Halloween had evolved over the years as the kids got older. Paytin is my boy who changes his mind often, and Austin, my older boy, is in the in-between of being too old to do the trick or treat. In fact, he told me that next year would be his last year doing trick or treat as most of his friends stopped doing it and had Halloween parties instead.

This year, instead of shopping for the costume early and Paytin changing his mind about who he will be, we decided to shop for the costume on the Saturday before Halloween. We go to our usual spot, Spirit of Halloween, for costumes; needless to say, everything is overpriced.

My older son decided to get a matching lion costume with his girlfriend, and Paytin decided on a Pokemon character costume. Instead of going out to buy candy bags, my husband and I just had our lights off for a low-key night and a small bag of candy in case any kids came knocking on our door.

Gone were the days when we had to sit in the foyer, layering our kids up with warm clothing and ensuring we were warm ourselves as we had to brave the cold along with them. This year, Paytin had a group of buddies who decided to hit the neighborhood strategically for full-size candy. At the same time, my older boy went to his buddy’s area for a short jaunt around the neighborhood and a Halloween after-party.

If this is not a sign that our kids are fast growing up, I don’t know what is. I often hear people say to me, Precious, those babies, they grow up fast, and it really didn’t hit me as hard as when events like these hit you in your face for you to realize how independent our kids had grown.

This is another reminder to treasure every opportunity to spend quality time with my boys, as I know there aren’t many more years before the boys will have the independence to drive around on their own. Wisdom does come with age and experience, and if I have any advice for the young mothers out there, that as challenging as the initial years of motherhood may be, pick your battles and don’t sweat the small stuff as time flies. It is more important to savor those precious moments with your little ones until they are not so little anymore.