ScoutingSquirrel

In England I had a sign on my door that read something along the lines of "If I know you, you're welcome, if not then it's dangerous to knock on the doors of people you don't know"

Here in Sweden the real festival is All Saint's Day on the 1st November. People leave candles on the graves of their relatives (and the church yards look gorgeous, particularly if it has snowed) and have a family meal where those they have lost are remembered.

I am trying to note that tradition alongside the Hallowe'en one. If one believes in the good of the world, and the survival of that good after death, I feel one has to acknowledge the bad, or the confised or the lost ... So I tell the boys that there are many different possible beliefs but that people used to believe that the boundaries between the spirits of the dead and the world of the living are thin at this time of year, and that we can celebrate the good souls whilst 'banishing' anything bad or unpleasant.

So I let the boys dress up, I prefer the non-scary costumes which were - it the Scots tradition - meant to confuse evil spirits so that they wouldn't know who you are and therefore be able to follow you home or whatever ....

This year however, both boys were skeletons as that was what I had, and we went on a Hallowe'en walk up through the woods to a BBQ place. There were candles along the way and various spooky characters stepped out from behind trees. Robin (6.5) took the greatest of pleasure in scaring them back and kept saying 'I scared that one away, didn't I Mummy, it ran back into the woods' He was quite clear in his role to protect the family from anything bad and nasty!

I don't mind a few neighbourhood children, who I know, dressing up and calling. Preferably with a trick to show (Robin was going to do the 'stealing your nose' trick, he's been practising and with a quick flounce around my property to scare off anything evil that may be lurking there ...

However teenagers, adults, or anyone that I don't know if a whole different matter, and threats of unpleasant behaviour as 'tricks' just leaves me cold. Thankfully I've never been subjected to that.

Hallowe'en is a very new concept in Sweden and no-one has called, so unfortunately it looks as though we'll have to eat the bowl of wrapped sweeties ourselves!

Helen

valsma

Your girls looked so cute. I'm glad some parents can just let their kids be kids and not try and make everything bad in this world.

People wonder why the world is going the way it is. Some parents are the problem not the solution. We are raising a society of baby's and wimps who are afraid of their own lives. It makes me sad.

Hattie Frances

I always liked Hallowen, and I would decorate and enjoyed the the kids and the costumes and give out plenty of candy. Well one year after I had just finished decorating the front yard and I do mean decorate! I decided to check that decorated mail box I had just completed. What do you know a card from my sister.
"Happy Hallowen - You Hell Bound Heathen". Needless to say, I don't decorate anymore, but I do leave the light on and give candy.

Willa

I have no problem with it. I feel if you think Halloween is evil then you should also think santa and the Easter bunny are evil. I enjoy seeing the kids in their costumes. I took my kids out when they were small so I will hand out till I'm older and have a hard time getting up. The kids do have to be there to get candy. If one is collecting for sibling that is home sick I just say well then I guess you'll have to share. Someone mentioned a parent coming to get treats for a sick child I would have told them go to the store and buy some candy so they could get home sooner to that sick child and that trick or treating should be less important than being with that sick child.

As for how much I hand out it depends on what candy I have, and how much I have. I start out usually with just one piece. If I'm not getting that many I'll up the amount. I usually try to turn off light around 8 or so.

romanojg

I've been in my nieghborhood for around 20yrs and I've seen the participation go up and down as to ones who give it out. Right now its getting better. I no longer have kids at home let alone ones who trick or treat but I still give out candy and I enjoy doing it. After my grandkids go in thier area and trick or treat they come to my house to get special treats from thier GiGi. I'm also the same when giving it out and I try to have the little dumdums for the little ones who can't handle much more than that. When one of my sons were older his birthday was the beginning of Nov so we'd have a pinata and get rid of the candy. Now it just takes alot of time to eat it since we ration how much the kids can have at one time. I think it's terrible when people want to spoil or take away something like this where the kids can have supervised fun. I love seeing all of the costumes and some of those little ones make you want to pick them up and give them a big hug. I hope I'll be able to give out candy to the little ones for many many more years to come.

romanojg

I'm sorry, sister or not, I'd not let anyone spoil something that I had that much fun in doing. I'm glad you do still help the kids enjoy themselves though. I've always told my kids no matter what it was about as long as it's legal I don't care; rather it's earning money or having fun.

lynnegreen

My cousin called me today while driving home from work. He and family have been living in England for the past 20 years. He remarked that the high street had dozens and dozens of trick or treaters, the most he has seen since moving from So Calif.

lynnegreen

I have come to dislike Halloween There is a community center miles and miles from my area which drop off bus loads of kids in our neighborhood. Within an hour you could go through five BIG bags of candy. My yard would be trampled, cars vandalized, kids would come 20 at a time to the door. On top of that, there was always a lot of older teenagers and adults. I cannot tell you how many "parents" came to the door stating their children were home sick. I close the drapes, lock the front gate, and migrate to the rear of the house with our dogs to keep me and them calm.

Momof3Es

I help the kids dress up and take them to houses that we know the people well! I like it because it's the one day a year that you can be anything you want to be and no one will laugh at you!

bakermom

I love Halloween. When our kids were home we went all out decorating. Always give out "good" candy. It's a fun holiday, anyone(including parents) that dress up get candy from us. Kids need to be able to just be kids and have fun, without people making an issue of everything

As far as the ones with the "extra" bag for a sick sibling-we just smile and tell then they'll have to share theirs. (I had my own kids sick on Halloween more than once. And yes, our other kids were expected to share their bounty)