My kids love to play dress-up, most every day of the year.
We have bumblebee costumes, lion costumes, Indian princess costumes, unicorn costumes, fireman costumes, clothes we found at garage sales, old candy striper uniforms, baseball helmets, hard hats and the list goes on and on and on.
But I think Bug's favorite thing to wear when he is feeling goofy is this item. Yes, it is one item.
("I'm a dude. I'm a 'hunkay' dude!" - quote from "She's the Man" with Amanda Bynes)
The glasses from his Clark Kent to Superman costume - found in the clearance rack the day after Halloween. That's about the best reason I can think of for Halloween, for our family - cheap costumes to aid our children in their daily imaginative adventures.
That's right. We do not celebrate Halloween in any way. I know that I just heard a gasp from some of you. Our youngest two children have never dressed up for Halloween or gone to a church version of Halloween.
That doesn't mean I judge any of you if you and your family dress-up, dole out candy, gather candy and what-not. It simply means, for our family, we don't recognize it as something we want to participate in, in any form.
Does this mean that our family does not reap benefits from the boxes of tiny chocolate bars that overtake the shelves? Oh we do! We enjoy a nice bite-size candy bar just like the majority of society. I like popping them in my kids' lunches as a nice little treat (to go along with their pepper strips and cucumber slices - I like balance).
Does that mean we don't stalk the bulk bins at our local grocery store waiting for these delightful treats to find their way into our cart? Oh! We most certainly do!
Feast your eyes upon one of the most delicious lollipops/suckers (whatever you call them in your area) ever thought into existance. I am sensing some doubt from some of you but, you need to believe me. I have never steered you wrong yet. (I haven't had the opportunity too? Oh, well, you will just need to trust me then. You will be happy you did. I promise....)
Look at the anticipation on Bug's face as he is about to eat this delicious carmel apple lollipop! Really! I kid you not! Carmel Apple! The green part in the center is green apple sucker and the brown around it is carmel - lovely, delicious carmel. Really, your taste buds will try to hug you after this. I kid you not.
MMMM....dish ish vewy dood....
So, now some of you may be wondering what we do instead of Halloween and trick-or-treating. We spend time together as a family. We order a pizza, pop in a movie, turn off our doorbell, turn off our lights so little people don't come to our house with expectations of hitting the motherload of candy donation and we chill. We talk about things that are happening in our lives, about what God is doing and what He is speaking to us. We talk about funny stories and memories and maybe play a board game. We have gone out for pizza as well and we do, sometimes, eat a little bit of candy.
At one time my mom seemed to think my children were deprived for not getting to dress up for Halloween, and I am sure that some people will always believe that, but I ask you, does it really sound like they are missing out? They get to dress up whenever they want, eat candy and enjoy some very delicious suckers, spend quality time with mom and dad and eat pizza. So while I don't judge you for taking your children out on Halloween, please don't judge me for not doing the same. (Not that I think any of you wonderful ladies here are judging me in the slightest - nor do I feel you ever would!)
P.S. You seriously have to try those carmel apple lollipops! Seriously!
Those lollipops look delicious! And I'm saying that as someone who doesn't usually like caramel apples, but those just look so good... :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to spend Halloween! We do something similar, but the kids dress up for our family fun night. This year, we're taking them to a Fall Festival in town(not trick-or-treating, more like a street fair) and then coming home to watch a movie and pig out on popcorn.
ReplyDeleteLoved reading this post....you have a GREAT blog.....
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up in Ireland we called in to a few houses for treats but only houses we knew the owners. Then it was home to have fun as a family playing silly games like bobbing apples and to eat some barm brack (an Irish Fruit cake)
ReplyDeleteThen I moved to England and I found that teenagers with maybe just a mask would ring the doorbell and ask for money. I found that really intimidating.
Now we live in Australia and no-one we know really does the house-to-house thing. Some friends dress their kids up in their own homes and we do carve friendly pumpkin faces but it is pretty low key compared to the US.