My least favorite holiday is Halloween. I know, stop looking at me like a party pooper. It’s super fun to dress up and pretend to be someone else. I majored in theatre, I get that part really well! If that’s where it ended, I think I would be fine with it.
I’m not a total curmudgeon. We do some trick or treating with our son, usually around the town merchants and at various “trunk or treat” harvest festivals at local churches. We let him pick out his costume and wear it around as much as humanly possible. Craig and I are also more than happy to welcome the influx of chocolate into our homes. Our 3 year old doesn’t need ALL of that chocolate and it is very important to teach sharing to small children. Especially sharing candy with his parents. Especially dark chocolate. Even more especially with his pregnant mother.
 |
| Ashlea's preference, if you are interested. |
Trick or Treating when I was a child was a kid’s day. It consisted of Momma making our costumes or painting our faces and taking us around the neighborhoods where we knew everyone. Those houses had a jack-o-lantern eerily glowing and maybe a lady in a witch hat. There was a bowl of candy and friendly smiles from the door way. Amanda and I would chime in with our “Trick or treat?!” quickly followed by an exuberant “Thank you!” for the chocolate donation. Usually, the parents didn’t dress up and neither did the poor dogs. (Dogs hate that mess, by the way. There. I said it.)
It doesn’t quite look the same these days. That might be my problem. I’m stuck in the rose-colored days of yesteryear. These days, it’s not just a fun night for little kids, it’s a booming business for adults in naughty costumes and scary parties. I was even recently asked if I planned to paint my third trimester belly into a big pumpkin for the occasion. (That goes under “things not to say to a pregnant woman” which is another column entirely.)
Halloween is a commercial heyday these days that even rivals Christmas spending. You may have noticed that Halloween and Christmas have completely eclipsed Thanksgiving in many stores. Why? Thanksgiving is a day that you take time to be thankful for what you have, not for what you are looking to get. The message from stores and the media is that you need to “BUY, BUY, BUY!” Candy, costumes, decorations, fake blood, etc to save the economy! Be American! Be ready to “BUY, BUY, BUY!” on Black Friday, too!
I personally would like to see a return to the Halloween of old-ish. A friendly, slightly spooky time for kids to be kids, dressed up in alter-egos of every sort from princesses to astronauts & pilots. A time to get a little extra chocolate and skittles. A time to run around with friends before the sugar crash! I hope everyone stays safe this year. Pass me your dark chocolate.
 |
| Trick or Treat?! :) |
No comments:
Post a Comment