A Few Thoughts About Halloween
Our family doesn't celebrate Halloween.
I didn't grow up celebrating Halloween. My mom had a negative view of about this particular holiday. Honestly, she didn't see it as anything worth celebrating therefore I didn't. I don't recall ever wearing a costume although I do remember going over to a teacher's house on one Halloween because it was the same day as her daughter's birthday. This is really the only memory I have of ever doing anything as a child on Halloween. My mom also did not believe in taking candy from strangers, and Halloween DID NOT make this practice acceptable.
Now that my husband and I are parents, we had to decide the way we would celebrate the American holidays like Halloween. Before children, we never really had an in depth discussion about Halloween, and we truly fell into not celebrating it.
The one year I worked at a local daycare, I was somewhat pressured to do more than I preferred for Halloween since the center hosted a Trunk or Treat for the families. One of the parents made it her business to ensure my girls had on some type of costume for fear of missing out at ages 1 and 4. I relented and allowed her to have her way because I knew her heart was in a good place, and the costumes she brought them weren't too bad, a pumpkin and Minnie Mouse. We still have the photo of that Halloween around here somewhere. That's one of the few Halloween moments we have shared as a family.
As the girls have gotten older, I thought it would be more difficult for us to go against the grain since many of this yearly celebrations are so ingrained in our culture. There are celebrations at churches under the guise "Fall Festivals", carnivals at schools, and parties at friends house. And we can't forget the many children walking through the neighborhoods with their costumes from one of the many pop up Halloween stores. Yeah, it's everywhere,
Our daughters are fine with not celebrating Halloween. Each of them has drawn her own conclusion about what Halloween means to them. It's funny how each of them have sided with my mom in some way especially since she hasn't ever said anything to them about Halloween. One of my daughter's doesn't believe it glorifies the Most High God, and my other daughter believes that you do not need to ask for candy that you can buy your own candy, and you can actually buy your favorite candy.
Each year, Halloween looks different for us by no real effort of our own. We've had the opportunity to do something meaningful like serving meals at our local low-income, homeless shelter alongside friends who also do not celebrate one Halloween. We've had the opportunity to make it a movie night with the porch lights off on quite a few Halloweens. But for the most part, we treat Halloween just like any other night of the year.
Like all celebratory days, I am thankful that we have the opportunity to choose the days we will celebrate for our individual families.
For those of you who do not celebrate, what do you usually do on this day?
For those of you who do celebrate, stay safe and remember to wear reflective clothing.
