What Do You Do On Halloween?

[Gwen]

i don't like all the horror stuff. my kids aren't allowed to dress up as anything bad, or evil. we had a pumpkin, tigger, superman, and a hot pepper this year. i get anoyed with the houses that want to scare little kids or those who wear full face masks and then get up in my kids faces. i tell them exactly what i think. one thing that also bugs me is this year we had a teenager go with us and she dressed up and had a bag but people didn't want to give her candy because they thought she was to old. but we had an old lady come to our house in full face mask so you couldn't tell it was an old lady. at least the teenager was honest about who she was. anyway.

one of the houses had a man dressed as jason, mask, and everything. from what i'm told he had a decent costume (i haven't seen the movie myself). anyway my 5 yr old asked him, 'what are you'. he said 'i'm jason.' and my son said, 'no what is your costume supposed to be.' lol i figured so much for that plan, real scarry.

[pushka]

one thing that also bugs me is this year we had a teenager go with us and she dressed up and had a bag but people didn't want to give her candy because they thought she was to old. but we had an old lady come to our house in full face mask so you couldn't tell it was an old lady. at least the teenager was honest about who she was. anyway.

This happened to my son Daniel too. He separated from the other kids..teens and younger, and started Trick or Treating by himself and got lots more cash and candy

[Traveler]

Thanks Begood--you captured it well.

On a similar note, yesterday I explained to my kindergartner why we're not celebrating Halloween, but go to alternatives instead. First, I asked her what she thought, and she said that witches, ghosts, and evil cats were not nice. So, I said, "Right. Those people that first celebrated Halloween tried to scare devils by dressing up scary. Today, people seem to think too much about the bad things. So, we celebrate Harvest Festival, to thank God for food. Or, like we did this year, we have Hallelujah Night, to praise God--who can protect us from all bad things.

Bottom-line (for the child): But we still love candy, right?

ABSOLUTELY, JOY! :-)

Things from pagan thought, concepts and worship are so much a part of our culture, intertainment, rituals and traditions that it is my opinion that turning away from "Holloween" celebrations is akin to straining at a knat and swallowing a cammel.

BTW - I would point out to my forum friends that "Democracy" is a pagan concept and that a "Kingdom" is more in line with government authority according to scripture - ie. Jesus is a King with a Kingdom.

The Traveler

[StrawberryFields]

My new neighborhood had a trunk a treat thing at the church. They went little paper reminders around so at the house we only had three trick or treaters. The youngest was dressed up as a shark (hard to walk in) and the other two were teenage girls who came together dressed in goth. I spent much of the night on MSN with friends and looking at my Christmas tree in the box.

[boyando]

Strawberry,

I could use a little Christmas, right about now, too. If I didn't think that they would lock me up for it, My tree would be up now.

allmosthumble

[StrawberryFields]

Whose going to lock you up?

About needing a little Christmas right now....I hope all is well with you and yours.

[Dr T]

I've seen Christmas decorations for sale already.

[prisonchaplain]

Things from pagan thought, concepts and worship are so much a part of our culture, intertainment, rituals and traditions that it is my opinion that turning away from "Holloween" celebrations is akin to straining at a knat and swallowing a cammel.

BTW - I would point out to my forum friends that "Democracy" is a pagan concept and that a "Kingdom" is more in line with government authority according to scripture - ie. Jesus is a King with a Kingdom.

The Traveler

Sometimes, you've got to discover the tree before you realize you're in a forrest.

Concerning democracy, Jesus said that his kingdom was not of his world. Furthermore, Samuel tried to warn the Israelites against a kingdom. Apparently, ruling judges were better.

So, as much as this may contradict socially conservative sensiblities, maybe we should have judges who legislate from the bench?

(Just kidding!!!!)

[begood2]

So, as much as this may contradict socially conservative sensibilities, maybe we should have judges who legislate from the bench?

(Just kidding!!!!)

Good thing that you were joking PC....because I kind of think that they already are...lol

[prisonchaplain]

Good thing that you were joking PC....because I kind of think that they [judges legislating from the bench]already are...lol

No thinking about it. You're right. And while we are tremendously hilarious , THEY are not.

[boyando]

Whose going to lock you up?

About needing a little Christmas right now....I hope all is well with you and yours.

