Things I HATE about Halloween
1. Costumes. Whose idea was it anyway? I do not have $20-$40 to spend on each of my 4 children for 10 minutes of trunk or treating at the church parking lot. My mom never had that kind of money either and so, often, we had to come with cheap costumes. I did not see this as an opportunity for creativity but rather as an obligation to come up with something long enough to not be made fun of while trick-or-treating. Now I try for creativity with my kids and all they want are the stupid store-made, money-sucking, last for 7 minutes costumes.
2. Crappy Candy. We don't want your crappy candy. It just goes in the garbage after sitting in my cupboard for a month while my children turned their noses up at it almost as much as cooked vegetables. Buy good candy.
3. Dealing with the cold weather. Why is it that most costumes are made for 90 degree weather and just have to be covered up with a coat anyway?
4. Pumpkin Carving. Call me a Halloween Scrooge but I really hate carving pumpkins. It's hard.
5. Dealing with good Candy. Yeah, I know, but seriously. Mostly I just encourage them to eat it all in one night, get sick, and be done with it. Then we can put the crappy candy in the cupboard.
6. Trying to find good candy to buy without feeling guilty enough about the money I already spent on costumes.
7. The Whining. "Is that it?" "Isn't there somewhere else we could to trick or treating?" "I don't want to eat anything that even looks like it might be healthy." Oh, and if any of you remember Mialee..."Is it Halloween?" "Can I wear my costume today?" These questions are repeated every 5 minutes for the month of October. Then once the dreaded night finally comes the costumes are usually uncomfortable and they end up crying anyway.
What I like about Halloween.
1. The smiles. The pure magic of everyone putting candy in a two year olds bucket.
2. The pumpkin walk.
3. The fun of getting together.
Yeah, I really hate Halloween. Don't tell my kids. But it is seriously the stupidest holiday ever!
11 comments:
I'm trying to be sympathetic, but I just don't have it in me!! I'm sorry, but I LOVE Halloween! Give it to me twice over the gluttony that has become Christmas! I do agree about the store-bought costumes, 100%. That's why I make all of ours (plenty big for a coat to go underneath so the cuteness won't be lost). I also agree about the candy and that's why I have stopped giving it (we do small toys instead). I'm sorry you don't get to enjoy it more ... I'll send some Great Pumpkin vibes your way!!
May this Halloween be happy!
I was expecting to see your cute "Halloween" hanging. Ditto on the costumes. But other than that, I love Halloween. You FIL by the way HATES it too. He wants the day to be all about him and thought it was when he was a kid, but was sorely disappointed when he grew up a bit a found out that it was NOT!
Wow! I couldn't have said it better myself. Andy's family is already deciding on costumes and every where I go the people ask my girls what are you going to be for Halloween. I think good gads it isn't for like 30 days. I don't pick out their costumes until the very last minute (which money sometimes works out in my favor since stuff goes on clearance the day before :) ). I hate how everything is scary. I think I could get into this if it was about princesses and fairies but I am scared of the dark any ways without thinking of all the ghosts and goblins that could be out there :).
Wanted to add~I don't think we ever purchased a full costume (maybe a few peices on sale after Halloween to use for the next one). The kids got to be creative and they all survived to adulthood without too much difficulty(?).
As long as your saying what you don't like, I want to add that the only thing I like about the pumpkin walk is that it is something we've done together for years. Really, what is so special about painting on a pumpkin and coming up with a stupid costume for something without a body? I think that 90% of the scenes are stupid and the 'treat' at the end isn't worth a 10 second wait in line. As far as carving pumpkins goes, it gives us all a chance to try pretending that something is easy and anyone can do it, even though we can't.
And to Cindy - If you can LOVE Halloween (that is purely commercial), how can you not find a love for something that has only become commercialized but actually has real meaning to it?
Never said I didn't love Christmas, too. I just said it has become a gluttony, which is the whole point. Halloween has no holy purpose other than fun, so it is whatever you make of it. Christmas has its purpose as the most holy thing of all and yet has become a marketing scam that begins in August. But, it is, again, whatever you make of it. I have no desire to cause a scene on your blog ... just wanted to express my love for the good things of Halloween (and pumpkin walks are not among the good -- el boring-o).
We love Halloween at our house. Chili, bread bowls, soup, donuts, carmel apples, candy, corn maze, costumes from yard sales, hanging out with my family, oh I can't wait to come home..... Sorry you dont care for Halloween.
Ha ha! Cindy and Jason argue on your own dang blogs! Did you even get over the banana shaped world thing? And you better not mess with Christmas if you are wise my old friend--it's a passionate argument for Jason.
Jeri Dawn, We'll argue here thanks! JK
Cindy, That's a good response. I just don't like it when people say the don't like Christmas because it's too commercialized, when it would make a lot more sense to not like that it is commercialized but like Christmas. They're taking out their hate for commercialization on the wrong thing; it's like hating kids 'cause they get sticky when they eat candy - really it's the stickiness that people don't like and when it's a person we are careful to distinguish where the hate is aimed.
Oh yeah, I'm just doing what I can to gear up for the annual Christmas bashing argument - it's nothing personal!
I knew calling Christmas a gluttony would be fighting words ... and didn't take anything personally. And that's an excellent comparison with the stickiness of children. I now return this blog to its rightful owner!
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