The thing I am thinking about is Halloween. What got me thinking about this was the fact that a very young girl rang our front doorbell last evening with the words "Trick or Treat". My husband gave her a few coins and asked if there was anyone with her to which she replied "No." This worried us as it was dusk and the idea of a little child out on her own at that time of day seemed irresponsible. There are very few young children living in our area so we wondered how far she had come.
Thinking further about Halloween today I realised that when I was a child I am not sure we had even heard of the event as way back then not a lot was heard of goings on in America and although my Mum and Dad both came from the UK neither of them ever mentioned it. I am not sure it was celebrated in the UK back in the early 1900s.
I myself have no feelings about it at all and prefer to just ignore it and hope others enjoy it if they so choose. I am not into ghosties and all those nasties so that is why perhaps it doesn't appeal to me. I notice a lot of the catalogues we get in our letter box were full of lots and lots of things you could buy for Halloween (both clothing, novelties and food) so I am wondering if it is just another so-called "celebration" to make money.
Gee!! Am I sounding just like an old fuddy duddy. I never try to stop anybody having a good time as long as they consider others when they are doing so but if little ones are going to go out trick or treating I feel it would be much better for them to go in organised groups or at least have an older sibling with them, or a mum or dad who could perhaps wait for them at the gate of the house they are visiting.
Do you celebrate Halloween? Would be interested to know if you do and what you think about it?
NOTE: It is not only now that many people know little of the world outside their own boundaries. I had a Facebook friend ask me the other day whether we celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia and when I replied we didn't and explained why she then went on to ask if we celebrated Christmas!!! She is obviously a well educated lady from the way she writes (on her messages) but as is often the case little seems to be known about those in the antipodes by those in the northern hemisphere.
In our community, trick-or-treating in the neighborhood is a thing of the past. For years it was a huge deal, and was actually great fun to see what little kids would be dressed as - or watch toddlers try and interact or say 'trick-or-treat.' All of those things are really positive and fun memories for me as I outgrew trick-or-treating.
ReplyDeleteNow our business district organizes a trick-or-treat from 4-6p on the night of Halloween. The policy block off the downtown, the store owners/staff dress up, and kids go from business to business with dozens of other kids. It's neat, safe, and contained, which is great.
As for us, Kiera can't handle the extra stimulus from having all those interactions and having the streets flooded with loud kids. We spend the night indoors, business as usual.
As a side note, Thanksgiving in our family is a secular holiday where we spend time together and have a great meal, play family games, and appreciate each other.
We never celebrated Thanksgiving. A few years ago we had a few children knock on our door seeking treats. Like your child I thought that they were too young to be roaming the streets on their own. This year? I even bought a few treats. Not one knock at the door. And yes, judging by the merchandising in the shops it is another (big) money making venture. Our local Woolies was selling giant pumpkins at $30 each!!
ReplyDeleteI've never celebrated Thanksgiving, not Halloweeen.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a fun thing to do, door knocking for candy and many more kids enjoy it now than in the past when it was purely an American tradition.
I still remember something my daughter once said though.
"We teach our kids not to take candy from strangers, then on one night of the year, we send them out to do just that. It's wrong". I agree with that.
Because Halloween seems to be taking off here in Aus, I have to say that I think organised Halloween parties in someone's home or civic hall, might be better than kids roaming the streets.