UGH... I hate Halloween. I hate that every store you walk into has skulls, evil looking monsters, fake cobwebs and various other demonic looking paraphernalia. I really don't like exposing Christopher to that stuff and it just seems to be everywhere...even the grocery store!
This is the first year I've had to really deal with Halloween. I've been very torn about how to handle it with Chris. He dressed up his first Halloween (he was 11 months old) and went out with his cousins (he was in a stroller) and has no recollection of this. Then, the next three years, I didn't dress him up or take him out. Last year he handed out candy to some neighbors who came by and he loved answering the door bell when it rang. That was good enough for him and just fine by me. A couple of times there were some younger teenagers "tweens" who came to the door in some scary outfits and I had to hide Christopher behind me so he wouldn't get freaked out by seeing them.
So, this year he is in preschool, a Christian preschool and, much to my disappointment, they are having a halloween parade. The plan is for the teachers to explain the difference between "pretending" (dress up) and reality. No scary costumes are allowed, no masks, no guns, etc. Still, I wonder if I should even send him to school that day. Am I opening a can of worms?
My former pastor preached a very good sermon about Halloween a few years ago. It's an evil celebration that certainly does not glorify God in any way, shape or form. Yes, I dressed up and participated in Halloween as a child, and suffered no ill-affects from it, but as my pastor pointed out, this is one of the most holy days on the satanic worshippers calendar. It seemed more innocent back then, even though it is probably just as evil. I don't want to shield Christopher in a bubble, but I'd like to teach him about Halloween from the Christian perspective.
I know many of you have struggled with this over the years as well. How do you handle Halloween with your kids?? I'm open to any and all advice. If you'd like to leave a comment you can do so by clicking on the anonymous button after writing a note in the comment box or you can email me privately at bmmalave@aol.com.
2 comments:
I know this is a difficult topic. I too really hate that every store has evil things on display. I have never dressed either of my boys (3 1/2 and 2) up for Halloween and I have no plans to ever do so. Thankfully my oldest son's Christian preschool does not dress up. They have an Oktoberfest (games and food) and all the kids are to wear orange that day. There is no reference to Halloween at his school. I know my parents always kept us home from elementary school on the day that Halloween was celebrated. They always did something special with us away from the house on that night and we never felt deprived. I plan on doing the same thing with my boys.
Our church does a Harvest Party...kind of like Bethlehem did, only we have a hay ride as well. And if the kids want to dress up they do as Bible characters. Makes it fun for them and we're honoring God not Satan. My kids still go around the neighborhood but they're older and they're not allowed any "darkness" outfits. Michael has been a knight two years now and King David at church. It's a tough decision.
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