A little innocent fun ... part one

Photo by Shari Weinsheimer

Revisiting last year's post on why our family does not participate, much less celebrate Halloween. I originally wrote about this is 2009 and expanded on it with this post from 2010. I am adding a bit of very personal info to this original post as well, in part two on Thursday.

Here is what I had to say last October:

As we were singing our closing song at church on Sunday, a certain line jumped out at me and has been haunting me ever since. The song was "Now Thank We All Our God" and then particular line I am referring to is "...and guide us when perplexed..."

You see, I am perplexed. I just do not get this whole Halloween thing. For me, celebrating this so-called "holiday" involves a total lack of common sense.

Okay, I know I have just lost a whole lot of fans right now, but please bear with me and at least hear me out. Let me explain the reasons why we never celebrated Halloween as my kids were growing up.

• Putting the origins of the day aside, what is modern-day Halloween centered on? Death. Evil. Monsters. Blood. Gore. Slasher movies. Okay, sure, it is very cute to see a toddler dressed up like a bunny, or a kindergartener prancing around in her princess garb. There is nothing wrong with dressing up and make-believe. May I suggest reserving it for another time, such as a birthday party, when the atmosphere is not surrounded by evil? I personally hate driving around seeing coffins, bodies hanging from trees, skeletons, tombstones, bloody corpses, etc. To think that people actually spend money to make their homes look so darned ugly is beyond me. Let me tell you something. Anyone who has experienced the traumatic death of a loved one most likely finds these images disturbing at the very least. I should know. October is such a magnificently beautiful time of year, but it is marred by the images of death (not to mention the political litter everywhere!).

• Trick or treat is such a bizarre practice. Again, where is the common sense here? All year long, your kids hear the message, "Don't take candy from strangers!" Then on October 31st, that message is thrown out the window when parents send their little ones door-to-door collecting treats...treats that then have to be x-rayed at the local fire station to make sure there are no razors or pins inserted in them. What?!? Are you kidding me?!? And the explanation that the kids are only going trick-or-treating in their neighborhood holds no water with me. How many of you really know all of your neighbors? I know I don't. My parents trusted all of our neighbors...and let me tell you -- they shouldn't have.

• Mischief is encouraged on Halloween. Toilet papering someone's yard seems harmless enough, but it creates a lot of clean up work for the victim. What other time of year is this even remotely okay? Then there is the egging of cars and homes. But aren't kids given the message somehow that mischievous activity is acceptable on Halloween? After all, the phrase they're taught from the time they first knock on a door is "Trick or treat." The implication here is, "Give me a treat or I am going to do something nasty." Nice. This was illustrated so perfectly last night on the show, GLEE, when one of the characters said to a teacher, "Give me chocolate or I'm going to cut you." Enough said.

• Candy. Lots and lots of candy. Who lets their kids eat that much crap?! Seriously?

• Occult activity. If you think it doesn't happen, get your head out of the sand! There is no other time of the year when occult activity is so prevalent. None. Every year, police stations across the country receive calls about discoveries of the remains of animals that have been sacrified. Most times these burnt remains are that of beloved family pets.

Will the occult activity cease if you don't let your kids dress up and go door-to-door collecting candy? Of course not. But in the case of my family, I could never see the sense of participating in an activity that goes against so much of what I stand for.

Check back on Thursday to read the rest of my thoughts on Halloween and why my family does not participate in it. Also, on Thursday, I share a very personal, and hard to write, story of something that happened to me way back when.

Taking candy from strangers

I'd start off by saying "Happy Halloween," but, quite honestly, it's not a 'holiday' I choose to celebrate. There are many reasons for this. I'd like to share with you the common sense ones.

For me, it makes no sense for parents to drum it into their kids' heads day after day, year after year, not to talk to strangers, but then on one particular night of the year they encourage them to knock on strangers' doors and take candy from them. Excuse me? Doesn't anyone else see the contradiction here?

Our little 'angels' are allowed to dress like little demons, or worse, like characters from R-rated movies they should know nothing about! Again, what sense does this make? Is it really cute to see an 8-year-old wielding a bloody ax? Really? Okay, I know not all costumes are fashioned after serial killers. "What's wrong with dressing up my little one like a Care Bear or Hello Kitty?" Absolutely nothing. Dressing up is fun for kids and I have no issues with that. My issues arise from introducing children to images of death and evil. To me, it's simply not acceptable.

Another objection I have to trick-or-treating is found in the name: 'trick or treat.' Again, we're encouraging our children to do something we would punish them for any other time of the year. We give them permission to threaten tricks on people if they don't get what they want. That's what the phrase "trick-or-treat" means, folks.

Halloween pranks seem to be an accepted practice for October 30th and 31st. Cars get egged, pumpkins smashed, windows broken, houses spray-painted, cats are tortured, yards toilet papered....woo hoo....Happy Halloween.

Then there's the money and time spent on decorating....sometimes, the yard decorations are cute, sometimes they're pretty. But more often than not, they are hideously ugly. Images of evil and death permeate neighborhoods. I remember the Halloween following my husband's death -- never before had I been so disturbed by front yard cemeteries and coffins used for decoration. I saw no humor in it, just painful reminders of my loss. Oddly enough, October of 2001 was void of similar yard displays. For one year people seemed to respect the mourning of a nation and didn't poke fun at tragedy as we were still reeling from 9/11.

One more word of caution to anyone taking their children out trick-or-treating -- a scenario for you to consider: A couple days after you've canvassed the neighborhood for Halloween candy with you child, he or she is walking home from school when a neighbor calls out, using his or her name (which he learned a couple of nights ago). He invites your child in for some leftover candy. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers," your child protests. "Strangers?" he replies. "We're not strangers. Your parents brought you here on Halloween, remember? I gave you some chocolate and lollipops. C'mon, I have more candy set aside just for you. Your mom won't mind." What will your child do? You have unknowingly opened the door to a possible pedophile...and believe me, they do live in children's neighborhoods. They don't look creepy. They have nice homes and well-manicured yards, are members of the PTA, and are well-respected residents in the community. And they know how to lure your children in. Be aware.

I'm not suggesting you raise your children in fear. But using some common sense when it comes to Halloween can go a long way in keeping them safe. Don't throw your common sense out the window for the sake of 'tradition.' Things are different than when you were a kid. The world has changed. Maybe it's time for traditions to change as well.

Keeping it safe,

Hana