It’s not lost on me that my liberal family loves Halloween. The holiday of witches and wizards, magic, zombies, and demons. Of dress-up and candy and general fun and mischief.
Of course we find this all to be very harmless, while others do not. Some schools have a ‘Harvest celebration’ while others just ignore the American tradition entirely.
I’m very big on teaching lessons around here, so parents standing by their beliefs is well-respected by me and my husband. However I am baffled as to the harm in playing pretend and getting candy- even if you take away any ‘dark’ elements of the holiday.
So while my witch and wizard enter their world of make-believe, I’d love to hear what your family does, and why when it comes to the evil Satan holiday that is Halloween.
Regardless of what your family celebrates, I do hope it includes some wonder and magic for your children…after all they are only children for a short while, and the world of reality and responsibility will smack them soon enough.
I love love love love their costumes.
Kind of disappointed that the puppy wasn’t fluffy LOL
.-= pamela @vampiresmitten´s last blog ..Challenge 29- Read And Learn =-.
Thank you for this!! My child has been smacked with more reality then most adults can handle, so this year we will be celebrating Old Hallows Eve for the full weekend!! Kicking off tonite with a party that includes Zombie’s, tomorrow a football game(in costume) and then Sunday with a party & trick or treating!! Hopefully, an added overdose of candy & unreality will be just what is needed!!
We celebrate. Its fun Our kids like the mildly spooky element and we enjoy watching them try to be scary. Our town does town-wide trick or treat at the shops during the day. Our neighborhood is perfect for night-time – lots of houses lit up. Our church actually has a Halloween Party, not just “Harvest” but we are in New England, so maybe that’s why.
I do have Jewish friends and even some family that choose not to participate in this holiday because of its historical associations of Jewish persecutions in Europe. I know many Orthodox neighbors choose to darken and feel this holiday celebrates something that they cannot honor. I completely respect that. I don’t think most American families are “celebrating” in that vein, nor do I think my Jewish friends and family are afraid of the devil, but rather not wishing to party and commemorate the truly darker parts of this holiday – the way it has been used to persecute others.
I have celebrated this holiday, which some pagans call “Samhain” with 500 pagans in a big ritual. It WAS magic. The ritual is to open the doors between the dead and the living, and then to say goodbye to everyone who has passed on to the other world…and then after that bit of sadness, to chant the names of all the new babies, welcoming them to life and the community. It is a beautiful thing.
.-= Suebob´s last blog ..Reunited and it feels so fine =-.
I agree with you Erin! I see no harm in in the wonder and magic for kids. As you said, they are only young once and should get to have fun and pretend and enjoy themselves!
This reminds me of a friend who told me I was actually lying to my kids by telling them there’s a Santa Claus – I was floored because I see it as that same kind of *wonder* and *magic* – so have a ball this weekend and tell those kids to cast lots of spells! 😉
.-= Cathy´s last blog ..CathyIsReal- @maryms1980 Thanks Mary!! Glad youre ok after your incident this morning! =-.
I grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in NYC and no one objected to Halloween. Of course, back then (1970s) it was a kids holiday and not an excuse for adults to have Mardi Gras in October and for the manufacturers to sell tons of overpriced nasty crap like fake dismembered limbs.
Also back then, teenage girls lusted after real human males, not wussy sparkling vampires. Donny Osmond and David Cassidy may have been wusses too, but it gave you a slightly more realistic idea of what might be out there 😀
Kids love Halloween more than Christmas –which a lot of them don’t celebrate anyway. It’s inclusive, it means you can dress up as whatever you want to be and you get CANDY!
What could be better?
And shame on anyone who’d deny kids that magic.
.-= Library Lady 61´s last blog ..OK- Boys Do This Too =-.
I have to say I like how the cute pup gets incorporated into the whole Hogwarts vibe. 🙂
.-= Steven Buehler´s last blog ..Family Role Models =-.
Hi Erin, I’m the weird family that doesn’t celebrate Halloween in any manner. Well, I shouldn’t say not in any manner because my family and I drove down to Asheville, North Carolina from Michigan to help run a festival over this weekend. Our goal is to reach out to those who suffer from the dark underbelly of Halloween. Have you ever heard of SRA? –that’s satanic ritual abuse–look it up on google. Wait don’t. You won’t like what you see. There are so many innocent people who are hurt and abused over specifically Halloween weekend. For me, to have my beautiful littles run around asking for candy is like having a party to celebrate 9-11 with candy and balloons. Even though that was bad and people lost their lives we should still have fun and celebrate it as a happy thing, no big deal right? For me, it is a big deal. And as I spend this weekend talking with and feeding people who have been effected I don’t regret my decision as a Mamma.
