Oct. 31 is Halloween, a time when children put on their costumes and visit friendly houses looking for candy treats.

Growing up, I loved Halloween because chocolate was at the top of my favorites list. Add free and it’s a home run.

As we get older, we seem to have fewer treats and more tricks. But there are a few bonuses left for those of us too old to dress up as Superman and go door to door.

One of the best treats when you’re older is the senior discount. These are available at restaurants, movie theaters and stores. I always ask if there’s a senior discount and, most of the time, there’s some little perk.

We also have a wealth of knowledge gained from a lifetime of making mistakes. I know when the weather turns cold, the tire pressure signal on my car might go off.

The first time that happened, I spent three hours at the tire store so they could check my tires. When it happened last week, I ignored it and, sure enough, it went away when the weather warmed up.

I know our country will survive political elections. There were a few years when I’d look at the roster of leaders and think I should move to Iceland.

But we survived, not without a few bumps and bruises, but we made it.

One of the best perks of being older is seeing your children grow up into smart, self-assured adults. What’s even better is when you hear your words coming out of their mouths.

Not all children grow up into capable adults. We usually have the wisdom to accept that they’ll either come around or they won’t. The decision as to how they live their life is totally up to them. We can let go.

A big treat for me is not worrying about what anybody else says about how I dress, what I say or what I do. If I want to go to the grocery store in ratty shorts, no makeup and my 10-year-old sandals, I go.

If I want to poke along at a leisurely pace, I take my time. There’s no clock to punch, no boss to make happy and no quitting time. My time is my time.

There aren’t any more 2 a.m. feedings. There are, however, those middle-of-the-night bathroom visits. There’s also insomnia, but we have the luxury of taking a nap the next day.

There are some tricks that go along with the treats. I can’t read or drive without my prescriptive lenses – bifocals, for those of us who aren’t vain about calling it like it is.

It’s hard to bend over or squat, but that’s why we have the picker-upper tool. The knees aren’t what they used to be, but we now have the time to recuperate from knee replacements.

Because we don’t have kids raiding the fridge and pantry, we can put things where we can reach them instead of putting the good treats on top of the refrigerator.

For some of us, having grandchildren is the best treat of all. We can be ourselves with them because the burden of rearing capable, responsible people lies with their parents. We’re here for fun, snuggles and spoiling.

We remember the days when we’d come home from trick or treating with a bucket filled with candy and know we could eat every single piece without a care in the world.

These days, we settle for a bag of no-salt peanuts, a low-fat cup of ice cream and gluten-free chips, all of which we bought with a senior discount.

Happy trick or treating!

 

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.