Halloween Again

We are so weird.  And most of the time, I'm ok with it.  But for some reason, Halloween makes me feel bad for my kids not participating and having such a whacky mom that takes things to the extreme.   It doesn't take me long to get over it, but every year I have to re-examine the whole thing and remind myself why my kids can't have cute pumpkin outfits like everybody else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


We had a fun weekend of churchy fall festival type things.  Friday we visited Fellowship and got to see some old church family that we miss.  Last night was our own church's block party which is always a blast.  My favorite part is seeing all the brand new faces from the community and some Awana families that rarely come.

Lots of prizes, cute costumes, food, and a TON of candy.

And after a few years of doing this, I have to admit I'm softening a little on the whole thing.   At this point I'm still trying to figure out what I think of the whole church fall festival parties.  Am I compromising?  Am I confusing my kids even more?  Why do I think my kids need an alternative to something I feel so strongly about?  And if I say that I'm only involved for the outreach opportunities then why am I so happy for the chance for my kids to do something fun?  But anyhow....

The other day I was thinking how I hadn't visited the whole Halloween issue with our kids in a long time.  Sometimes Honey and I take for granted the fact that b/c the older kids know something, then the younger ones should too.  That's not the case.  And I need to remember that just b/c I've taught something to some kids doesn't mean that every kid knows it.

And of course, if its something that looks like fun, my kids want to know what its all about.  So it's time for me to teach my little ones and remind my bigger ones about my thoughts on Halloween, scary movies and books, and the new vampire/zombie craze.

Last night on the way home, Mally speaks up from the back of the car.
"Momma, how come we don't dress up for Halloween?"

Oh Honey, I'm so glad you asked.

I don't want to re-hash my take on Halloween.  If you're interested, it's all right here.

But instead, I want to share some links with you in case you happen to feel the same way and need to explain it to your kids that feel like they are missing out.

If you're still trying to figure it out yourself, here is one of my favorite articles written on it.  A very practical way of looking at it written by a mom.

And here's a pretty good one about explaining it all to your kids.


Here's a link explaining about the pagan roots.  Disclaimer:  I do understand that just about all of our holidays do have a pagan history behind it.  Again, this is just my own personal convictions about Halloween.  I don't think that just b/c God has laid something on my heart, that it will necessarily be the same for everyone.  Pray about it, and see what God says to you.