We Boo, Do You?

Three years ago, at about this time of year, I left Jeff at home with our then two-month-old son and took the girls to a Disney on Ice production.  When we came home we found a very festive gift basket filled with spooky delights like silly string, Halloween candy, orange and black hair ties, and glow sticks.  There was also a poster-board cutout ghost with the word Boo! written in bold black lettering across his chest.  A note inside explained that we’d been boo’ed by a good-spirited neighbor and that we should pay it forward by boo’ing two other people in our neighborhood.  We were also directed to hang the ghost on our front door so that we wouldn’t accidentally get re-boo’ed.  It was such a fun idea, one that we’d never heard of before, and the kids immediately began their detective work, trying to figure out who had started the good deed.

Meanwhile, we set out on our own boo’ing adventure.  We had a blast filling up our own boo baskets and conspiring about who we would deliver them too.  When the time came to deliver our goods, the girls had a blast dropping the baskets before ringing the doorbell and running to the awaiting minivan so we could make a speedy getaway.  We had so much fun, in fact, that we exceeded our quota and boo’ed ten of our neighbors.  It was so fun to watch ghosts pop up on the front doors of unsuspecting neighbors as the pay it forward phenomena spread.

Fast forward to this year.

 We decided to venture out of our neighborhood and boo one of Torri’s best friends, Ali.  So earlier tonight we hopped into the car and made the drop.  Torri was giddy with excitement as we drove home, especially when she got a text from Ali telling her to call right away because she had something exciting to share.

Torri called as soon as we’d arrived back from our secret mission.  What happened next is really rather unfortunate, but equally comical.

Seems that Ali misunderstood the spirit of the boo and had unselfishly taken just one item from the gift and had immediately delivered the rest to a neighbor down the street.

Disappointed that Ali gave away the goods, Torri came clean about the fact that she had been the boo’er.

Equally disappointed in the unfortunate turn of events, Ali begged her mom to go down the street and reclaim the mis-delivered boo.

And, feeling bad for re-gifting that which was not meant to be re-gifted, Ali’s mom went with her daughter down the street and explained the mistake to the neighbors.  I’m told that Ali’s mom hung her head low in utter embarrassment as she rehashed the details.  The couple who mistakenly received the boo basket was very understanding about the whole thing and gladly returned the goods to Ali.

Oy.  Vey.

This, my friends, is a prime example of boo’ing gone bad.  But I couldn’t have made up better blogging fodder if I’d tried.

I can assure you that, when properly executed, boo’ing your neighbors is frighteningly fun.  Just be sure to properly and thoroughly explain the process in the note you deliver with your boo basket.  Better yet, cut and paste the following.  This one, unlike the version we left at Ali’s door, is tough to mistake!

The air is cool the season fall
Soon Halloween will come to all
The spooks are after things to do
In fact, a spook brought this to you
“BOO” is a shield from witching hour
Just hang it up and watch its power
On your front door is where it works
It wards off spooks and scary jerks
The treats that came with crypted note
Are yours to keep, enjoy them both
The power comes when friends like you
Will copy this and make it TWO
Then others here among our friends
Will give warm fuzzies that do not end
We’ll all have smiles upon our faces
No one will know who “BOO”ed whose places
Just one short day to work your spell
Or a big ZAP will strike your tail
And don’t forget a nifty treat,
Like something cute or something sweet
Please join fun, let’s really hear it
And spread some “BOO”s and Halloween spirit.