As someone who has grown up never celebrating Halloween, I struggle at this time of year to see what the point of it all is.
Children parading around knocking on doors begging for sweets, when at other times of the year they’re told not to talk to strangers.
On this day, though, they’re actively encouraged to go out and approach strangers houses. Then if they’re refused sweets, it’s the norm to pull a silly prank.
Egging Mrs Bloggs’ house as she didn’t answer her door? Tying string from one house door to another? All okay to do, apparently if it’s Halloween.
So what if Mrs Bloggs is elderly and didn’t want to open her door as she lives alone and feels vulnerable at all the people roaming the street dressed up and demanding sweets with menaces?
Doesn’t stop them, does it?!
I don’t see the point in celebrating death and evil, either. Surely there are much ‘nicer’ things to celebrate?!
I have two young children, aged 4 and 8. They’ve never been trick or treating, and I’m reluctant to let them start. Why go out into the cold knocking on strangers doors when we can have a nice cosy night in?
To counter-act the lack of trick or treating, and so that they do have something special and nice to do on Halloween, we do something that we call ‘Spooky Tea.’
We’ll even buy a Halloween tablecloth for the occasion.
Tea last year was monster mash and witches fingers (mashed potatoes made green with all the peas in it! 
) and witches fingers were sausages with a slice cut off the end, and a slice of red pepper for the fingernail. The other end was dipped in tomato ketchup so it looked like blood.
Then dessert will be buns that we have baked earlier that day, and decorated with ‘spooky icing’, such as spiders webs.
Marks and Spencer’s do a great range in Halloween sweets and crisps as well.
Who needs trick or treating when you’ve got a scary tea party going instead?!
I only do it for the kids, mind you – if it was up to me we’d be sat in the dark pretending we’re not in when the Trick or Treaters came a’knocking.
Aha, glad it’s not just me who gets a bit concerned with the mixed messages. Last year we carved pumpkins and put them out so then obviously had knocks at the door! But I brought them in at 7 and turned out the front lights! I find it hard to explain it all but don’t want to be a real grouch. This year we will do a tea party with gruesome cakes etc but I am reluctant for them to go trick or treating. It’s hard to win though!
The tea party has staved off wanting to go trick or treating so far, I just hope it continues!
I’m so on the same page. I don’t get the whole dress up as a scary something and celebrate what I think is a pretty macabre “holiday”. My eldest (3) gets nightmares from cartoons why would I expose her to these kind of things! We’re lucky that it’s not an issue yet and when it is we’ll cross that bridge then! Like your spooky tea idea!
I’m with you and your 3 year old!
Why celebrate death and gory gruesomeness?! Surely there’s a lot ‘nicer’ things out there to celebrate?!
Yes much nicer things – Christmas! Saving up all my inspiration for that!
Now that’s one I DO ‘do’ – I LOVE Christmas and all things Christmassy, so I definitely make up for being such a Halloween grump when it comes to doing Christmassy things!
Glad I‘m not the only one that doesn‘t like it. I hate having strangers knocking the door, especially when we‘re trying to have dinner and get the kids to bed. DH loves it and can‘t wait to take our boys trick or treating when they‘re older. I think a tea party is a good idea though…I imagine we‘ll do something like that, playing games and dressing up, but no trick or treating.
We haven’t played any games yet, but might introduce apple bobbing or something like that for this year just for a change.
I am so with you! We don’t do Halloween – my daughter went to a party last year and came back very confused and not overly happy with the whole experience. We switch the lights off and ignore the doorbell – if it is our friends coming round they’ll have our telephone number and know what we’re like. School have done a ‘Room on the Broom’ day before – so you can dress up as cats & witches – but all based on the book. We’ll be looking forward to our sparkly celebrations at the end of that week which cover a belated Diwali, Fireworks and anything else that we can think of!
“A Room on The Broom’ day sounds like a lovely idea of your school’s – that book’s a firm favourite in this house!
Ooh I just put up a post appealing for ideas for J’s 4th birthday halloween party and this has given me some new ideas – thanks!!
Glad I inspired you!
I actually quite like Halloween but I can understand why people don’t. I grew up in part in the States and it was such a big thing there and really had a carnval atmosphere that when we came back my mum continued with the tradition. We only ever trick or treated at people’s houses that we knew though, I don’t think I’d of ever wanted to knock on a stranger’s door.
Now with my three we carve pumpkins and put them out to let trick or treaters know we’re a ‘friendly’ house. We live on a quiet street and last year we only had about four visits! Once it’s bedtime for the children I unplug the door bell and put my jack o lanterns out on the porch with any left over sweets and let people help themselves, which they seem happy to do and yet there are always sweets left!
I recognise fmore aces now and I think we will have a few more organised visitors this year so that the children we know on the road have somewhere to come to. Mine are still too young in my opinion to go out themselves so we’ll probably have a Halloween tea and play a few games.
We don’t go over the top but I like the sense of community in our area and that the younger children in our neighbourhood have a few places to go to. Touch wood all the experiences have been lovely so far.
That’s what we do, put a lit pumpkin in the window and hand out sweets when they come. The candle’s blown out and we’re in darkness by the time it’s 8pm, mind you
I like the idea of a “Spooky Tea”. We do let our Daughter Trick or treat, but only where we know the people. We also put our lanterns out to let treaters know we are ok with it, but once it’s bedtime we turn of the lanterns and doorbell (around 7pm) especially if it is a school night!! I love to see the effort the children have made in dressing up.
I don’t mind children coming to the door, as you say it’s nice to see all the little one’s dressed up. Some of the little witches and wizards etc are extremely cute.
We hand out sweets to the ones who come knocking to the door until the very latest of 8pm, then all the lights are off.
We just don’t go trick or treating, I think it’s because I’ve never grown up with it and I’m just going with what I’ve been brought up with.
[...] [Shared by Cast Away With Dreams] [...]