Halloween made simpler...

 

I was trying to remember the Halloweens of my childhood,...Little kids went trick-or-treating after school, the big kids, after dark.  I remember jack-o-lanterns, those little paper treat bags, lots of candy, and a couple of my costumes.  In particular, I remember a Rubik's Cube costume I made where I couldn't actually join my hands together to hold my trick-or-treat bag...I bet MANY people of my age had the same problem, because that was THE costume that year...1980 or '81?

What kind of Halloween do I want for my children?  Frankly, it could be a holiday that I would readily skip, and when something else happens to come up on that date--skip it, we will...at least while my kids are young.  But, in society, it is rather present, if not pervasive.  People were surprised that I didn't take my daughter trick-or-treating when she was 14 months old...um, she wouldn't remember anything and didn't have any understanding of it?!  But as ahe gets older, Halloween's presence makes itself known...in the big city where we live, every restaurant and store has decorations, most of the cheap and cheesy sort.  They're hard to miss.

About costumes, I'm going to try...really try...to not use store-bought costumes as much as possible.  My daughter wore a cozy hand-me-down frog costume last year and her brother will wear it this year, but I think I'm OK with doing it for the warmth factor.  This year my daughter is in a heavy-on-the-pink phase so she agreed to be a flamingo, and we happen to have everything we need to put it together--including a pink baseball cap of mine that will somehow be transformed into the flamingo's head/beak.  Props to the book Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (Martin/Carle), for the inspiration for simple animal costumes.  (Well some of the masks might not be so simple, but using simple clothing to evoke the animal is great!)

Here in Montreal, the tradition is for everyone to go trick-or-treating after dark, so last year, when my daughter was two years old and I found out that her daycare was going to visit a few merchants on our borough's main shopping street during the day, I thought that was perfect for her first trick-or-treat experience.  I tagged along for the photo op since it was her first time.  This year she will do the same, with the possible addition of her 18 month old brother.  We will carve pumpkins a few days earlier and use as much of the pumpkin for cooking as possible.  We will put some homemade decorations in the windows, but not until a week before at the very soonest.  We will hand out candy to those that come to our door.

Last but not least, we will add a new tradition, thanks to my husband's idea, of preparing treats (perhaps store bought, but we'll put some sort of homemade packaging on them, at least), and then distributing them to some of our neighbours...yes, distributing them...why not? This fall, we have begun the tradition of going for a walk as a family for about a half an hour after supper, so this is perfect...we'll visit some neighbors and wish them a happy halloween.  Nice.

I realize that when my children become more busy with friends, that we will most likely adjust our Halloween traditions, but I am happy to be thoughtful about it right from the start and have my children grow up knowing that when it comes to traditions, it's fun to make your own, and it's possible to simply do what feels right to you and leave out altogether or adjust what doesn't.  Pretty good life lesson, I think.