Halloween used to be my favorite holiday.
I loved putting together a costume using nothing but the family closets and my Mom’s makeup. I loved seeing what the other kids wore. I loved all the different ways neighbors celebrated, some with incredible decorations and some with homemade treats. I loved how some neighbors tried to be scary and some tried to be fun but pretty much everyone participated – and if they didn’t, they just left their porch light off and there were no hard feelings. I loved the Halloween parties. When I got older, I still loved Halloween: I loved being the neighbor who dressed up, who delighted in the kids coming to my door in costume, whether they were little children or teens, and who never ran out of candy. And I still loved the parties.
I’m giving up on Halloween. The last five years have worn me down. I’m tired of opening the door to a bored adult standing there with a sack and saying, “Yeah, my kid’s sick, I’m putting together his candy sack.” Or a group of teens with no costumes, who won’t even bother to say “Trick or Treat,” holding out their hands or a baseball cap. I’m tired of the endless memes telling me what kind of candy to hand out, or not to hand out candy at all, to hand out toys or toothbrushes instead. Or not to hand out anything orange (yes, this was a request on an online group for my local community – someone’s precious buttercup doesn’t like any candy wrapped in orange paper). Oh, and don’t be too scary! It scares my kid! And I’m tired of being told that any expectation of costumes or “Trick or Treat” is me being unreasonable – one person said I deserved to have my house egged as a result.
So, this Halloween, our porch light will be off. Enough.
Boo.
I am now the Grinch of Halloween.
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