Simplifying Halloween

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I thought I would share with you what our current Halloween plan is for our family.  Halloween is not my favorite holiday at all.  My husband, Dee and I came into our marriage with similar thoughts and preferences about celebrating Halloween or not.  However, to be clear, we don’t think that those who enjoy Halloween or go trick-or-treating are participating in evil and don’t have problems with our friends and family who choose to do different things.  I have read several different perspectives on it and seen different families (all of whom I love and respect) celebrate in different ways for the sake of connecting to their communities or just plain fun.

For families that have any hesitation about Halloween, I think there is often a mix of turning away from things we don’t want to be a part of, but not turning away from people.  For us in this season (which will change), two big factors come into play.

1. Our kids are pretty young.  Along with that, a couple of them are pretty sensitive to scary things (ie, talk about it for days and days or screaming and crying or nightmares, etc.).  I don’t want to give them images and experiences that are going to affect them for days or weeks.  Also, with four small children, it would be a big task to walk outside from house to house gathering candy.  Some days, it’s all I can do to get them through a parking lot without one running away.  :)  I honestly cannot fathom managing costumes, getting them to not eat the candy immediately, and have everyone stay with us.
2. I’m super cheap frugal.  It’s hard for me to think about spending money on four costumes or lots of candy.  I know. I know.  I could save money by making costumes myself, but really y’all, I’m not creative. at. all.

So, in light of all that, for the second year, we are having a Halloween version of Popcorn Fiesta complete with chocolate candy, marshmallows, and roasted pumpkin seeds.  We are going to all climb into our bed (yes, we’re going to try and fit everyone) and watch a fun movie together.  And we’re definitely not against dressing up.  Our kids play dress up all the time, so if they want to throw on one of their outfits they already have, great and they will definitely be cute!  Karis has already been talking about it from her memories of last year and she doesn’t feel left out of anything at all.  She thinks chocolate and marshmallow popcorn with a movie is the greatest!

Perhaps my favorite explanation of their perspective and practice of Halloween for their family is from my friend, Kelly in her post here.  She does a great job explaining the intentional transitions of their Halloween celebrations.

What are you guys doing tonight??