Yesterday while passing by the bulk bins at the Tacoma Food Co-op my children innocently asked: "Can we buy yogurt covered pretzels?" My response: "Hmmm, Friday you have a school harvest party, we are going to 2 halloween parties on Saturday, there is a harvest party after church on Sunday and Halloween is on Monday. Sorry, there is NO WAY I am bringing anything with sugar home with us today". They didn't even begin to counter.
Growing up, I don't remember having a Halloween party at school. Maybe, I just wasn't invited, but I don't think I ever went to Halloween parties outside of school either. I certainly wasn't parading around local business districts soliciting candy. I don't think I even wore my costume outside of the house until Halloween night. I have nothing against Halloween. I love that my children get to wear their well planned costumes a few times before they outgrow them next year. Still, it just feels like over kill. With Thanksgiving and Christmas waiting as we round the corner back from trick-or-treating, I could do without the week long festival of candy and gluttony we celebrate every October. How do you say "bah humbug" in halloween?
Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can give mention to all of the sweet things that haven't seemed to change much over the years. It is funny how the important parts of life seem to carry on. Those things that we treasure most stand the test of time. Forget about the candy, these are the sweet things:
Watching my Children admiring their costumed selves in the mirror for the first time.
Getting together with friends that I don't get to see often enough.
Watching the Charlie Brown, Great Pumpkin, with the kids.
Toasting pumpkin seeds.
Family night walks to check out the best decorations in the neighborhood.
Illuminating our well planned jack-o-lanterns on Halloween night.
Saying hello to neighbors that we rarely see.
The palpable excitement in the air as we head down set off trick-or-treating.
The sheer delight on my children's faces as they dump out the mountain of candy they have collected on the living room floor.
What are your thoughts on Halloween? The bigger the better or simple is sweet?
If you think Halloween is bad in Tacoma, you out to see New Jersey. The houses in Pennsauken are decorated almost as much for Halloween as they are for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWe used to have halloween parties at school - we'd have a half day and there'd be a halloween parade and we'd have a costume contest (I don't think the winner got anything, but I won at least once because my mom made us great costumes). I like the fall-like activities associated with halloween - ie pumpkin picking - and it's fun to find a great costume and go out as you normally wouldn't once a year, but I agree a bit. Christmas is the time to over-do it with food, drink, decorations, parties, etc. Halloween, not quite so much. My biggest gripe with halloween is that it's gotten so over-protective. Here, there's a curfew of like 5 PM and a lot of kids get driven door to door or trick-or-treat in the mall. We used to go out at 8 PM and walk all around, either by ourselves or a group of us with one parent.
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