The first baby sitter I ever hired I snagged while she was trick or treating. On Halloween night I opened the door and a gaggle of lamely costumed teens mumbled, “Trick or treat”

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You are waaaay to old for this. Who babysits?”

One girl who looked like she had a brain in her head raised her hand. I chucked a candy bar at her and asked her to return the next day for an ‘interview’.

When she showed up she played with two year old Prince Tim (Yes, I waited until my first Prince was two before finding a sitter and I’ll tell ya, my mind was about to snap. With my last Prince I wasn’t as uptight. I left him with a sitter before his umbilical cord dropped off.) Anyway, she plays with the kiddo, he shows her his play room and toys. Then she and I adjourn to the kitchen so I can grill her on her babysitting experience.

After a bit the only sound I hear from the playroom is silence. “Excuse me a moment,” I say during my last calm minute of the morning.

I peeked down the hall and see the front door wide open. I bolt outside and see Prince Tim sprinting down the block, intent on getting as far away as possible. Two years of hanging around with me 24/7, remember? Who could blame him?

Now I don’t need to look for a potential babysitter on Halloween night. But for some reason every year all the Reese’s peanut butter cups have been tampered with and are therefore unsafe for my children to consume.

Munch, munch, delicious.

Here are some Halloween boy stories for you.

From Queen Theresa of Lincoln, Nebraska-

I was at Target with my 3 princes and my husband. When we walked by a display of Halloween thongs Chris, age 8, blurted out, “Wow Dad, Mom would look really hot in those!” Several customers were quite amused by his outburst but also by my husband’s face turning 10 shades of red!!!

And from Queen Paige of Singapore-

While trick or treating I was dawdling along with my two year old Prince Mason while his 4 year old brother moved at a faster pace across the street with my husband. I stopped to chat with some friends. Caught up in the Mommy gossip, I wasn't completely watching my littlest one and didn't notice he was eating all the candy out of his plastic pumpkin. He then starts choking. My husband runs across the street, scoops up Prince Mason and puts the little guy face to face with him. The choking child promptly vomited all consumed candy -foil, wrappers and all- onto my husband. The moral of the story: Always aim a choking child AWAY from your face. This year my husband says he's staying home to hand out candy."

Have a great Halloween!

Reign On!

Queen Linda