. (no pressure Ananya). She has been away at college since August last year. I haven't cried a single day since she left. She is happy and is doing well. But when I meet her or when she comes home, I realize what I miss. The clutter she creates, the music she plays, the storm she cooks up in the kitchen and the way she cuddles, sitting on a chair next to the couch as we watch Netflix. Its then that I realize just how bereft my life is without her.
I will need an outlet to stay positive, hence this blog and just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a circle of supportive friends for you to be brave.
So here is looking forward to my life in the next 12 months, where Sweden will play a major role! Please feel free to comment and ask questions!! You all know how much I love to talk.
Being an extensive user of Facebook, I remembered one of my posts from 2015. I think it conveys positivism without diminishing the adventure!
When the chance to work in Sweden for a year came up, I remembered this post. I turned 50 this past November and do not want to look back when I am 70 and regret not doing it. The offer comes with its risk. I do not have confirmation that i will get a role back in the US organization when I return after a year. Hence, the first title, "taking a leap of faith".
I am going in with my eyes wide open and so far have not let doubts come up. There are complications other than not having an assured job at the end of the year. My husband will join me off and on and I will be away from the US, except for a few visits, so will miss seeing my daughter on our monthly visits to Austin.
I have very strong role models here, whose steps I am following. First my mother, who lived with her two teenage girls in the late 80s by herself when my father worked in Yemen. Then my dear sister who did something similar with an assignment in London last year. And finally my sister and friends who sent their only girls, 2 oceans away to get a great education.
I am yet to apply for my visa, but have started this blog before the move. Am yet to meet the tax consultant for the pre move tax meeting and the packers for planning the move of personal effects. In my mind I have place holders for what the next few months will look like. Reality may just run roughshod over them.
I will not be in this frame of mind always. The long winter will perhaps get to me. Or missing my old life(I know I will get back to it in a year)- cooking in my kitchen, going into a food coma with dear friends, working in my garden at the community gardens, my book club, driving to Austin once a month to meet with Ananya, walking on the trails of Coppell or listening to NPR podcasts on my way to Denton will get to me.
I will miss my daughter the most. (no pressure Ananya). She has been away at college since August last year. I haven't cried a single day since she left. She is happy and is doing well. But when I meet her or when she comes home, I realize what I miss. The clutter she creates, the music she plays, the storm she cooks up in the kitchen and the way she cuddles, sitting on a chair next to the couch as we watch Netflix. Its then that I realize just how bereft my life is without her.
I will need an outlet to stay positive, hence this blog and just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a circle of supportive friends for you to be brave.
So here is looking forward to my life in the next 12 months, where Sweden will play a major role! Please feel free to comment and ask questions!! You all know how much I love to talk.
Halloween without my birdie
This is the first Halloween since our daughter went away to college. My Halloween celebrations in the past have been limited to handing out candy to trick or treaters. I never cared for the decor. Nor did I care for costumes. I bought my daughter her only constume from Kroger for 8 dollars. At that price it was a cheap angel costume that came with a flimsy crown. A decent looking contume was not less than 25 dollars and I didn't want to spend that kind of money on something that would be worn for a day. Her tears never moved me. The next few years she went trick or treating as a cowgirl, a chef and Sherlock Holmes. I managed to make her use her regular clothes and accessories. Of course no one recognizes such a creative disguise when you are standing next to someone in a professional costume. The next year, my friend gave her an unused witch costume and that was the first time she went trick or treating happily! She soon outgrew Halloween or at least the dress up part.
The first few halloweens I passed out the most inexpensive assortment of candy. It was filled with hard candy and no chocolates. We waited for our daughter to return to raid her candy haul. I set aside pieces that we would not eat, and went directly to the trash bin. It took me a few years to realize that they were exactly the same ones that I had been giving out. So the next years I switched to the more expensive mini portions of chocolates. I felt very virtuous, giving them out. There was a year when not many kids showed up. Not wanting to waste the chocolates, I ate a lot of them and it still shows.
