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Show Rambo to hold hostage for Halloween grassroots i (Any grade school teacher will I testify it isn't Halloween. But, with glucose pumping through their j veins, it is the day after when the I monsters appear!) I Copyright 1985 Becky Grass Johnson goodies. That's when I'll lose my cool, grab Rambo's gun and shriek like a banshee. All my little goblins will fall in line to begin our trek into the night. Big Bird will lose half her feathers to the wind, dancing bear will complain she can't see out of the bear head, Mr. Rogers will whine to go to a different neighborhood, neigh-borhood, and Rambo will leave us in his dust. After an hour of so or terrorizing the area, I'll gather the little sprites together and we'll march home to bed. Candy wrappers will cover the floors, feathers and fur will be tracked from front door to bed and I'll wipe makeup from sleepy faces. I'll tuck away the costumes for yet another year and brace myself for the scariest dday of the year. By BECKI GRASS JOHNSON It's a frightening time of year. Ghosts, witches and jack-o-lanterns jeer from store windows. Wails and shrieks can be heard from my children as we leave the store without the bags of trick-or-treat candy that had looked so enticing. Halloween is a holiday that strikes fear in the heart of any mother. It was different when I was a child. My mother would simply retrieve a ragged white sheet from the linen closet, cut out two eye holes and safety pin it in the back. Ta-dah! I was Casper the ghost. Things are no longer so simple. This year my sons wants to be Rambo. All he needs is a bandanna around his head and a machine gun and we are in business. (It could be worse. Last year he wanted to be a transformer.) One daughter wants to be Big Bird. Another wants to be a dancing bear. My four-year-old wants to be Mr. Rogers. That shouldn't be a problem. A sweater and sneakers should do the; trick, except my four-" year-old is a little girl. by BKCKI GRASS JOHNSON It will all work out somehow. I'll stay up nights fashioning feathers and fake fur so everyone will be ready for the big night. It is inevitable that 15 minutes before we leave, Big Bird will decide she really wanted to be a dancing bear. Mr. Rogers will cry because she really wanted to be Cinderella. And Rambo, with his M-16, will be holding dancing bear hostage in a corner until she solemnly swears to give him one third of her-Halleween |