You've Been Ghosted!!

On Monday night I was working the 3-11 shift.  I got home and saw a brown paper bag on the counter.  I thought "Awww, he got me a treat."  He, being my husband, as he often leaves treats for me when I get home from work.  So I open the bag to see two chocolate bars.  Then I noticed a sheet of paper under the bag.  It said "You've Been Ghosted" and there was a poem on it.  It went as follows:

You’ve Been Ghosted!!

In the night, we left a treat. 

The tradition is fun, one we hope you’ll repeat.

Take the ghost & pin it to your door,

it will let others know,

you need ghosted no more.

Now it’s your turn to pass on the surprise,

to two more families, we must advise.

Gather treats and deliver them soon,

within two nights, under the light of the moon.

Include a ghost with each package you give,

along with this poem for the tradition to live.

Happy Hallowe’en!!

I thought perhaps it was something the kids had brought home from school or got from a friend.  So I left it there to discuss with my husband and the kids in the morning.  It turns out that during the evening while I was at work, there was a knock at the door and when they went to answer it, there was a bag there.  Inside the bag were the two chocolate bars, the poem and a picture of a ghost.  The kids were so excited.  We don't know who left it at our door.  And that's part of the fun of it.  

So, I went online to see if I could find information about this.  And, low and behold, there is a site with some information about it.  It's called You've Been Ghosted!!   

The website states:

What is "You've Been Ghosted" ?The Autumn season brings falling leaves and raises wonderful thoughts of Halloween fun.   "You've Been Ghosted" is a fun way for children and families to share in the festive experience.

It also has this to say:

Children really enjoy the surprise of getting a treat and most try to not be seen when delivering the present. Some feel more comfortable calling ahead to a responsible adult to let them know they will be leaving a surprise. Either way, both the giver and receiver really enjoy being Ghosted. 

And it's true, my step kids were very excited about receiving it.  Yesterday we printed out two copies of the poem and also searched online for a different ghost, my stepson choose Casper the friendly ghost, which is a surprise since he is a Ghostbuster fanatic!  We printed two copies of the picture of Casper.  We put two chocolate bars, one Kit Kat and one Smarties (as these are easy treats to share if there are several kids in one house) into each bag, we put the picture of Casper in the bag.  I then decided to tape the poem on the outside of the bag, this way people could see what it was about.  

This evening as we were going out running errands, we stopped at two neighborhood houses and had the kids run out from our vehicle, put the bag at the neighbor's door, knock and run back to the vehicle.  I have two step kids so my stepdaughter did one, and my step son did the other.  They loved it!!  The giggles they had as they ran back to the vehicle yelling "Go Dad, Go!" indicating for my husband to drive away so no one could see who we were.  I don't think we were detected.  And I hope the families that we Ghosted will enjoy the Ghosting too! 

As we drove away we discussed with the kids how we could now make this a family neighborhood tradition and do it again next year!!  Something fun and simple that will have the kids (and us adults!) talking and excited about it year after year!!