I used to hate Halloween. As a kid, of course I loved it. What’s not to love about running around the neighborhood gathering as much candy as you can, staying up late, dumping all your stash on the living floor to bargain and trade with your siblings for your favorite candy. And if you did it right, the candy stash seemed to last forever. Growing up, my parents had a Halloween party and my neighborhood was filled with other kids trick or treating. But, as I grew into my teen years, when I was too cool to trick or treat anymore, my love for Halloween was replaced with a dread for Halloween all throughout high school, college and into my 20s. Reflecting back, there were 3 things that contributed to this dead for Halloween.
3 Reasons I used to Hate Halloween:
1) Haunted Houses
I hated Haunted Houses and I hated being scared. I was so scared of Haunted Houses, one year, I had to be taken out a special exit at the old Sheriff Foti’s Haunted House in City Park because I was so scared I just couldn’t proceed. In my 20s, I did make my way through House of Shock with my head buried into my friends back. But I still didn’t enjoy it.
2) Dressing up
I am not sure why I created so much pressure on myself on dressing up. But for me, if I was dressing up, I wanted it to be really good, and unique. And for whatever reason I felt like I could never think of anything “good enough” so I avoided the idea of costumes.
Besides the pressure to think of something unique, as I got older, I just hated the pressure to dress as a “slutty whatever” for Halloween. My own insecurities and lack of confidence contributed to this, but I just never really saw the fun in being provocative for attention. Even if it was just for one night a year. One of the first block parties I went to in high school was in the height of the Brittney Spears and the school girl costume. Me and probably every teen girl that year dressed up like the Baby One More Time video, and I just remember hating every minute of it. Every year this dread would just come over me when I thought about dressing up for Halloween.
I know plenty of people that just love this part of Halloween, and I am not here putting any of that down. If you have the confidence to dress however makes you happy, by all means, I think it’s great and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. This just wasn’t the case for my teen and 20yr old self.
3) Figuring out what to do
There always seemed to be a hodge podge of plans for Halloween with nothing definitive so the pressure to have grand plans made me want to retreat and just hang out at home.
Fast forward to becoming a mom and having kids to celebrate Halloween with, my love for Halloween is back. Below are 4 reasons I now love Halloween:
4 Reasons I Now Love Halloween
1) The Dressing Up
I now love dressing up with them, and getting them excited to dress up too. I couldn’t wait to talk about what they wanted to be this year. We started talking costumes in August and I had them ordered by early September. I already couldn’t get my littles to do a family costume and that’s ok. But we will be dressing up
2) The Candy
I admit, I am a candy junky. It’s hard for me to pass up candy and getting to dig into my kids candy stash is fun. I just have to be careful they don’t notice too much.
3) Decorating the House
Decorating for Halloween is the start of decorating season for me. It makes my home feel so much cozier and I love it. We usually get all decked out for Halloween, inside and out, followed by Thanksgiving decorating on November 1st, and the Christmas decorations come out the day after Thanksgiving.
4) Memories I am creating with my kids
When I think about things I remember from my childhood, I often wonder what moments or memories my kids will remember when they are older. My dad loved Halloween, and I think this is the reason I love it now. I love to carry on some of his traditions and reflect on his memories all while creating new memories for my kids
Boiling the three reasons down I hated halloween in my younger years, came down to insecurities and a lack of confidence. So very opposite of myself today. So while I am creating memories with my kids year after year, I hope to teach them to be confident in themselves and not to worry too much about what other people think. And to love Halloween as a teenager and young adult as much as they do as children.
