To think Halloween is just an extra chore

[2blue1green]

My friend said to me this afternoon "your poor children" when I said I wasn't decorating my house in fake spiders and pumpkins and have shop bought a costume for them instead of created one myself

How can anyone be arsed with this level of detail for Halloween?!

You can do Halloween without much effort. Just light a candle, tell scary stories or watch something spooky. If I can be bothered I draw spooky faces on satsumas with a black marker pen.

I love Halloween and am a bit sad there are no small children in my life at the moment as we used to have a party every year for about a decade for DS friends at our our home, all in their twenties and late teens now and I used to go all out. I have bought 60 bags of haribo and await trick or treaters. I have made theatrical props in the past and am an ok dressmaker so enjoy that part of it. @YikYok exactly that loved doing the crafts.

Yes bit of an effort but it's 20mins max and worth it to see the excitement on my child's face

I refuse to buy halloween decorations. It ia just more tack, landfill, and stuff to store. It's all clever marketing, when I was a kid nobody ever decorated for Halloween.

I usually pick up some second hand costumes in charity shop, for the school Halloween disco. This is the extent of it for me.

I used to love it and would hold Halloween parties. These days, like so much else, I just can't be arsed.

I'll put a pumpkin out and will get sweets in but I'm no decorating beyond that.

DC dress up in bought costumes, my teens are taking DS7 round a few doors and having a get together with their friends, and I've bought a big box of sweets for any kids who come to my door. Only decorated one year when I agreed to a little party. Not bothering with a pumpkin as DS hasn't asked for one. Fair play to people who decorate and make it a big event, it's just not for me. DC seem content with the arrangement. Each to their own, I say.

I don't see it that way. Normally, generally, I always participate in nearly everything, but I only do what needs to be done, so it's never a chore. Eg putting up a few decs takes minutes, and buying 5 or 6 bags of sweets the week before in my weekly shop isn't a hassle.

Sorry I go all out for halloween, Easter and Christmas and the Elf. It brings so much joy to my kids and their friends and I like that they will have those memories from their childhood. My much older kids do and say they hope to carry on our traditions with their own kids. They absolutely remember the festivities more than the gifts. I accept it is not for everyone and each to their own but I have and always will go that extra mile to make it special.

I think I timed it right with my dc as it just wasn't a big deal 15-20 years ago & thank God for that as it's one event I'm just not into.
Especially trick or treat.
And no most people do not carve pumpkins!! Fine if you want to but it's certainly not socially unacceptable not to!

We have a small house so have a bag for life rule for festivals. No more than a bag for life worth of decorations for Halloween, or Easter. Christmas has an extra box but only because I don't want to crush some of the baubles. Much easier to get out of attic and only 20mins put out and put away. We don't trick or treat though.

Yes absolutely, we do a bit for Halloween for the kids but to be quite honest I think the whole Halloween and bonfire night thing are both in quite bad taste. Could seriously do without all the extra expense, especially when trying to save for Christmas and winter holidays etc. Feel like hardly ever get a break between extra expenses of birthdays, summer holidays, this and then Christmas

I admire your stance on it as feel very much the same about the whole thing but bit too much of a chicken to skip out of it completely. Yes do as you used to kids can have outfits of benign things loosely related to Halloween, same with decorations.

I hate Halloween – never did it as a kid, and DH died 3 days before it so it’s a shit time of year for me – but I make the effort for DD. Same decorations every year so it’s just a case of getting them out and up, sorting her a costume and organising some games and sweets for the night itself (we don’t do trick or treating). It’s not hard to make it fun for her.

Most celebrations take time and effort. It's entirely up to you where you want to expend that time and effort.

It's very much a tradition in Scotland do we not count.

@endlessfall well the commercialisation of Halloween do doubt came from the US (along with baby showers and 'gender' reveals).
I don't recall it being celebrated in the 1970s/80s, it was 'Penny for the Guy' for bonfire night back then. The shops weren't full of black and orange tat/sweets/chocolate and it people would just comment 'Oh it Halloween tonight'. Or it was called All Hallows or All Souls night and maybe some kids would play some tricks on people.

Most people at least carve pumpkins and display those.

So far, the only pumpkins I have seen displayed this year are outside the local pub.

You don't have to celebrate it if you see it as a chore.

Very traditional in my part of Britain.

NuffSaidSam · Yesterday 20:40

I LOVE Halloween.

I don't sew their costumes though! Shop bought or cobbled together from bits we have”

Oh god this reminds me. Sewed a Where the Wild Things Are monster for our youngest when he was 7. Have you ever sewed fake fur? Never again. Madest thing I ever did. Drive me nearly round the bend and took 3 solid days of sewing. Took about a month to hoover up all the green and blue fluff 🤣

Yanbu. We don’t do Halloween at all. I have happy, well-rounded teens so I think they’ve survived unscathed. It’s all for social media pictures anyway.
(Noted other comments about making memories/family traditions- we have plenty of those on other occasions).

It may not have been celebrated in your corner of Britain but it was in mine and has been for a very long time.

What people do or don't but in the UK is the responsibility of the UK why blame Americans for your choices.

I now live in the USA and while Halloween is a big festival it isn't particularly commercialized. There are decorations, many stored each year like Christmas ones, pumpkins and sweets. It has a strong community element here.

Urgghh so glad mine are older now and we don't have to do this shit anymore

Due to big age gaps between ours it's been over two decades of decorating up and outfits and trick or treating which has brought some fab memories over the years but I'm not sad now that we don't have to do it.

We do other stuff like cinema or tea out instead and we all enjoy that.