Parenting / October 6, 2019

Let’s talk Halloween…

Halloween is right around the corner and I feel like it sneaked up on me again! Before having kids, I honestly did not care for Halloween.  Boy has that changed! 

We start the celebration by having a couple of other families come over for a quick bite and play date before we head off trick-or-treating. 

I enjoy preparing Halloween themed food and decorating the house (thank you Pinterest).  I love seeing the kids run through the house in their costumes, their excitement building up, before we hit the streets of our kid-friendly neighborhood.  We love trick-or-treating while running into our neighbors and friends.  And we definitely love ending the night with a glass of wine at our place while the kids take an inventory of their candy.

But there is one small thing I do not love… and that is trying to get my family agree on a family themed costumes.  It used to be so easy when my kids were little! I could just pick up one of those adorable costumes at Target and make them into a cute turtle or angel, no questions asked.  But as those darn kids started to form their own opinions, getting everyone on the same page is, well, stressful to say the least.

Gone are the days when everybody agreed to a family costume ideas I have suggested.  They loved the idea of a super hero family one year, bumble bee, bear and a beekeeper costumes the next year, and the family of gnomes we turned into last year.  We all had fun with it!  But I have a feeling those days are over.

I am not sure how to feel about it…it’s like an era is ending.  All my son wants to be now is something scary and gruesome.  Do I fight that?  Or do I just throw my hands in the air and go with it?  My feeling is, this might be our last year of a family costume and then, I am just going to let go of the rains. Quite honestly, it might actually take the pressure off a bit.

But one thing remains for now… we will still have fun, make some great memories and then end the night sharing a glass of wine with our friends.

Andrea Peters