October brings fall along with festivals, pumpkin picking, colored leaves, and for some Halloween. The one day in October that I think is important to have a tradition is the eve of Halloween. This is the night that teens whether good or not can get into mischief, it is “Mischief Night”, after all.

When I started this tradition, I was not thinking that far a head but found that I was creating a family tradition that was fun and would keep my teens out of trouble. When my daughter was three years old, we stopped at my in-laws to cause some mischief. We rang the bell and hid, while we were waiting for Pepa to answer the door, there was nothing but giggles as we tried to be quiet. Pepa came to the door, looked, and shut the door. I guess we should have given a heads up so he could play along. After the third ring he saw us hiding behind the car and called Mema to come see what he found.

We repeated this over the next couple years and we added bringing a roll of toilet paper to drape over their bushes. They expected us each year and had hot chocolate ready for us. By the time my second daughter was five, we had been doing it for seven years and we invited others to come join in the fun. When the older kids reached pre-teen, we had my nephews joining in and the neighbors knew the Ferrucci’s would be decorating the trees on the whole street with toilet paper. The even became so big, we would set up a table and chairs and would serve apple cider, hot chocolate, coffee, and donuts.

During teens years when friends would ask the girls to go out, they would decline and get ready to go mummify Pepa. With each tradition another starts. The girls decided that each year they would turn Pepa into a mummy with toilet paper. The tradition wound up including many families, many children, and many memories. We stopped the tradition about five years ago but this year it will be rekindled at my house so my Princes can come ring my bell and then mummify Poppy. Of course Mema, Pepa, Nonni, and the crew will be coming over. We will be making new memories with a new generation!

*** Each year Mema and another couple neighbors gladly went out in the morning to clean up the toilet paper***

For more fall memories, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:

• Homemade Hot Chocolate Like Grandma Made by Confessions of an Overworked Mom
• Fall Football Family Traditions by Controlled Confusion
• Childhood Memories Trick or Treat by Life with Lisa
• Halloween Memories by Champagne Living

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