I may or may not need to be locked up, for the crime of abusing Christmas. The Scrooge patrol seems to have there eye on me.

Strawberry; Once again I feel in your dept. One of my daughters, marriage is coming to an end. Her sadness is my sadness. It seems like there is nothing but anger and crying in my home at this time. But in between the moments of despair, the comforter has been here.

Thanks for your concern, Strawberry, and all of you, who, will keep my family in there prayers.

I hope that you all will hold your family tight. I know the Father love's us, all. - allmosthumble

[Dr T]

LOL AMH

[shanstress70]

<div class='quotemain'>

Whose going to lock you up?

About needing a little Christmas right now....I hope all is well with you and yours.

I may or may not need to be locked up, for the crime of abusing Christmas. The Scrooge patrol seems to have there eye on me.

Strawberry; Once again I feel in your dept. One of my daughters, marriage is coming to an end. Her sadness is my sadness. It seems like there is nothing but anger and crying in my home at this time. But in between the moments of despair, the comforter has been here.

Thanks for your concern, Strawberry, and all of you, who, will keep my family in there prayers.

I hope that you all will hold your family tight. I know the Father love's us, all. - allmosthumble

I'm so sorry your family is having a rough time, AMH. Hope all gets better soon.

[StrawberryFields]

<div class='quotemain'>

Whose going to lock you up?

About needing a little Christmas right now....I hope all is well with you and yours.

I may or may not need to be locked up, for the crime of abusing Christmas. The Scrooge patrol seems to have there eye on me.

Strawberry; Once again I feel in your dept. One of my daughters, marriage is coming to an end. Her sadness is my sadness. It seems like there is nothing but anger and crying in my home at this time. But in between the moments of despair, the comforter has been here.

Thanks for your concern, Strawberry, and all of you, who, will keep my family in there prayers.

I hope that you all will hold your family tight. I know the Father love's us, all. - allmosthumble

EKKK I did know putting up my Christmas tree after Halloween was abusing Christmas.

AMH,

I know how our childrens saddness is also our saddness.

You are right, we need to remember to always hold our families tight.

Hugs and prayers to you and yours.

[TXRed]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I totally respect the choice of those who chose not to celebrate Halloween for what ever reason, including the belief of it's pagan roots.That being said, how can members of the church be so divided as to seeing Halloween as evil or not? It is clear the the leaders of the church don't see the way many of us celebrate Halloween as wrong because the programs of the church sponsor parties for Halloween and have people dress up.

Good question! My personal feelings are that since so many do celebrate Halloween, the Church tries to make it a "safer" time by having trunk or treat parties at Church. (in other words, I don't think it is a matter of the Church thinking it is not evil or them thinking that it is. I think it is one of those things that we all have to decide for ourselves.) In fact, in our little town, you don't see many kids out trick or treating, because almost all of the Churches (every denomination) has a party to keep the kids off the streets.

I appreciate you saying that you respect the choice of those who chose not to celebrate Halloween. In my old ward, there were only 2 families that did not celebrate Halloween. When the other mom and I realized that we were similar in that respect, we started repeating all of the ugly things that had been said to us.

I don't care who celebrates Halloween. In fact, I loved Halloween when I was a kid. Over the years, I saw that things could not be (for my children) like they were when I was a kid. For one thing, hubby and I lived way out in the country with the closest neighbors over a mile every direction. My sister in law took her children into the town we were raised in and was very selective about where she took them. (two or three neighbors of her mom and 2 / 3 neighbors of her in laws) As a child, we were not too keen on kids coming into our neighborhood from miles away; so I was not in favor of doing that either.

Early on, I decided that if my children could not celebrate Halloween safely like we did then, I would only allow them to go to Halloween parties at people's homes. . . . .no trick or treating. Then, I read some literature on Halloween that a friend gave me, and one of the poems that was in the material really tugged at my heart; so I decided to just eliminate it all together.

Since we lived way out and no one came trick or treating at our house, it was fairly easy to eliminate the whole thing. Then, we started getting pressure from Church members, because we would not participate in the Church activity for Halloween.

My feelings were . . . .. .why should I bring back an activity that I had eliminated? I felt that the Church was trying to help keep the children safe who would otherwise be out on the streets trick or treating. Mine weren't; so why should I bring something into my life that I had managed to eliminate?

