I’ve established I am not a fan of bloody stumps on front porches.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have fun on Halloween.
The kids dress in costumes. The only reason I question the practice of costumes is because my children are incapable of picking a costume and sticking with it for longer than 5 minutes. That’s how they end up wearing hand-me-down, uninspired costumes.
I allow them to eat factory-produced, irredeemable, irresponsible, nose-thumbing, renegade and politically incorrect plastic-wrapped candies in fun sizes.
We go door-to-door in our neighborhood, shouting “Trick-or-treat!” just like kids in the olden days of the 1970s and the early 80s. It’s a good way to say hello to neighbors and feel the exhilarating snap of late fall under the stars. We’ve been to exactly ONE harvest festival and were not terribly impressed by the jostling, the crowds, the admission requirements, the Halloween is E-vil! sentiments.
The kids carry these treat bags crocheted by my mother-in-law. Each child has his or her own, personalized with names on the back. Establishing candy ownership is critically important. We’ve used them for almost 10 years of October 31sts. When I have a new baby, we get a new treat bag, although I don’t have Archie’s yet. That’s okay, he won’t be needing it until next year.
For dinner, I am serving this recipe. It’s melding nicely in the crockpot now and is an ode to mythical vampires, which do not exist and are not cute or swoonworthy.
We’ll wash down our vampire-repelling dinner with these:
Every year, we make a point to watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” as a family. Watching Snoopy skulk behind enemy lines, swimming a river while mournful music plays, his howl at the change from happy to sad music at the party, Charlie’s bag of rocks, Linus’ devotion and appreciation of sincerity, Sally’s suspension of disbelief, Lucy’s redemption as a good big sister…it’s 30 minutes of deliciousness.
We carve pumpkins, light them, and put them on our porch on Halloween night. We haven’t lost one to smashing yet.
The kids go to bed talking about next year’s costumes, Booberry cereal, the house with the full-sized candy bars.
Ding-dong. Tradition at the door. I’m not going to give it a rock.
I want it to come back next year.
What a great post, Gretchen! 🙂
.-= The Casual Perfectionist´s last blog ..Measuring the snow totals =-.
The crocheted treat bags are so sweet! They remind me of how much I looked forward to pulling out my own personalized stocking out of the box at Christmastime. What great memories your kids will have. I love tradition! I love Halloweeeeeeeeen!! Two thumbs up!
.-= Mama Bird´s last blog ..Home for Halloween =-.
Those bags are so cute! I’m thinkin she could sell those on etsy!
Halloween can be a fun celebration!
.-= Kristin´s last blog ..Week Wrap Up =-.
We are too far out in the country for trick-or-treating, so we buy bags and bags of candy, put it in a bowl, and eat it ourselves! We carve pumpkins and put them on the porch for the few passers-by who may or may not notice them. The boys design and I cut. If I knew where to get those sodas, I would probably get them too! LOL
We introduced some Moroccan friends to “It’s the Great Pumpkin” this year! SUCH a cute movie! My SIL sent us a packet with Peanuts specials from Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!
And I LOVE that soda! I’ve never seen those cans. Too cool. I agree with you about Halloween, btw, but we mostly live where it’s not celebrated. The year we were in the US, the kids had an absolute blast, and it was a good intro for us to the neighbourhood.
.-= edj´s last blog ..Random Photos =-.
You are so intentional. I love the way you do holidays. Especially the cereal, Lucky Charms on St. Patrick’s Day, Boo Berry on Halloween. Charlie Brown seems to make his appearance too. Can’t wait for the photo.
.-= Heth´s last blog ..Who? =-.
I must have missed the Jones soda this year. The bags are so cute and I love that you create so many fun traditions for your kids.
.-= Joanne´s last blog ..How Bad Was It? =-.
I have Christian friends who HATE Halloween. I’m not sure why…if they had harrowing experiences with it growing up, I could maybe understand. But Husband and I have agreed that we don’t really see any harm in carving pumpkins and going costumed door-to-door, and Anja loved The Great Pumpkin (for some reason she is way into all things remotely spooky, even at her age). We don’t associate them with any pagan rituals, therefore: harmless fun. Tradition, as you said.
.-= Minnesotamom´s last blog ..Happy Halloween 2009! =-.
Great post! And I love that recipe. It’s the first one I tried from her blog and it was num-num good.
The treat bags are just too cute, but so are your kids, so I guess they go well together!
.-= Shayne´s last blog ..The Loot =-.
I love the bags. And yes, I love Halloween. I understand why some people opt out. But for me, Halloween isn’t a pagan holiday of fear anymore. (Notwithstanding the decomposing corpses in a few random yards.) It’s about candy and kids and dressing up and using your imagination and FUN. I can’t imagine telling my kids that we’re not going to take part in such an anticipated event.
.-= Kelly @ Love Well´s last blog ..Let The Sun Shine In =-.