Last year I switched to giving out mini packs of pretzels. Thepackage had a suitably Halloween themed design so went well with the kids. I felt doubly virtuous, it was not as bad for teeth as chocolates and was a lot cheaper.
I made my weekend Costco trip but didn't find the pretzels to give out. I didn't want to spend money on candy that would spoil teeth or get trashed. I remembered a friend talking about some houses that passed out juice boxes and water the previous year.
This year, I felt super virtuous. I was going to pass out healthy water that would not damage teeth and was a lot cheaper than candy.( I ignored the environmental impact of plastic bottles though in this equation) and could be offered to kids with allergies.
During the day I texted the water plan to my daughter. Her response was "...", which I interpreted as being speechless. She warned me that the next year I wouldn't have any trick or treaters knocking at my door.
I was very excited about my plan and was looking forward to reactions. My colleagues were horrified at the idea but didn't want to call me a tightwad to my face.
I left work at the usual hour. The normal half hour commute took me two and a half hours! It was already dark when I reached home, hungry and tired. My husband told me that there had been no trick or treaters. He did not know that absence of decorations and a porch light meant that Halloween wasn't being celebrated.
I ate dinner watching more horrifying election coverage and didn't bother turning on lights. The water cases could be returned easily at Costco, but I was disappointed not to see the reaction to Halloween without candy.
At half past eight the bell finally rang. I switched on the light and saw a six year old outside in a princess costume with a sparsely filled basket. I offered her water but she turned it down. My heart did melt a little looking at her disappointed face.
I am going to try this again next year. I may take half a day off so that I make it home on time. Maybe I will pass on one Hershey's kiss to make the bottle of water more acceptable.
The first few halloweens I passed out the most inexpensive assortment of candy. It was filled with hard candy and no chocolates. We waited for our daughter to return to raid her candy haul. I set aside pieces that we would not eat, and went directly to the trash bin. It took me a few years to realize that they were exactly the same ones that I had been giving out. So the next years I switched to the more expensive mini portions of chocolates. I felt very virtuous, giving them out. There was a year when not many kids showed up. Not wanting to waste the chocolates, I ate a lot of them and it still shows.
Last year I switched to giving out mini packs of pretzels. Thepackage had a suitably Halloween themed design so went well with the kids. I felt doubly virtuous, it was not as bad for teeth as chocolates and was a lot cheaper.
I made my weekend Costco trip but didn't find the pretzels to give out. I didn't want to spend money on candy that would spoil teeth or get trashed. I remembered a friend talking about some houses that passed out juice boxes and water the previous year.
This year, I felt super virtuous. I was going to pass out healthy water that would not damage teeth and was a lot cheaper than candy.( I ignored the environmental impact of plastic bottles though in this equation) and could be offered to kids with allergies.
During the day I texted the water plan to my daughter. Her response was "...", which I interpreted as being speechless. She warned me that the next year I wouldn't have any trick or treaters knocking at my door.
I was very excited about my plan and was looking forward to reactions. My colleagues were horrified at the idea but didn't want to call me a tightwad to my face.
I left work at the usual hour. The normal half hour commute took me two and a half hours! It was already dark when I reached home, hungry and tired. My husband told me that there had been no trick or treaters. He did not know that absence of decorations and a porch light meant that Halloween wasn't being celebrated.
I ate dinner watching more horrifying election coverage and didn't bother turning on lights. The water cases could be returned easily at Costco, but I was disappointed not to see the reaction to Halloween without candy.
At half past eight the bell finally rang. I switched on the light and saw a six year old outside in a princess costume with a sparsely filled basket. I offered her water but she turned it down. My heart did melt a little looking at her disappointed face.
I am going to try this again next year. I may take half a day off so that I make it home on time. Maybe I will pass on one Hershey's kiss to make the bottle of water more acceptable.
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