How Do You Celebrate Halloween?
I guess that paranoia carried over into my adult life, because I have only taken my son trick-or-treating in the neighborhood twice in his life and both times he was too young to eat candy anyway. We head to a carnival hosted by a mall or the city instead. It wouldn't matter much in our neighborhood, though. I've noticed that with each passing year more and more porch lights are turned off on that night and if we're home, we may only get a handful of trick-or-treaters.
I think it makes me a little sad that my kid won't have that same experience that I did... of going to see all my neighbors and seeing their reaction to a costume that my mom and I worked really hard pulling together. He won't have the excitement knowing that this certain neighbor always makes cupcakes and this certain neighbor always gives out a full-sized candy bar (the stuff neighborhood legends were made of back then.) Maybe I'm just old fashioned.
So, I'm wondering if this is just how things are in my neck of the woods. How do you all celebrate Halloween? What are your plans this year?
Comments
My 3 year old son was born on Halloween so we turn our annual Halloween party into a big birthday party with a bonfire, costumes, chili, hotdogs, scary stories, and games. On Halloween night we still trick o’treat.
I agree with you 100%! I grew up in the same neighborhood from the time I was 3 until I got married at 18, and then bought a house in the same neighbor hood about a year after we were married.
My sister is 8 years younger than I am, so my husband and I took her up until she quit going (her first year in high school a bunch of them dressed as the Spice Girls). People were home and still passing out candy.
We had our first son in 2002 and I have ALWAYS been a halloween nut anyway, so we took him out the first year and there were a few less people passing out fromthe years before, but it was still nice. The second year in 2003-I cried when we got home. Out of about 100 houses, only about 15 people were passing out candy. I spoke to one of the neighbors who was home that night and he was telling me how sad he was to see things this way, that he LOVES to see the kids dressed up and his wife and him looked FORWARD to passing out and having a fun night.
I find it very sad that people just do not seem to have the same heart as they used to, it takes away from the little ones who want to trick or treat, but I think it also takes some fun away from THEM too! Who doesn’t like to see a little one all dressed up and excited?
So we take the boys to Boo at the Zoo here, and then we also take them to the “safe” halloween put on by the town that is held at the Square. I guess the kids see it as fun since they do not know it any other way, but I think it is just a little sad.
There are also some churches that do what they call a Trunk-or-Treat for the children of their church where the people of the church come park their cars and pass out candy from the truck while the kids walk around. Our church does not do that, but I have heard the ones that do add a lot of fun activities to the evening.
I remember, when I was kid, dressing up in my costume before school (back then you could wear them to school) & starting trick-or-treating shortly after I got home. We’d be out all night, until around 10pm.
By the time I started taking my oldest trick-or-treating, the city had put a curfew on it. Now, you have 1 1/2 - 2 hrs for trick-or-treating. Also, the schools don’t allow costumes anymore.
It became too much of a hassle (even though I homeschool now so I can dress them as early as I want) to get them all dressed for only 2 hours of fun. Now, we do stuff at home mostly. We eat halloween themed food, play halloween themed games, & watch Halloween themed movies. I dress them up & we trick-or-treat at family’s houses, or they go with my stepmom to the celebration her town does. They like that stuff, but they prefer what we do at home. Next year, we plan to start doing annual Halloween parties for our kids, their friends, & our nieces & nephews.
It makes me sad that my kids won’t have the same memories that I had. I’m glad I’ve been able to do something else for them that they enjoy just as much, and I know they’ll have memories of our Halloween traditions. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and I would hate for my kids to miss out on how much fun it can be.
Actually the threat of razors in the candy is a very small one. One or two cases of this and everyone became paranoid. Sad.