[Halloween Hijack] Tomorrow is Halloween. Most of you will be enjoying libations at some grown-up costume party.Some of us will be sitting at home hoping to hand out candy.
Notice I say hoping, because crazy-irrational parent fear has just about killed all fun having to do with Halloween. The Mormon ward in my neighborhood has pretty much hijacked the holiday, by sponsoring a ridiculous "trunk or treat" party, in which kids move around parked cars in the church parking lot and adults hand out candy from the trunks. This scene is apparently played out every year around Utah and elsewhere.
Sad.
I live west of Foothill Village, north of Sugar House. I call it "LoFo," for lower Foothill. We do have trick or treaters from up the street. They start about 6 and the crowd peters out by about 7.
I bought four bags of mini candy bars. Bet I won't use them all up. Too many freaked parents forcing their anxieties onto their kids and sending them to Halloween in climate-controlled malls.
Question: Are you planning on any kids stopping at your house? An actual crowd? Is the kids' dream version of Halloween dead? Love to hear about it. (Holly Mullen)
I know what you're talking about when you say parents have hi-jacked the holiday, but we still have a crowd come to our house in South Jordan.
ReplyDelete-Chris S.
^futhermore, I think a large part of this problem comes from [sometimes reasonable] fears from the educational system. At my high school, they didn't allow costumes at all today.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Halloween supposed to be largely about everybody acting like kids: carefree and kind of stupid? I agree with you. They're ruining the fun for everybody, not least their own kids.
ReplyDeletethey jsut wna tto include jesus in thier daily lives. afraid that the kids might get some sort of herion laced sucker, or better yet soem contact high formt he door way of my drunken "risky" self...please. get off it already.
ReplyDeleteI know change is difficult. All progress leads change. Yes, to an adult you look back to halloween with fond memories. But, kids today will probablly not have pen pals they will have myspace buddies. Halloween may be in a parking lot or a mall. But as a parent with small children it is easier to take them somewhere to trick or treat that takes less energy for them to walk around. this lets them not be exhausted for halloween and indoor locations have protection from wind, rain, snow and oncoming traffic. My children always love it. They come home happy, with energy and they had some care free fun. So yes I know its hard to think your children wont experience the childhood you had, but they get to have their own exciting and unique experiences.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteHalf the fun is exhausting yourself (like maybe getting exercise!) and getting the treats. The other thrills are getting to see your neighbors, getting to see the wonderful decorations (not from the car), walking through the fallen leaves, etc.
I think that if you continue the logic of what you're saying, we should all just buy our kids a boat load of candy on Halloween so they don't even have to move around a parking lot. Then they'll never get cold, they won't be in any (however paranoid the concept might be) danger, and they won't have to move a muscle.
I'm with Anonymous. I *want* my kids to work for the candy. I want them to enjoy the holiday, with all of it's sights, sounds and scariness. I want them to remember this when they grow up, and I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't remember much being special about the mall or walking around a parking lot.
ReplyDelete