Does anyone not celebrate Halloween?

[heartbroken22]

What do you say to your kids if you don't?

I don't.
What do you mean by 'What do you say to your kids' ?

My kid doesn’t let me, she thinks it’s dumb and creepy.

🤷‍♀️ fine with me.

Of course loads don’t, just say you don’t celebrate it? My sister never took my nephew trick or treating

Me, I don't say anything to my kids, it's not something we have ever done, no need to explain anything to them.

I know family’s who don’t because they don’t find it compatible with Christian beliefs and explain that to their children.

I know other families who say it’s too driven by consumerism.

We haven’t really done anything this year because we don’t have the time or the energy but our DC is a toddler so he doesn’t really notice.

In Ireland there's some places that celebrate Samhain, very different to what Halloween has become

Why do you not celebrate it? That’s what you tell them.

We don't and we tell DC the same thing we do for other festivals that we don't celebrate: "on this day some people... but we don't".

I don't.

Not because I'm religious, but because there's nothing to celebrate - there's no meaning to it. It's just fancy dress and plastic tat.

I don’t know anyone who does ‘celebrate’ hallowe’en as I don’t know any witches. I do know people with preteens who take them trick or treating and have fun dressing up and buying hallowe’en tat, having hallowe’en parties etc. I don’t know any people without young children or grandchildren who really think about it at all.

I dont celebrate it because of my Christian beliefs, although my kids are too young to fully understand. They had a dress up day on school and they went in their usual dress up stuff (not scary). We don't go trick or treating or have a party but I don't want to put them in a position where they are ostracised from their friends when they don't have the maturity to understand why. Ultimately their beliefs need to come from within and I cannot coerce them to share mine.

So, I participate in as little I can get away with without putting my foot down in way they don't understand. Each year I touch on the topic a bit more, talking about how I would prefer not to celebrate dark things as God wants us to be light in the world and have briefly touched on some other issues. My husband always likes to take them outside to do sparklers (he isn't a Christian like me) and I always tell the children to imagine that we are like sparklers in the world, sharing God's love and kindness. I don't make big deal out of Halloween as I don't want my kids to resent the issue without understanding my reasoning. We can continue to discuss it in more depth each year.

What are people supposed to be "celebrating"?

I don't. Wasn't raised to celebrate nor celebrated it with my children. Even mine/their schools didn't celebrate it. We did try carving a turnip and putting a candle in it twice when I was younger. Heard my mother swear for the first time when she tried to carve it

What's to celebrate?

My DS, 9 isn't bothered so we don't 'do anything.' The doesn't like dress up or going trick or treating. I asked him if he wanted to do a pumpkin and he said you can carve it if you want! No thanks!

He's just had his bday and it's Xmas soon, so nothing missed for us.

Yes, this.

We don't and my DC (13 and 15) have never been trik or treating. A load of commercialised American crap is how I explained it.

That’s not true. Its an ancient festival, to ward off the afterlife (and basically have a good time before winter set in). It’s something that happened long before plastic, and like many traditions - bonfire night, Christmas, Easter, it’s got a bit commercialised, but you can celebrate without being to commercial.

I think it’s a load of consumerist rubbish, it’s not a ‘celebration’ to me.

But DD gets dressed up for school / if she’s invited to a party. I don’t take her trick-or-treating, but if she’s invited to go out with friends, then I allow her. If there are particular activities that she wants to do (this year it was carve a pumpkin, last year it was bake biscuits), then we do it. Halloween isn’t my thing, and I don’t encourage all the fuss and hype, but I don’t want to stop my DD having fun and fitting in, so there’s some compromises along the way.

I've always celebrated Halloween and enjoyed it.
But since living in Mexico I think Day of dead is a more reflective and personal festival.

So now we celebrate that as well.

I've never celebrated it nor decorated my house. Tonight I took the dog on a 20min walk and not one house was decorated (Sth East). I'm clearly in the majority.

Mine isn't interested. I'm not interested. I took him to Harry Potter Studios today instead - involved witches and wizards - avoided any sort of decorating the flat or answering the door to other children demanding sweets.

We've never really "done" Halloween. My kids are teens, they've probably been to Halloween parties two or three times each but we've never done trick or treating.
Neither seem especially bothered about it. Me and DH were laughing earlier how it was handy that trick or treaters now only go to households with decorations/pumpkins so they didn't disturb elderly people...and then we both added at the same time, "or miserable people like us" 🤣🤣

Where I stay, most people have gravestones, skeletons, spider webs etc decorating their gardens. Lots of sweets been given out, even people handing out hot chocolate and marshmallows to keep the guiders warm. All good fun and the kids love it.

All Hallows Eve and pagan Samhain are, as you say, not what Halloween is now. If those ancient festivals has relevance to me now - for example if I ascribed to a pagan religion - then I probably would mark it in someway. But it doesn't, so I don't.

Its never been a subject in our home, a mix of dc attending Catholic schools, living in an old area and eldest dc hating people in masks. They have attended the All Saints Mass via school which honoured deceased relatives with candles flowers. We've always decorated a couple of pumpkins for fun.