I had a friend who loved Halloween so very much because of the candy. It was her favourite holiday because there were no family obligations, she could be anyone she wanted AND have a bag of candy to eat from for weeks. When her parents told she was too old for trick-or-treating, she cried.
But to me, Halloween is all about embracing fear. We go out into the dark night in disguise. We are not fooling anyone. The ghouls and goblins and zombies are still there. But for this one night we are fearless. The Halloweens of my youth were filled with laughter and chocolate and silly (most often homemade) costumes, but the idea that we could tromp about in groups and ask strangers for candy was the opposite of all that "stranger-danger", never take candy from strangers stuff we had been force-fed all of our young lives.
Kids today are sheltered from the trick-or-treating my generation enjoyed. They go to Harvest Festivals and Fall Carnivals so that there are no drugs or razor blades in their candy. Even the "scary" rooms or rides at these carnivals are funnier than scary. When kids are allowed to trick-or-treat, it is usually only in a sheltered neighborhood, or kids are driven across town to show Grammy and Grampa the costumes. It is an end of an era. Some mean old ghouls spoiled the fun for this generation.
Still, it is a fun holiday and should be celebrated as the opportunity it is where children can face down the dark night in their new identities. All the while filling their mouths with sugar, chocolate, and laughter.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
You'll be happy to know, we're keeping the traditions alive and well here in our family! Nate wore his mama-made tiger costume with pride and raced through our neighborhood (with all his friends- also in their mama-made costumes) gathering as much candy as he could from our lovely friends and neighbors. We are still enjoying the fruits of his labor a full week later :) Come join us next year Jeanne!
ReplyDeleteI bet that mama-made tiger costume was amazing! Of course he wore it with pride and probably had a very convincing roar!
ReplyDeleteOh, how well I remember the stash from the six of us girls lasting long after Christmas because my mom put it all in a large bowl on top of the refrigerator and only allowed us each one piece per day! Of course, those dum-dum lollipops still around in February always ended up in the trash! I hope I can join you next year!