Halloween

When did Halloween become like Christmas?  By that, I mean more commercialized than it should be or it used to be. When I was young, Halloween was a small event for adults, but a big event for us kids. We dressed up and went out and tried to get as much candy as we could from neigbours who made us sing for our food or dance or do something, in exchange for the candy.

When my kids were young all of the parents on the block would divide the task of going out with the kids, one parent would stay at home and the other would circulate with the children. At the end of about an hour and a half, we would all meet and set up fireworks on the street and have hot chocolate for the children and hot brandy or mulled wine for the adults.

As my children grew older we allowed them to go further afield for their trick or treating, and we always checked their candy before they were allowed to eat it. Some adults were starting to have parties if Halloween was on a Friday or a Saturday. Eventually, the malls started to get in on the act and parents started to take their children to the malls for their candy. It was seen to be safer and the children loved it because they got more candy.

About five or six years ago, I started to notice that a few homes were being decorated as Halloween Spook houses, but these were few and far between. I never thought anything about this trend, but this year, I noticed in our local paper a listing of all of the "ghoulish homes" in our community and when they would be open for inspection. There must have been about twenty or more. I was surprised because even at Xmas we don't have many more houses that are showcased for their Xmas light shows. I also started to look at the retail stores and realized that the costumes that were being promoted were not for children so much as they were for adults. Halloween is big business, and I missed the change. 

I am not sure why this change happened, maybe because our world is so frightening that we need to have an escape and Halloween is the perfect time to dress up and have some fun. Enjoy yourself on the 31st, at your parties, I will be at home greeting the little ones that live in my block and handing out some nice treats to children who dress up and try to scare me. 

BOO!