Avoiding Halloween

[ArmyBarmyMummy]

I am so glad Halloween is in half term and we're away this year.

I hate the masses of children bordering on youths who come knocking at the door with one shop bought mask between them. [hangry]

I hate the whole begging dressed up as 'trick or treating' to be honest [hblush]

I hate the whole commercial aspect, supermarkets cashing in on loads of confectionary, dressing up stuff etc

I hate the guilt trip. We're a Christian family (Army bit in nickname is The Salvation Army) but I've always taken the "It's just a bit of fun" rather than "celebrating evil" line. Which is right I'm not sure (views please) but I never want to deprive DC of some 'harmless' fun.

I do love smileys tho' and have no qualms about using the halloween ones [hsmile]

I'm with you.

Although I don't think Halloween is celebrationg evil, my heart doesn't feel particularly full of Christian warmth after the 29th treak or treater has banged on my front door/hollered through the letter box.

I think it must be one of those things you have to have grown up with.

Now, send me a Carol singer any day(well not any day, but in December)

I can't be arsed with it either. YANBU.

I am secretly delighted that we live at the end of a cul de sac, so don't get that many trick or treaters. I have the misfortune however to live with a big child who dresses up and spends £8000 on sweets to hand out to trick or treaters.

That said, I do carve a pumpkin lantern every year and sit there and watch it grin spookily at me.

I don't include carving pumpkins as 'can't be arsed'.

I don't even know when halloween is (don't have kids).
And am very bah humbug about being obliged to give sweets to kids i have never seen before for no apparent reason.

I love Hallowe'en. Growing up in Ireland, we didn't have Bonfire Night (for obvious reasons) so it kept us going until Christmas.

We dressed in plastic bags and home-made masks and went around the houses saying:
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man's hat
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do
If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

We used to eat barm brack which has would tell your fortune e.g. if you got a gold ring in your slice, you would get married. If you got a rag, you would be poor. If you got a stick you would be beaten. If you got a pea you would never go hungry.

We played apple bobbing and other traditional games and told ghost stories about banshees.

In the Celtic calendar it is the feast of Samhain (sow-in). Samhain is the Irish word for November.

I love to see the littlies all dressed up and I hope to have many Hallowe'en parties over the years

YANBU Each to their own.

I love it though. I love that all the local kids who I have watched grow up come round every year. I love carving pumpkins with the kids. I am happy to give out sweets and don't see it as begging. The general rule around here is if there is a pumpkin out it is OK to knock. Even those who do join in when they have had enough, take the pumpkin in.

I'm the same getorf.

All we ever do is carve a pumpkin and light it with a candle.

last year the trick or treaters gor a packet of Teco value custard creams. They weren't very grateful [hbiscuit]

Why isn't there a halloween biscuit emoticon?

I'm with you arses. I too grew up in Ireland and we bloody loved Halloween! Still do!

DD is only 2 but we have big plans for Halloweens to come .

Where I live, you put a pumpkin on your doorstep if you want to play, and not, if you don't.

Some people go really ott with decorating their houses, but the DCs enjoy it.

It is a bit of harmless fun.

I don't know anybody who takes part who considers it a celebration of evil. Thats just weird.

Oh yeah and serious at 'celebrating evil' .

Another year of arguing with my DDs and telling them yet again that I don't agree with children begging, I don't agree with children knocking on strangers doors/others' doors and disturbing them, I don't appreciate having my dogs made to bark (and thus happy Jack next door to moan, shout and swear at me) by a bunch of other people's children constantly hammering on my door until gone 9pm and that they won't be taking part in it.

Warning to all who live in my village are considering letting their kids come begging at my door causing my dogs to bark ... I don't let my children do it and I don't want yours here. I find this offensive but you probably don't care about that so equally I don't think you should be offended when I open the door, yell "Bugger off" and slam it shut again. [hangry] [hgrin]

Oh Val you big old meanie!!!!!

Bah humbug, Vallhalloween! [hgrin]

We're lucky in that we only get little tiny kids with parents or polite older siblings...they always make a massive effort with costumes and the rle here is to only knock on doors with decorations....every otther house has something outside....I love it...I'm Chrsitian too....my daughter goes to a Christian school (not cofe) but properly Christian and they have a huge Halloween disco....why not? I mean it's a celebration meant to cheer up the dark nights and kids love ghosties and withes don't they?

[hgrin]

Seriously though... I have 3 large breed dogs. Perfectly well behaved but with big barks. One is pretty much silent but one of the other 2 makes up for it. Why the feck should I have a neighbour complaining and my tenancy potentially put at risk because other people's kids are hammering on my door? It's not as if, like the unwanted cold calling salesman, they go away. They knock... then they knock again... then they knock harder...

Not amused!

The dc want to dress up and have spooky fun so we have a party every year. Agree with Lyn it's harmless.

We have to make a witches hat and bolts to go on ds's neck as he wants to be Frankenstein's monster.

I would ignore it if didn't have dcs though.

Val you could put a sign up that says "We dont do halloween"

Or "Piss off or I'll set the dogs on you"

Skippy can I put one up that says, "Bugger off Halloweeners" instead?

Oh... pleeeeease.

:)

yup sounds fine

Skippy I was considering posting that but I thought I'd get taken seriously and get a bollocking on here!

Disclaimer - I wouldn't dream of risking my dogs by putting up such a sign really, the Dangerous Dogs Act could be implemented to have them killed if I did.

This works on our street.

The houses with families that like Halloween put some decorations on their doors. The children (escorted by parents) then go around the houses on the street with the decorations.

No decorations means no knocking.

At about 8pm children go home, decorations are taken down, and trick or treating ends.

Anyone knocking after the decorations are down, gets short-shrift.