And for any thoughts that are geared towards my littles not living life or being allowed to pretend, let me assure you they get that opportunity. And not only that they understand why we don’t on Halloween. And they are okay with that. Besides, during this festival of feeding a hot meal to the hurting, the homeless, and poverty stricken they are with some of their best friends enjoying the music and being a part of something far more fulfilling.
P.s. Thanks for hearing me out. I love reading what you have to say about life–although we sure do disagree on a number of things–I appreciate that you are driven by a love foryour babies and are actually doing something about it.
.-= Grace´s last blog ..Mountains in HDR =-.
may god protect u and your family amen pls help me in searching for my dear uncle who name is luqman abdulrauf but his nike name is bush man.pls my regard to your family
I’m not sure I can adequately follow-up on habib abdullahi’s comment, but I’ll do my best.
I’m so happy I don’t have to fight the battle of no Halloween in the schools around here. There is a parade! And a costume contest! And parties! My youngest (8) went as Jango Fett; my daughter (12) went as a devil cheerleader; my eldest (13) just wore a Scream mask for his last year of trick-or-treating.
.-= patois´s last blog ..The Non-Fan =-.
We absolutely celebrate Halloween – as a fun holiday of dressing up and getting free candy from the neighbors.
.-= Bryony Boxer´s last blog ..We Have a Winner! =-.
Having also been raised in a Jewish neighborhood and maintaing a Kosher home in a much more diverse neighborhood, Halloween has always been problematic, as its origins are partly Pagan and partly Christian. In the 1960’s, there was some respectability introduced via UNICEF cartons. In public school, the day was regarded as something of an American pageant,, quite removed from its origin. Even the Hasidim of my native Monsey regarded the day as one of Minhag B’Makom, or local custom, and gave Trick or Treaters some Matzoh Brie or other similar goodies.
The UNICEF cartons have long since disappeared, along with the respectability of the UN which seemed to go down with Dag Hammerschold’s plane. The kids are left with a form of the gimmes, though a controlled one. Matzoh Brei, if the Hasidim of Monsey still have any trick or treaters to give it to, is probably tossed by responsible parents concerned about adulterated home made treats.
At my own home, we only had one group show up this year, a handful the last few years, so I end up eating most of the candy, though in a rationed way. Halloween is definitely not what it once was. Still, I think it’s still beneficial to kids to have some time on the calendar for imagination and a few treats.
.-= furrydoc´s last blog ..Election Day =-.
I have always loved Halloween and the creativity it encourages.
.-= Bobbi Janay´s last blog ..Six Years Later =-.
I love, love, love Halloween as does my entire family. Only twice was I ever something “cutesy” for the holiday. My very first Halloween I was a witch, as was my second, and third (you catch my drift). I am a Christian women but I do not see any problem with Halloween. I believe that it no longer is about anything truly dark but is not just about little kids dressing up, getting candy and meeting your neighbors.
.-= H2Mommy´s last blog ..Trick-Or-Treat! =-.
I think Halloween is more than fine to celebrate in school. If a parent has reasons why they do not what their children to celebrate it, keep your children home that day. I also do believe for elementary aged children that the over the top scary and vile costumes should not be allowed. Everyone’s brains process fear and fright differently. And that is all I have to say about that =)
We love Halloween. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories, the fun we had on Halloween. Back then we would trick or treat at home AND at Grandma’s because we had a whole neighborhood of friends over there, too. Such fun.
We decorated the yard this year with small light-up pumpkins and ghosts, ghosts on sticks that I found dirt cheap at the drugstore, and a garland of glowing ghosts across the garage. It’s the most I’ve ever decorated for Halloween and our little guy loved it. He was Captain Rex from Clone Wars. His school had a party, and his daycare had one, he chose to go to the daycare since that’s where he went to preschool as well. Or that’s just where he was at the end of the day so he wanted to go back there!
We don’t go in for the crazy scary stuff…no gore or Freddy Kruger stuff, that’s not really what Halloween is about to us. It’s just a fun day for the kids to dress up and have fun.
.-= Kathryn (@Kat1124)´s last blog ..Who Am I =-.