I bought plenty of candy, and we turned out all of the lights and watched movies as a family all night. When we moved to our new home which is actually in the city limits, we continued with our lights out and watch the movies thing.

We also continued to have some Church people criticize us for not participating in the Church activity. (we are probably the ONLY family in this new ward that does not celebrate Halloween) Apparently, they thought we believed they were doing wrong. I really don't. I think it is a "free agency" thing. . . . . I have the right to NOT acknowledge the Halloween holiday, and others have the right TO celebrate Halloween. I am not the least bit offended that others celebrate it, but I do get offended by those who hassle me about my choice.

As my kids became teenagers, I allowed them to decide if they wanted to go to some of the Haunted Houses, but I asked that they NOT go on Halloween night. Then, as they got even older, they chose to occasionally go to the Church activity. They all knew how I felt about celebrating Halloween, but they were in their late teens; so I felt like they were capable of making decisions about that for themselves.

This year, one of my daughters (who is 23) called me to tell me that she had gone trick or treating for the very first time in her life. She and her older sister had taken two of my grandchildren out. She was trying to annoy me by telling me that she had gone out for the first time and had eaten some of the candy and had not died yet. I told her, "You haven't eaten it all YET". I figured that if she could try to annoy me, I could shoot it back at her. Anyway, she was not getting the response she wanted; so she kept laughing and telling me, "I'm grooowed!" I told her that if she was really grown, she wouldn't have to keep on insisting that she is with me. B)

The truth is that as their mother, I made the decision when they were younger about whether or not we would celebrate Halloween. That was my job. . . . .. to protect and guide them the best I could and in the way I felt I should. They are grown, and it is now their decision to make if they choose to celebrate Halloween or not. Those that are parents now have the responsibility to decide for their own children whether or not they will celebrate Halloween. That is their job. . . . .not mine.

I have done what I felt was right for MY family, and I expect others to do the same whether they agree with my methods or not.

I really sometimes miss the kind of Halloweens that I celebrated as a child, but I don't believe it is safe enough to do that anymore. I refuse to take my children trick or treating and then go to the hospital to have their candy bags exrayed. (that's what they do in some of the towns around the Dallas area)

My kids were certainly never deprived of candy, and they got to pick out what kinds they wanted to eat.

This past October 31st, there was only hubby and myself in the house. We went to the grocery store and bought what treats we wanted, saw a few trick or treaters on some of the streets, came home and fixed our dinner and treats, turned the lights out, and watched the old Johnny Weismiller Tarzan movies. Actually, we chose to watch the "making" of the Tarzan movies which was so much fun. We laughed all night and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. B)

We've been here now for 11 years, and no one has ever come to our door trick or treating. Of course, there are limited numbers of children in our neighborhood, and most of them think our house is haunted; so that could have something to do with the lack of trick or treaters.

So; brothers & sisters, you do your thing, and I'll do mine.

Peace,

TXRed

[StrawberryFields]

TXRed,

I loved ready your post. I think you did just fine with your children. It will be interesting to see if they pick up on your tradition in a few years.

I think I might have mentioned that we only had three trick or treaters this year. One never knows how many to expect and I ALWAYS over buy on Candy and I pick the kind I like. That candy tasted sooo good going down but doesn't look so good in me now. I think now that our children are all older hubby and I should go to the movies in that night and but the treat of our choice there. One night of splurge is better then a weeks worth.

[TXRed]

TXRed,

I ALWAYS over buy on Candy and I pick the kind I like.

Hey, that's the way to do it . . . . pick the kind you like, that is.

We had another tradition that involved candy, too. Well, two. And, even though the kids are adults, they think we are suppose to continue with these traditions.

1. February 14th - my husband started buying candy and separating it into seven baggies and laying it out on the dining room table on the morning of Feb 14 before anyone got up. He wrote their name on the baggie; so when they got up, they each got their own baggie of candy from Dad. Last year, I spent more on postage than I did the candy. Our children think they are still suppose to get their bag of candy from Dad, but now, we have the grandkids and the spouses who have to have bags, too. It's a nightmare.

Actually, it is really a lot of fun, but the postage does make it a little more difficult since only one son and his wife live close enough to get their bag.

