Halloween Traditions

From October 2010

Halloween can be SO fun, especially for families. There is a lot of gross, scary, nasty stuff out there, which I despise, but there is also tons of fun to be had. If you're struggling with how to celebrate a totally silly Holiday, here are some ideas to make it "mean" something (even if these days Halloween means basically nothing!)

1. Decor (which we already talked about!) Kids seeing the same decorations year after year gives them a sense of tradition. I *still* love my mom's Halloween decorations and many of my own mirror hers. The kids have their favorites too, which is fun.

2. Pumpkin Gathering. However you do it, make it fun! Pumpkin patches are a blast, but so can a special trip to the grocery store wherein you buy pumpkins and candy corn.

3. Pumpkin carving. This can be a whole evening experience. Have a special dinner, watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and carve away. Do it in the week before Halloween. Make it a ritual.

4. Special Halloween Meal. This can be Halloween-themed or not. We eat Chinese food. I don't know why. but if you have a lot energy, you can do seriously fun things with food on All Hallow's Eve.

5. Trick or Treating. This might be becoming a lost art where you live, but around here, it's still going strong.

6. Other venues for costume-wearing. I mean you either spent money to BUY the costume, or you slaved away to CREATE the costume, right? You really ought to find reasons to drag your kids around town in their costumes. And you can call it a tradition. Library story time in costume? TRADITION!

No matter what you decide to do, if you find things that are TRADITION your kids will always remember, and they will love it.