Halloween in Wigan: a zipped face, a reluctant two year old and a street full of kind kids

Halloween in Wigan doesn't ease you in. By half five our street was full of light-up skeletons and glow sticks, and by six there were more people on the pavement than cars on the road. We had two very different Halloweens under one roof this year: a daughter who had been planning her costume for weeks, and a two year old who was the smartest trick or treater.

The costume that did all the talking

My daughter went as a zipped face with an alien inside. A zip across the face with an alien head popping out. Simple idea, brilliantly done. She got more comments on that costume than anything she has worn before, and she has already started planning next year's.

Thomas, 2, and the year he declined to dress up

We had a costume ready for Thomas. He is two. He looked at it, said no, and that was the end of the negotiation. Anyone who has tried to reason with a two year old about fancy dress will know exactly how that conversation went.

So we compromised. No costume, normal coat, and a slow walk to a handful of houses on our own street. Five doors, maybe six. He got the idea quickly enough: knock, say the word, receive sweets. He was polite, he was pleased with himself, and then he was tired.

I walked him home while mum and our alien hybrid daughter carried on. That was the right call. Trick or treating with a two year old has a natural limit and it is roughly one street or about 50 sweets.

The bit he loved more than trick or treating

Back at the house, Thomas discovered the other half of Halloween: answering the door.

He parked himself by the front door and refused to move. Every knock set him off. He grabbed our beautiful wicker cauldren of sweets, bubble mixture and spider rings, ran to the door, and handed them out with a level of seriousness I have not seen from him before. He fell over on the way to the door at one point, flat on the floor, sweets everywhere, and got straight back up because a group of witches and a skeleton were waiting.

That was the whole night for him. Not the sweets he collected, the sweets he gave away.

Halloween Wigan: the children were a credit

This is the bit I want to write down.

We had dozens of kids at the door over the evening. Not one of them grabbed. Not one pushed. Several said thank you without being prompted.

A few took a single sweet when they could easily have taken a handful and we had to say feel free to take bubbles. A couple of the older ones said happy Halloween to him directly, which for a two year old is basically a standing ovation.

You hear the usual grumbling about kids these days. On this street, on this night, the children of Wigan were kind, patient and a credit to their parents. The parents standing at the gate, letting them get on with it, deserve a mention too.

What we will do differently next year

• Get Thomas involved in choosing his costume, or accept that he might not wear one at all. Both are fine.

• Do the short street walk first, while it is still light.

• Save the door answering for afterwards, because that was the part he actually loved.

• Let the costume do the work. The zipped face took about ten seconds to explain at each door and it made the night.

If you have got a two year old who won't dress up, don't force it. Take them to a few houses early, then bring them home and let them hand out the sweets. It is less effort, it is warmer, and they get the better half of the evening.

If you want more honest family bits from around the North West, have a read of our days out posts. And tell me what your lot went as this year, because I am always after costume ideas I can steal for next October.