I hate Halloween.

Over the past few years, I have come to absolutely hate Halloween.  The shallow reason is because I'm a bit arachnophobic and all the fake spiders that people use to decorate give me the heebie-jeebies.  My flight-or-flight response is seriously on hyperdrive for about 1 month out of the year!

Then there's the inevitable litany of "Mommy, can I have a piece of candy?" "Mommy, when can I get a piece of candy?" "Mommy, I want a piece of candy." "Mommy, if I'm good, do I get a piece of candy?" "Mommy, where's the candy?"


But on a deeper level, the true reason why I hate Halloween is that it has morphed from a fun holiday where kids dressed in cute costumes and visited the neighbors while trick-or-treating.  Now, Halloween has become a celebration of the gruesome (a 7-year-old girl with a "slashed" throat), the violent (a 3rd grade axe murderer), the evil (all sort of satanic beasts), and the hypersexual (low-cut Cleopatra dresses on 10-year-olds).  I don't want my children to have any part in that, and frankly, they don't either -- they are literally afraid to walk or ride their bikes past some of the homes in our neighborhood because of the ghoulish images they have displayed.  And when I see young children dressed like pirate wenches, murderers, and "mature" characters, I worry about them.

Over the past couple of years, my family has phased out the American "Halloween" experience.  It's difficult, since my children are exposed to it at school and around the neighborhood, but at home, there is nothing scary to be seen.  Our house is decorated for autumn and instead of "Halloween," we have started celebrating the more traditional "All Hallows' Eve."  And frankly, my kids don't seem to miss it at all.

How we celebrate All Hallows' Eve:

• We decorate our house for autumn, which is convenient since the decorations last through Thanksgiving.
• We'll visit the pumpkin patch to play and take cute photos, but we don't carve pumpkins.   (mostly to avoid messes and injuries)
• We have a little family celebration with seasonal food and treats.   (This year, we had butternut bisque, corn bread, and caramel apple cider cookies)
• Our children dress like saints, in honor of All Saints Day
• We allow our children to trick-or-treat at a few of our neighbors' homes, just to say hi.
• We spend the rest of our Halloween evening inside, having family time and distributing candy to the neighborhood kids.