Photo: YAXZONE on Flickr

Halloween is one of those things I’ve been thinking about disproportionately since even before my son was born. It’s one of those holidays/days/celebrations – not even really sure what to call it – that kids love and that the world seems to truly embrace. Honestly, when I was a kid I didn’t care about the history of it, the dangers of it, the distaste of it, the future of it, or the results from it. All I wanted was to go out with my friends (and before that, with my parents) and get a bag of candy.

Here’s a little detail on Halloween from Wikipedia:

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

Now, I know there is a little Christian history thrown in there, but it’s really convoluted and comes, I believe, from the catholic leaders failure to hold fast to their beliefs and to the Word of God (but, pardon, that’s fodder for a whole other post).

Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints’ Day from May 13 (…) to November 1. (…) Although All Saints’ Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar.

As a Christian mom I fight with this entire principle and really don’t know how to proceed. With a small child, I’m setting the foundation now for years to come, so I don’t really want to get this wrong. But the truth is, I don’t like Halloween. I don’t want to participate. I don’t want my son participating. I don’t feel that Halloween has a single positive aspect or outcome. Not only that but as kids get older, Halloween is used more and more for mischief, occult practices and, quite frankly, an excuse to dress like a whore. It never ceases to amaze me that girls feel the need to make Halloween an occasion to bring that cat suit or naughty nurse costume out to the world. What is with that?! Just have a look at all the Flickr photos tagged halloween; I really don’t see a whole lot there I could even remotely consider glorifying to God.

However, I also know the feeling of being ostracized as a child and feeling the burden of being the outsider – it’s a very lonely place to be. I don’t want that for my son. Even last year, when he was precisely 19 months old, his daycare was having all the kids show up in costumes and handing out treats. REALLY?!

So here I am again, faced with the same challenge and I finally succumbed to the decision to buy him a costume. We went to the store yesterday and as soon as we got to the Halloween aisle he stopped and shuddered and said, “Scary!” But to my surprise and relief there was a little size 3 frog costume that is basically just a green jumpsuit with a frog face on the hood. Just 5 minutes earlier he had been pretending to be a frog in the store anyway, so that seemed just right. I also bought a little treat bucket and a bag of peanut-free coffee crisp bars for the daycare kids. At least now he can join in with the kids at daycare.

Some of my friends take a much stronger stance on this issue. I know quite a few families at my church refuse to have anything to do with it; they may even pull their children from school that day. I hear they also throw a family pool party or some other gathering to ensure their kids have something else to do that is fun and much more wholesome. I think that is a great alternative to participation in regular halloween activities and I hope we’ll be invited to participate.

But anyway, as for the daycare halloween party, I’ve made my decision. Now if only I can figure out how to handle the trick-or-treating issue…