I don’t come from a highly religious family, but I know of friends and other extended family members who do not allow their children to dress up for Halloween. Some tend to think that Halloween is an evil ‘holiday’ that stirs up negativity and disrespects the Bible and the Word. Growing up, I was allowed to dress up as Halloween but never as a witch or anything that would be considered sacrilegious. My parents allowed me to dress up in fun costumes and to go trick-or-treating door-to-door in our neighborhood. Life is a little different now in terms of trick-or-treating, but both of my kids have dressed up for Halloween pretty much every year.
What do you think about this?
In my opinion, Halloween can be a fun holiday. There are those who believe that the whole message behind Halloween and the witches and goons and goblins isn’t appropriate—I respect their opinion. I suppose I draw the line at the costumes I buy my kids. My 17 year old has always been something funny (a nerd, a shower, etc.) and my daughter has always been a princess or something to that effect. Nothing disturbing or grim. And I think that is the fun part about Halloween—dressing up and eating candy and treats. Simple, wholesome fun. Lose me with the gore, blood, and blackness.
My daughter has even participated at he church’s Harvest Day, in which kids dress up and go to the church to mix and mingle, eat treats, and have fun with one another. I also think that is a viable option for trick-or-treating, since these days, even with parental supervision, there are so many weirdos out there—taking candy from strangers (and eating it) could be dangerous.
What are your thoughts about Halloween? Do you allow your kids to dress up? Do they participate in Halloween events?
Yes, I let my kids dress up for Halloween. I think it’s harmless fun. I don’t allow costumes that are too scary or indicate violence. My kids love to participate in their school’s Halloween party and costume parade!
Brenda, I miss dressing up for Halloween. Maybe I will dress up this year for the fun of it!
When I was a kid, I loved Halloween. It was my favorite holiday. My costumes were pretty lame by today’s standards, but we had fun trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.
The older kids would use pillowcases and would be out for hours getting as much candy as they could.
My 5-yr-old hasn’t gotten into the costume spirit yet, but I think he will if he sees his peers do it. I’d hate to have him miss out on the fun we used to have.
I don’t really get how there are churches that are against it. Halloween is about dressing up; it’s like we’re all in a play on a huge stage. Just because someone dresses up like something dark and evil does not mean they are dark and evil for real!
Tung, I agree with you, I see nothing wrong with dressing up for Halloween. It’s only evil if you make it evil. Thanks for commenting.
Yes Yes Yes. We just have fun with it. I do not emphasize evil at all. We just have fun dressing up and being festive. My husband and I dressed up before we had our daughter and now we include her and it is always a family costume. We have done Wizard of Oz and Grease and something fun is coming this year. Shh – it is a secret 🙂
When I was growing up though my church did not approve of the holiday but understood that people liked to dress up – we had “Holyween” 🙂 and dressed up as bible characters.
My church now has something similar, and when I was growing up my church had a Hallelujah Party and my mother and I always SLAYED the Bible character costumes. They weren’t ready *drops mic*
Aisha, please do share your Halloween pics! I am anxious to see what you came up with this year!
I’m conflicted.
On one hand I love dressing up in costumes and grew up being allowed to dress up for halloween but never in anything that glorified darkness (witch, goblin, vampire etc.). As I grew up my costumes were things like school girl, angel etc. I will admit to one year in college dressing as a goth (and getting way more compliments from the actual goths than I’d expected LOL!).
On the otherhand I don’t really dress up much anymore (which I miss) because a. I don’t have anywhere to rock a costume and b. I’m not fond of how extra gory things seem and that they glorify death, demons and darkness.
Not sure what I’ll do with any kidos. I suppose I’ll let them dress up just fine, no darkness or death promoting characters, and knowing me I’ll dress up with them. Now here’s a discussion …
I never went trick-or-treating once in my life. I wonder if I’ll let me kids do that?! O_O
Glammy, I think e should dress up next year, maybe have a Masquerade Ball. You down? #miccheck
I have not dressed up in years and I don’t “celebrate” Halloween. I don’t have kids yet, but if I did I think I would share with them the origins and the history so they understand why we don’t celebrate it. I would allow them to dress up in fun and not-scary costumes, and besides most schools and churches have Harvest festivals that allow the kids to take part in the fun and eat goodies and candy, so the kids don’t feel like they are missing out.