I hope this has been a safe and fun Halloween for everyone! I remember going trick-or-treating (and the occasional Halloween party) until I was about 12 years old. That's when two things happened: I became a Christian, and then decided I was too old for trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. So after that, I stayed home and handed out treats and religious pamphlets to trick-or-treaters. I enjoyed seeing the imaginative costumes and masks, and the little kids were so cute!
We still made jack-o-lanterns and placed them on our front porch, because that was part of the fun. There were always some pranksters who liked to carry off people's jack-o-lanterns and smash them in the road, and they made sure to get ours every year. One year we carved the biggest, heaviest pumpkin we could find, and we thought there was no way it could be carried off and smashed. We were wrong. I don't know how they did it, or how many of them it took, but they somehow managed to lift the jack-o-lantern off the porch and got about four feet away before dropping it. It survived with nothing more than a jagged split up the back.When I became a parent, my then-husband and I didn't want our children to go trick-or-treating because we thought it was a celebration of death and witchcraft. Instead, we let them dress up in any costume they wanted as long as it wasn't something scary like a witch, ghost, or goblin, and took them to church "harvest festivals" for a fun Christian alternative. There they could play games, go through mazes, participate in "best costume" contests, and watch people sing, dance, and perform skits on the stage. There was always great food (my favorite was homemade Brunswick stew), hot cocoa, hot apple cider, and lots of fun to be had at these festivals. It was better than taping a note on the door explaining why we didn't give out candy or celebrate Halloween, and then sitting in the dark and trying to ignore the doorbell and the grumbling of children and adults who thought we were being stupid and mean. We weren't trying to be mean. We home-schooled our children and raised them in the church; we were trying to shield them and teach them how to "be in the world but not of it."
After my divorce, I took primary custody of the children, and gradually I became less strict with them. They went to public school while I worked. I wanted them to have fun with their friends, and I'd let them go out trick-or-treating if they wanted to, with adult supervision. Usually I'd team up with a friend of mine whose children were the same age as mine, and we'd all pile into her van and drive to different neighborhoods so the kids could get a good stash of candy. After a couple of hours, we'd return home and I'd go through the candy to make sure it was safe before letting my kids eat any of it.For the past eight years we've lived in a house on a hill on a busy main road, and we don't get any trick-or-treaters. My kids have outgrown trick-or-treating, and their work schedules normally prevent going to parties. My daughter decorated our fireplace and porch with orange lights and autumn leaf garland to celebrate her favorite season. To celebrate this holiday she added plastic jack-o-lanterns that light up, and placed a doll dressed as a witch in her bedroom. She went to her job wearing a Superman T-shirt and a headband with cat ears on it, and called herself Super Kitty.
It's a peaceful night. I have the windows open because it's very pleasant outside, and I can hear the crickets chirping and traffic on the road below our house. I haven't been to a harvest festival in years, and sometimes I miss the activities and the food, especially the homemade Brunswick stew. But that's okay. There's always next year.
Here's Lindsey Stirling performing her original song, Moon Trance, for your enjoyment!
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