Everything leading up to trick-or-treating was a struggle. I do not want to relive anything that transpired prior to trick or treating.. Thankfully, once we were outside, I found a silver lining to make up for all of the complaining and whining that happened before we left out house.
My kids didn’t walk on our neighbors’ lawns.
And we didn’t even have to tell them not to stay on the driveways and front walkways. They just did the right thing ON THEIR OWN.
The same children who complained about needing to pack their lunches for school tomorrow and about their pizza being too hot (Okay, I’ll relive just a bit of it!) were completely respectful about staying on paved surfaces despite seeing plenty of other kids cutting across lawns. (Thankfully they missed a pack of teenagers who jumped over someone’s hedges so as to not have to touch a paved surface.)
About a dozen houses into trick or treating, a family I’d never seen before started keeping pace with us. Their kids were zigzagging across lawns. Then, a couple houses later, Isabelle and Ari followed suit.
I looked at Marc and said, “It always amazes me how kids who are doing the right thing often follow the example of kids who aren’t.”
Despite making a plan to stay on one side of the street, Marc and I crossed the kids to the other side of the street and reminded them to stay on the paths, which is a neighborly thing to do.
And they did just that for the rest of the night.
Then Isabelle came home where they ate an abundance of candy, and complained about flossing. I guess they had to prove they aren’t super-human kids.
Raising Literate Humans 
It is always nice to see that your children have taken on some of what you hope to have them take on:)
You’re raising them with values and respect for other people’s property ~ and it’s great that they didn’t have to be reminded! That transfers to so, so much more than just the pavement and the grass.
Probably the pizza was too hot! Your time to write a small moment made you zoom in on what was actually important! Yay for internalizing the right thing to do! Good on you, mom and dad.
Thank goodness they didn’t see the teenagers! I’m glad that your kids were respectful – and that this made the evening just a little bit better. It’s nice to see them do the right thing, isn’t it?
It’s reassuring when doing the right thing clicks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much for them to veer off-course. You gently guided them back in the right direction.
Aha…so our rules and teachings do sink in and eventually rise up to the surface. 🙂