Why We Don't Celebrate Halloween

In the never ending myriad of mommy war topics, this is one that I get tired of explaining. So I'm doing it here, once and for all.

Why don't we celebrate Halloween?

I don't know.

Honestly, I can't explain in words what it is that makes me not want to participate. But there is just something that we cannot get past.

I don't really see anything wrong with Halloween. Dressing up is fun. Candy is fun. Free candy is REALLY fun. But...there's just something about it that doesn't sit right with me.

So does this mean that we don't do anything in October? Not true! This year, October has been SUPER crazy busy for us! We got to meet firefighters and climb in a firetruck. We went to a fall festival at my mom's school. We went apple picking with my sister and brother-in-law. We went to Maker Faire. Our church held a Harvest Party last week that we went to. We have even carved pumpkins. Two in fact.

I have never gone trick or treating. Travis went every year. Before we had kids, we would go to Halloween parties, and hand out candy to the kids. But something changed when we had kids, and now, we don't celebrate anymore.We talked, and prayed, and talked, and prayed, and prayed some more about how to handle this holiday. And we decided that its just not for us.

We still let Penelope dress up, but this isn't a far cry from every day - she LOVES to dress up.

I have noticed one thing this year. It seems to me (and it could just be me) that the decorations and costumes have gotten a lot more scary. There seems to be a lot more ghouls, ghosts, and skulls than in past years. When you have a child who is very sensitive to this sort of thing (she was afraid of Tinkbell being chased by a cat in The Great Fairy Rescue), you tend to avoid them. Our neighbors throw a block party on Halloween. We went last year and had a great time. This year, however, we probably won't be going because they have put up a HUGE floating skull ghoul that I'm sure would scare Penelope. It's unfortunate because we really did have a good time last year, but the last thing I need is a 3 year old waking up screaming because she had a bad dream.

So why don't we celebrate? Is it because of the pagan history? Is it because of the weird spiritual aspects that always seem to come up? Is it because, in some weird way, I want to continue my non trick or treating streak? Is it because we don't want our kids to have tons of candy? Is it because of the fear factor?

Maybe. It could be any of these, or something else. It could be a little of each one. Like I said, I can't really explain why we don't. It's just the decision we made for our family.

So if you wanna go trick or treating, you won't get any judgement from us. We get its a personal preference, and I'm not trying to convert anyone. Just be safe and have a GREAT time!!!