Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Wow, has it really been since August since I posted anything? That is really much too long, my apologies. I won’t go into all of the details of my harried life, but let’s just say I have needed the break. I still do, there is so much going on. However, I will try to do a little better than once ever couple of months.
My friend Dan wrote on Facebook yesterday:
Jack-O-Lanterns are cool, the costumes my wife makes for the kids are awesome, and Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is cool… but otherwise I despise pretty much everything else about Halloween.
When asked how he could dislike Halloween, he answered:
Dragging kids from house to house asking for candy is a pain in the butt and I feel like a beggar. I could go out and spend $15 and get them the same amount of candy without the effort and without having to beg. It might be better when the kids are a little older and Jen and I can sit in the car, but right now it’s a pain.
Plus, I’m not a big fan of the dark themes that many folks take with it. I appreciate the fun costumes that some people come up with, but I can pass on the demonic stuff.
Dan, I know what you mean about disliking Halloween. To me, the holiday was a lot more fun when I was a kid, than these days.
But there are benefits I hadn’t considered. Imagine being a little kid facing a spooky decorated house but they give out really awesome treats. You have to face a very real fear to get the reward. Not a bad life lesson if you ask me. And this year, Emily went out all over town, unsupervised with her friends. One of a handful of kids in the world doing this, I’m sure. What an experience of well-deserved freedom. Deserved, because she’s proven herself responsible and capable of good decision-making over the years.
While on the surface, our kids might look like beggars, in some ways the neighbors giving out treats are helping with our kids’ growth and maturation. I think it’s good for the kids and good for the neighbors. In a world that is increasingly withdrawn and inwardly focused, how can one night a year when communities open their doors wide to youngsters be a bad thing?
As for the dark themes, I had some reservations about Emily’s desire to go headless this year. But I thought if we leaned more towards funny than gory, why not go for it? And remember that big kerfuffle over Target’s anti-homemade costume ad? In the two years since, Emily and I have had a blast designing costumes from found and thrift store items. (She was a K-State zombie last year.) I think the holiday encourages great fun and creativity.
On a much deeper level, it is also a nice lead in to the ancient “holy days” (from where we get the word holiday) of All Saints and All Souls Day where we are reminded of those who have departed and of our own mortality. That is a whole other discussion for another day perhaps; the ancient Christian roots of Halloween.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
But to answer your question, yes, it does get better as the kids get older!