Halloween Then and Now

Halloween season is definitely upon us. We are seeing more and more decorations in our neighborhood which makes our family walks even more entertaining. Here is one of Paul's favorites - the eye moves back and forth! We're anxiously waiting for the inflatable pumpkin-holding dinosaur to get put up. That is his absolute favorite!

At the beginning of September he told us "it's almost Halloween because next month is October." We had to explain that it was 50+ days away, so a lifetime away in the mind of a 4yo! It probably didn't help that I got his Halloween costume so early but with all the supply chain disruptions, I wanted to make sure we got his costume since he felt strongly about being Chase from Paw Patrol. 

Admittedly, before having kids, I was kind of totally a Halloween grinch. I handed out candy when I lived with Phil but I didn't love the holiday as an adult as costumes aren't my thing. But I'm all in on the holiday now that I have young kids who are excited about the holiday. Last week The Mom Hour had a special episode about celebrating Halloween as a parent. I enjoyed the conversation and it made me think about my Halloweens as a child and how I approach the holiday as a parent. So here is a reflection of Halloweens past, present, and future!

What do you remember from Halloweens as a child

- I have great memories of carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds. This was before the days of stencils for pumpkin carving so we did very primitive carvings - picture triangles for the nose, jagged-tooth grins, circlish eyes, etc. 

- My mom had a collection of costumes to choose from and many were sewed by her. I remember having colored stuff to spray in our hair and face paint - which are 2 things I am pretty sure I'm a hard no on as an admittedly not-very-fun parent. Ha. One thing that really limited the coolness of our costumes was the weather! I remember many Halloweens where we had to trick or treat in winter jackets so our costumes were hard to see!

- I grew up in a tiny town of 500 people so I was able to trick or treat with friends at a younger age, but I don't know what age that started. The street I lived on was a good one to trick or treat on, but I do not recall getting an entire candy bar at a house. That is something that happened at multiple houses where we trick or treated last year! In my hometown and in Minneapolis, trick or treating happens on the 31st. I know in some areas it's done on the Saturday before Halloween or something like that, but it's always on the 31st in this region of the country it seems. One of my favorite parts of Halloween night was sorting by candy by type and trading with my older sister. And off-loading all the coconut candy on my coconut-loving mom. We still keep the almond joys and mounds that the boys receive for her!

What has your adjustment to Halloween as a parent been like?

- I've been pretty low key about Halloween since becoming a parent. I bought a cheap $10 costume for Paul's first Halloween which Will wore last year. And then I bought a dino costume in 2020 that Paul opted to wear 2 years in a row, and wore a ton of other times. Paul wore a hand-me-down duck costume in 2019 and Will is going to wear a hand-me-down dog costume this year. So we've used a mix of hand-me-downs and new costumes. Hopefully Will is interested in wearing the dino costume next year. I'm happy to buy second-hand costumes and have sold costumes on Facebook. 

Hedgehog Will and Dino Paul, 2021

Dino Paul 2020

Duck Paul, 2019

Hedgehog Paul, 2018

- We've had a tradition of hosting a pumpkin carving party that pre-dates becoming parents. We hosted our first party in October of 2014. We had something like 5 couples/families at the first party but now it's just our family and another family. We were able to maintain this tradition through the pandemic as the other family goes to the same daycare so we were in the same immunity bubble. We only carve one pumpkin as a family. I scrape out the guts, which I find oddly satisfying, and Phil usually does the carving. We almost always have a cat-themed pumpkin. I usually made a soup or chili and I used to make a fall-themed dessert but now we just enjoy candy for dessert to keep things simple.

I think ours was the ghost. We must not have had a cat stencil that year!

Paul and our amigos!

- My decorating game is non-existent. I got away with that until this year when Paul said, "when are we taking out our Halloween decorations?" I had to explain that we don't have any decorations but that I would start to build an inventory of Halloween decorations. We started small/easy with some spider lights for our fireplace mantel. They do provide a nice, warm glow!

- What I love most is - unsurprisingly to people who know me well - our Halloween/fall book collection! These books are only out during the month of October! My favorites are Pumpkin Soup (this stays out through November since it's more of a fall book), Room on the Broom, and Little Blue Truck Halloween. We have about 8 books total and I'd like to add to this collection! 

What are your Halloween traditions

- I've mentioned pumpkin carving and bringing out our Halloween books already. One new thing we are trying this year is a evening pumpkin event at the zoo. They have lots of lit up pumpkins along the walking paths. I'm taking Paul on Saturday. It starts at 7pm which is Will's bedtime so it's a mom/Paul special outing!

- We've started to really focus on looking for cool decorations on our walks. Some houses REALLY go all out! So instead of scooting/walking to the depressingly dry creek in our neighborhood, we wind through the streets of our neighborhood, looking for the best decorations.

- One other tradition is meeting up with all the kids/families on the block for a block photo. There are tons of kids on our block so there are quite a few kids (and adults) in the picture! When my kids are older, I envision them trick or treating with kids from the block. 

- Last year I took Paul trick or treating but I think it's something we'll probably trade off. I was impressed with his stamina last year. We were out for an hour and only went home because I had to nurse Will so he could go to bed. We'll see how long he lasts this year. He was super excited and outgoing. He used to be a super shy child but seems to be outgrowing that? 

- I think Will is only going to go to a couple of houses but we'll see how into it he is. We were in the process of moving when Paul was around Will's age so we just went to a few houses to say goodbye/let them know we were moving. Will might want to keep up with big brother but he certainly won't stay out as long as Paul. Plus someone needs to be home to hand out candy. 

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Who knew I had so much to say about a holiday that I used to, um, hate. Ha! 

Your turn! Tell me about your Halloween memories and traditions, past and present!