Sigh of Relief: Halloween Is Over

I, for one, am glad that Halloween is over.  I'm not a huge fan.  If we had to express this as an analogy question for the SAT's, it would look something like this:

Halloween: Robin ::
a) Tax Day: US Government
b) Christmas: Scrooge
c) Easter: Jesus
d) Valentine's Day: Russell Stover

The answer would be a resounding B.  I'm the Halloween bah-humbug equivalent, whatever you'd call that.

For one, I have a low threshold for fear.  Halloween thrives on themes of darkness and morbidity that I choose not to embrace.  I'd rather meditate on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and excellent, why thank you.  Plus, as a mother, I don't appreciate entering a store and needing to shield my children's eyes from ghastly props and costumes.

Although less of a value-stance, my second reason for downplaying the event is that I have precious little skill in costume creation.  We're talking zero.  Zip.

Do my children dress up?  Yes.  Do I sufficiently think ahead to create impressive costumes?  No.  Do they still look crazily cute?  Absolutely.

I have no issues with dressing up.  I simply scrounge throughout the house to discover what's on hand.  The girls are refreshingly simple in this regard.  This year, I slapped a pair of bunny ears on Reese's head, painted three whiskers on each cheek, and dabbed her nose with pink lipstick.

Brooke was even easier.  She wanted to be a butterfly schoolgirl -- a costume that entailed wearing butterfly wings and carrying a backpack.

Kerrington wore a sheep costume that we had been given as a hand-me-down, and gosh, the child was so adorable that I suspect a few neighbors plunked an extra Kit-Kat in her bucket for the simple pleasure of viewing her little lamb sweetness.  She'll wear it again next year.

Still, now that we've entered November, I'm glad that the Halloween displays will be put away for another year.  In the meanwhile, I'll secretly pilfer my children's candy.

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5 comments

  1. Why do you shield your children's eyes from props and costumes?

    Also, you should embrace darkness sometimes. It's freeing. Thinking that you can possibly focus only on pretty, nice things... I'm only going to say that that's an annoying viewpoint. The world stresses being good enough. It's fun to indulge your dark side sometimes.

    You're sounding like my mother in this blog entry. She tried to shield me from everything she saw as against her Christian religion; as a result, I am fiercely anti-Christian and embrace metal music. Be careful you're not such a goody-two-shoes that it repulses your kids. They won't forget it, and they won't thank you for it. They need to see the world as it exists, not as you would have them believe it does.

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  2. Without darkness there is no light.

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  3. I'm as costume challenged as you. Thank goodness Dudette is as easy to plunk a costume on as your girls. That being the case, who knew that eye liner, which is so willing to disappear from under the eye within five minutes of application, won't come off the cheeks or forehead no matter how much force is applied.

    I'm sorry that Glenn chose to overlook the word "ghastly" in your post. I have to do the same with Dudette. She still gets nightmares over Scooby Doo and some of those Halloween displays are way over the top.

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  4. Glenn Doom, you apparently have never experienced a child screaming in terror because a (smiling) sea snake made an appearance in a Dora the Explorer episode; or had to experience the nightmare-inducing Snow White ride at Disney World with a little one. Yes, there is darkness in the world, but that doesn't mean I have to purposefully expose my small kids to gruesome Halloween displays (that even make me nauseous) in order for them to understand that. Halloween revels in the fantastical; if kids "need to see the world as it exists" perhaps we should choose another day for a reality check. Maybe Tax Day, perhaps?

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  5. Glenn, I have no intentions of raising my children in a bubble where they're shielded from all unpleasant issues. But follow me here: as a mother, I need to be sure that my children are of the proper ages to process, discuss, and evaluate these issues.

    That said, shielding my six, three, and one-year-olds from ghastly images that could scare them isn't being overprotective or close-minded.

    It's being smart. It's being wise. It's being a good mother.

    If it's considered goody-two-shoes to guard my children and embrace freedom in the light -- not darkness -- then I'll gladly accept that label.

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