Halloween Celebrations

Halloween is candy day. It is the only day parents set aside the rules and let kids walk up to a stranger's door and ask for candy. And then they get to eat it. They get to dress up in their favorite coolest costume and beg for candy which they get to eat for days and weeks on end. In today's world and for most people THAT's Halloween.

I'm a 56 year old Catholic grandma. My kids participated in Halloween and my grandkids now participate in Halloween. what might had started out as a celebration with religious conotations it is to me nothing more than a night of fun for kids. As a child Halloween was a night of getting dressed up in homemade costumes and having fun getting candy. There is too much politcal correctness in this world which in my view is killing some time honored fun traditions. People read too much into some traditions. It seems now a days if one person objects to something them no one should do it. I ask you did you go out on Halloween as a kid and if you did were you thinking of it as some religous holiday? I know I didn't, I was just having fun.

i dont really like halloween, but we do decorate pumpkins, and have more of a fall celebration, you can decorate the house with pumpkins and fall colors, and lots of churches are having fall festivals and hallelujah parties.
i dont specifically "keep" my children from it because its everywhere and unless you stay hame with no tv on, no newspapers or school, they are going to see and hear about it. but you dont have to celebrate it.
i think the connotations of witchcraft are not really what children think about, its all about the candy and dressing up to them

I agree with you. As long as your kids keep the costumes wholesome, then what's the big deal? It's not like they're dancing in the fields calling on pagen gods or anything. They just want the candy! LOL!!!! Would you let your kids play dress up at home? In my eyes, it's pretty much the same thing. My dd is 2 1/2 and she dressed up as a princess and we took her trick or treating. She honestly was more interested in wearing her pretty dress than she was the candy. As your kids get older, I would make sure they understand the religious aspect of Halloween. What did you wind up doing?

My parents stopped letting us dress up and trick or treat when I was about 7. I felt so out of place and weird. I missed it horribly. We do let our kids dress up but nothing scary. We don't watch the scary movies. We only trick or treat in our neighborhood where I know it's safe. They have so much fun and I love to watch them.

sorry it is after halloween but wanted to give you a little insight.
I taught at a christian school.
For Halloween we had the children dress up as their favorite bible character.
and we emphasized all saints day (Nov 1st)

C.,
I think your question is one many Christian parents struggle with. When our daughter (now 17) was little, we made the distinction between celebrating halloween and going trick-or-treating. We've never decorated for halloween (though we carve a pumpkin and enjoy the roasted seeds), but my kids have been allowed to go trick-or-treating in appropriate costumes. Luckily neither of them like scary stuff so that's been easy.

Just an observation, it seems that many parents find it easy to take away cultural things their kids would enjoy like dressing up for trick-or-treat or not allowing Santa Claus, but don't also make hard choices themselves like abstaining from R rated movies and other cultural temptations. I think consistency and listening for wisdom from the Holy Spirit for your family is most important.

I think not allowing your kids to participate is a little silly. It's not really a "holiday" , it's just a day to dress up, eat candy, and have fun!! He's putting way to much stigma on the day. It's really just for the kids. And it should be about fun, and only fun. Not allowing your kids to join in eventually will become an issue for them. How will you explain that they aren't allowed to do as the majority of their friends and classmates!? As long as they're not participating in "anti-christian" activities, what's the big deal?

I am a Christian and love Halloween. At our Church we sponser parties and come dressed as Bible Characters that we can identify with. I go as Mary Magdaline. She was a sinner and so was I until Christ touched my life. Tell hubby to take a pill it's all in fun. I enjoy passing candy out and seeing the different costumes. Most are not devils or ghosts. They are princesses, military, cheerleaders, football playes. But there are also lost souls such as hookers, pimps. These are usually high school kids.

We believe the same as your husband. For us, we celebrate the Halloween/Fall season as a time of Harvest. Christian harvest where you reap God's beautiful bounty and watch in wonder as the season change. We allow our children to dress up, but only as positive images. No Robbers and Coffin holders, nor ghosts witches and ghouls. This year my 4 year old son was his favorite baseball player. My older 5 year old was his favorite good superhero. Mind you he has never watched the show, but liked the costume anyway. Our boys are so well taught that they close their eyes when they go into a store and see skeletons etc. Hope you have a great holiday season! Ps. for those who embrace the ghostly part, I do not judge them. This is just what we believe.

I'm Christian (Roman Catholic denomination) and in our church we do not demonize Halloween. It is actually All Hallows Eve which leads up to All Saints Day which is Nov 1. We celebrate the souls of all saints which is everyone's soul, not just those of the dead. Dress your kids up, go get some candy, and forget about the fact this day was started by pagans. It is fun to see the joy on kids faces as the adults make over their costumes. My almost two year old girl had so much fun dressing up as a unicorn/pegasus and showing off her tail!

Google the history of Halloween, you'll be surprised. I think God would approve of a bunch of sweeties dressing up to have the time of their lives, don't you? It's all innocent for children and it adds something special to their lives.

No, it's not a Christian holiday, nor is it an anti-Christian holiday. It's as non-Christian as St. Valentine's day is Catholic! It's a fun day for kids to dress up and get free candy. If you want to keep your kids from having fun with their peers, at least go out and get them a bunch of candy.

I'm with you, mom. We have Halloween activities at our church. Tell dad to lighten-up.

I am Christian too and was raised not being allowed to have ANYTHING to do w/ Halloween. We had "Harvest Parties" where we played the games, ate candy and had all the "Halloween Fun" without dressing up and going door to door. Now, as an adult, I look back on those times and must admit, they were fun! I resented them back then because I wanted to dress up and go trick or treating. But I look back now and it was a safe way to celebrate the season w/o participating in "Halloween". I let my kids dress up and go and had fun there as well. But if you really want nothing to do with Halloween, then get together w/ a couple of other couples w/ kids, or maybe you can suggest w/ your church to have a Harvest Party. We dunked for apples, at powdered donuts tied on a string hanging from the ceiling w/o hands, went on a hay ride and all kind of other silly games. With all the other kids around, and all the games and they always made sure there was lots of candy so we didn't feel "cheated"....well, those were good times!

We just recently investigated the origins of Halloween. Although we let our kids participate last year and years prior ages 7, 5 and 3 1/2. It all started with Paganism. My husband and I also had the debate, but I refused to participate. If they were going to go out, he was going to have to do it all, even buy the costumes. I wanted to do what is pleasing to the Lord. Participating in the holiday, knowing its origins would be displeasing to the Lord. I have to agree with your husband, that it is not a Christian holiday. In fact, just the oposite. This is our first year not participating, so we didn't have a "plan" for a substitute. My kids asked about it, but didn't miss it. As it was put to me, it's almost more for the parents' pleasure to see their darlings all dressed up, but if they don't...they won't know what they're missing. Harvest gatherings seem to be the substitute I've heard about. God bless.