Justin has class on Mondays, so it was really important for me to have him get to see Robbie do some trick-or-treating.  So, I did some research on Halloween activities. Of course, this was made more difficult by the freak snow storm that blew in on Saturday night.  The Spooky Walk at the park was cancelled.  It was too blustery to trick-or-treat at the zoo.  So, we settled on trick-or-treating at the Burlington Mall.

We headed out of the house around 4:30, with me pushing Robbie and Justin out of the house so we had a little time for the adventure.  We got to the mall with plenty of time, but, as we walked through Macy’s, Justin kindly pointed out that none of the other kids were wearing costumes.  I believe I responded with something along the lines of, “I’m sure their kids are sad their parents didn’t pay attention to the website.  This is going to be so much fun!”

Except there really were no other kids in costumes.  Or stores participating in trick-or-treat.  But there was my kid, marching around in his Elmo costume, Elmo backpack, and “silly pun’kin bucket”, totally unaware about how his mother had embarrassed him.  Figuring I had stumbled upon the mall’s 2010 calendar, I looked at my phone.  Nope.  2011 calendar.

Wrong mall.  Burlington Mall in New freaking Jersey.  Of course.

All was not lost, though.  The ladies at J. Crew took pity on my poor Elmo and offered him a selection of Tootsie Roll.  And I did feel better when another parent, with two children in costume, confided that he wife took them to a costume party that afternoon only to find that it had been the day before.  Which I think is way worse than going to a made-up trick-or-treat event.  But, who am I to judge?