2. Easter - We started having Easter campouts when we only had two children and we found ourselves away from home. We stopped at a roadside park for sunrise breakfast. (prior to Church membership)

When we started attending Church and joined right after the 3rd child was born, we decided that we would campout on Friday night and have sunrise breakfast Saturday morning. Plus, we invited other families to join us.

As the years rolled by, I decided that I really did not want to mess with the Easter Bunny and dyed eggs. We had gone to an event where they set up a haypile with candy, money, and other goodies in it for the kids to dig in and find. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo, we would have potluck dinner on Friday night with several other families, campout in our back pasture, have sunrise breakfast, and then, we had our haypile hunt. Each family brought two bags of individually wrapped candies for their children who were going to participate. I emptied all of the candy into a bag or box, mixed them up, and then, I had the kids separate into three age groups. The littliest got to go first, and I put about 1/3 of the candy in the haypile and turned them loose. Then, the second age group took a turn, and then the older kids.

When we moved here, we could have a fire outside, and we found that most of the parents here would not come with their kids; so we wound up with a giant slumber party. One year, I wound up staying in the room where the boys were (rocking in my chair) until they fell asleep. I had already sent all of the girls upstairs. Around 2 in the morning, something woke me up. . . . when the boys finally went to sleep, I dozed in my chair.

Well, I got out of my chair and went to see what was going on upstairs. But, first, I walked into the living room where my oldest son was sleeping on the floor. (He was probably 24 or 25 at the time) He had been "teepeed". The girls had come downstairs and put toilet paper all over him. He was still snoring not realizing that he'd been "teepeed" until he woke up in the morning.

So; I went on upstairs to check on the girls, but as I got to the bottom of the stairs, one of the girls came out of the room and headed for the upstairs bathroom; so I stepped away from the stair doorway and kept quiet until she returned to the bedroom.

I could hear all of the girls laughing and giggling from the bottom of the stairs, and I was trying to go up quietly, but that staircase creaks terribly, and I thought I would get caught any time. Those girls had been in two different rooms when they went upstairs, but then, they all went to one room, and they were laughing and giggling so much that they did not hear me "creaking" up the stairs.

I stood next to the door and listened to them laugh about having covered my son with toilet paper, and then, they laughed about how they had gone into the room where the boys and I were, and one boy woke up and looked at them and went back to sleep. Apparently, they considered "teepeeing" mom, too, but when they got close, I snored and it scared them; so they took off back up the stairs. Then, they were talking about how much fun it would be to get shoe polish and write on all of the car windows. One daughter asked the other one if she had any shoe polish, and she said she did . . . . . .in her bedroom, but she refused to go get it and told her sister where it was if she wanted it.

At this point, I knew that I was fixing to be found out, so I tried to figure out what I was going to do. When my daughter opened the door, I screamed bloody murder, and she and all of the other girls squealed and jumped back into bed and under the covers. I started repeating everything that I had just heard them saying. Then, I told them to go to bed and go to sleep, and I turned the lights off and stayed at the top of the stairs awhile until I knew everyone had dozed off.

All this time, hubby is sleeping. I decided that after that year, we were going to limit the number of teenagers, because I was exhausted. :)

I finally moved the activities to Saturday morning and until lunch time. Made it a lot easier on me.

We served a pancake breakfast, let the kids play outside for awhile until hubby got the tractor and trailer set up. Then, he drove everyone who was there (some parents came for breakfast, too) to the City Park which is only a few blocks from us. They had watergun fights all the way there and back. Then, we did the infamous haypile hunt.

Well, things have really evolved with that haypile hunt. A few years back, some of the adults decided that they would pull some of the teenagers out of the haypile and snatch their candy bags; so it became a free for all. Then, over the years, several of the adults decided that they wanted to get in on the fun of the haypile, so they bring extra candy and jump in to the hay. That gets pretty hairy, because they all start dumping hay on each other and down their shirts, etc. I stand back and video the whole thing, but I'm not crazy enough to get in there with them. Plus, at this point, most of them are wet and the hay sticks to them very well.

Even the missionaries have come out for the past couple of years to get in the haypile.

It's all fun, it's easy, and since everyone brings stuff, it's not too expensive. (that is, if you don't want it to be. . . . . .I usually buy extra candy just in case)

Plus, most of us moms sneak out a few pieces of our favorites before it ever makes it to the haypile.

Peace,

TXRed