So fall, it should read 'Autumn', is here and now comes all the 'fun stuff' of family traditions. I say 'fun stuff' because though Dan and I have been married for 5.5 years, have had kids for 2.5years we are still working the 'kinks' out of the traditions we came from and how they will work, or not work, within our family.
Take Halloween for example...Dan grew up trick or treating, I did not. Now when I say that we don't celebrate Halloween most people assume that it is because of all the 'evil' that is associated with it. Though that may have played a small part in my mom not allowing us to celebrate Halloween the bigger reason was strangers. A stranger was described as someone who hadn’t come over to dinner, or who wouldn’t come over for dinner. Made sense to me and it has carried with me through the years. Growing up we didn’t have any neighbors on our block our age, so we weren’t friends with any one, therefore we didn’t know any of them. So we didn’t go trick or treating. It made sense to me and because it made sense I have a hard time moving past this thought when it comes to my children. How can you allow your children to take candy from a stranger ONE day a year and not expect them to do it another time?? Confusing if you ask me.
Then comes Dan’s prospective…wouldn’t it be a great way to MEET the neighbors? Is taking candy from a ‘stranger’ at Halloween any different than taking candy during a parade? That too makes sense…ugh! What do I do now?? I’m not good at this ‘make up new traditions’ thing…I like the way they were when I grew up, it made sense. Oh the joys of having your own family. J
Well, this year Dan has won and I will be taking my children trick or treating, along with my sister and her 4 children. Madelynn will be a MOO cow-fitting don’t you think?? And Joshua will be a brown bear. Though I will admit I am anxious about it, even though it’s still a week away, I know that it will be fun for them…I hope!
But I will leave you with this little poem-which is also a book!
Five little pumpkins were sitting on the gate.
The first one said, my it's getting late.
The second one said, there are witches in the air.
The third one said, ah we don't care.
The fourth one said, let's run, run, run.
The fifth one said, isn't halloween fun?
Then OOOOOOO went the wind, out went the lights and those 5 little pumpkins ran out of sight.
My husband and I struggle with Halloween as well. I grew up celebrating, he did not. His reasons are religious, and he hates the holiday. I think Halloween is fun, and a "dress up" day for the girls. I take them every year, and dress them up in cute costumes, NEVER scary, or evil ones. Billy choses to not participate. I wish we could come up with a plan where he would participate, but it's less stressful this way! Hope you have a fun time!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Autumn! I can't wait to hear how the kids did!
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