So yesterday I blogged about 5 Things I Love About Halloween. Today,
I'll tell you 5 things I don't like about it. Here goes.
1. Pagan
history - The history of
Halloween is rather dark, but also somewhat uncertain. Some say it came from
Celtic harvest festivals where they gathered food and supplies for the winter.
Then the Celts mimicked evil spirits by dressing in costume to scare the dead
from coming back and causing havoc, such as sickness or crop failure. But as one astute reader commented yesterday, one can also view it more positively as All Souls Day, followed on November 1 by All Saints Day, when you remember lost loved ones. Sort of a Memorial Day, if you will. You can
read about Halloween history here.
2. Teenagers
trick-or-treating - I think
it's cute when costumed little ones come trick-or-treating. But when the kids
are as big as I am, not so much. I still give them candy, but personally, I'd
like to see parents tell kids they're too old to go trick-or-treating when they
start high school. That's just me. They can still have costume parties, or hand
out candy at the door, or any other fun Halloween activities. But when kids get
that old, they're not all that cute anymore. Instead, they often tend to be greedy,
showing up with pillowcases already loaded with candy, no parental guidance, and an attitude of entitlement. Which takes me to the
next thing I don't like about Halloween.
3. Greedy kids/parents -
Children who come to the door all cute and dressed up melt my heart—until they
grab the candy and run without so much as a thank you. And the parents waiting
don't always make them come back and say thank you, either. They're missing out
on a wonderful teaching moment.
4. Scary
decorations - Why do people
have to have bloody, scary, moving decorations in their yards these days?
Developmentally, children under the age of five have a hard time knowing what's
real and what's not. Let's not traumatize kids. Let's keep Halloween about
jack-o-lanterns, orange and black, candy, costumes, fall, etc. (Stepping off
soapbox now...).
5. Inappropriate
costumes - I honestly cannot
for the life of me figure out how some parents justify the horrific or sexy
costumes they put on their little darlings. (I know, I sound like an old
judgmental bat!) Believe me, when they're sixteen and asking to wear the same
thing, it's going to be hard to explain logically why it was okay when they
were five, but not now. Let kids be kids. Don't make them into some gruesome or
sex-charged character. They're only little for such a short time. Use the time
wisely and dress them up as cute as you can, while you can!
So there you have it. My Halloween gripe list. Now I promise to
shut up and go eat some candy. :)
What do you see as the pros and cons, likes and dislikes about
Halloween? How do you deal with them?
