Is Halloween Out of Control?

I love halloween! I love the decorations and seeing my little ones in their costmes.(Now if I had to sew their costumes, that might put me in a bad mood.) My husband and I also attended an adult party this year.What fun! People were so creative and witty with their costumes, and we had the best time searching out the perfect pieces for our costumes -- and then putting it all on. We were like kids again (except with alcohol!)

Heck yeah! I miss the old days of a few hours of trick-or-treating preceded by hours of homemade costume prep... but then again I wasn't the one making my elaborate spider costume with eight fully articulated legs and antennae from a pile of fabric and mechanical components... it was my stay-at-home mother. And the trick-or-treating was a community event when my parents got to mingle with all the others in the neighborhood and everyone knew each other and ooohhed and ahhhed over all the work they did on their kids' costumes. I don't know about you, but I'm not my mother, and I'm pretty happy about that! I kinda like having all of the fun but none of the pressure with all the premade costumes and decorations. And now that my neighborhood is so big that it lacks the same sense of community it once had, I'm happy to mingle with the other parents I know at individual parties, either with or seperately from the kids. Any reason for a party is fine by me!

I think it's just us adults who feel that Halloween has gotten out of hand (and when I feel that way, I feel old - like when my parents used to say that they walked to school barefoot.) The thought that Halloween has become too commercial has not even occurred to our kids, because sadly everything has become too commercial. I have to admit that I feel like a complete failure every Halloween. I want to make costumes from scratch, I want to bake a traditional Bairn brack (irish Halloween cake), I want to write and tell spooky stories to my kids, and I want to create a generally spooky experience for kids trick or treating at our house. Instead I feel like it also hits me by surprise and the kids are wearing bought costumes and trick or treaters are getting cold hard cash! I do always manage to recreate games we played as kids (bobbing for apples etc.) and carve a pumpkin (I'm quite handy) but there's no bonfire, sigh. I'm already resolving to do better next year - shallow as that seems!

I hate Halloween. I think I wrote an article about it, somewhere in N/W, probably.

I guess it's like most holidays in America: you can buy into all the hoopla, or you can just ignore it and do your own thing. Make costumes. Make homemade treats. Avoid the massive, chain stores. And I think adults getting invited to costume parties is a good thing. Why should the kids have all the fun?

I don't have kids, so it's hard for me to say whether it's becoming too commercial for them. I *have* noticed, though, that the best costumes are rarely those purchased at the Halloween "super stores." The most creative ones are always good ideas that are put together piece by piece, not purchased in a package. As a kid, I loved watching my mom sew my costume by hand; it was so much more exciting to see it slowly come together than walk through a store crowded with people all fighting for the last packaged costume.

I guess I'd have to say No, but because a) Halloween is my favorite holiday b) It allows you to be someone different than who you are c) You get to feel and act joyfully like a kid again d) I don't have kids and e) I get to tap into my creativity by thinking up and putting together a costume. I find Christmas far more exhausting with all the anticipation, expectation, and money thrown about. If I ever do have kids in my life, I'll keep it simple, and encourage them to think of what they might like to be when they're spending the rest of their time being comfortable in who they are.

Halloween has become too commercial and overly busy like so many holidays. I guess it's up to parents and kids to decide how much they want to get involved. My dad used to take me out for mischief night, which is a whole lot more fun than Halloween. I'm sure it's banned now like everything else that's "unsafe."