MADELEINE MONDAY

The kid is back in these pages. On Saturday her school put on a Halloween event called Trunk Or Treat. Parents and staff set up a line of cars in the parking lot, rear side outward, with decorated trunks and loads of kid loot. Ellie and her friends attacked the line twice, stashing enough sugar in their bags to cause a diabetic coma. She wore her Hermione outfit from the Harry Potter series and clutched a stuffed Hedwig the owl, obtained by her doting grandparents at the real Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross station, London.

These events didn't exist when my kids were young. They are everywhere now.          

GODZILLA VS SIR LANCELOT

Another St. Louis Halloween tradition I'd never heard of. My granddaughter's school has an annual event called Trunk Or Treat. Lots of the parents decorate the trunks of their cars, stock them full of goodies and set up around the perimeter of the parking lot with the back facing inward. The kids run from one to another, playing games and hoarding more sugar.

There was a steady cold rain last night so the event was held inside the school. I saw a new kind of costume, dinosaur suits with a battery operated fan in each side to keep it inflated. The boy in this one was particularly aggressive, challenging anything in his path. He ran up against my Artica friend Paul, whose sons go to the same school, dressed as an a knight in armor. No clear winner.