Halloween feels weird when you're older and without kids

[Likewhatttt]

Am I wrong? 🤔 like if you have kids obviously Halloween is Halloween.
And if you're under say 35 then Halloween is messy party territory with fancy dress.
But if you're over 35 without kids I'm wondering do you actually "do" anything for Halloween? I've been to a couple of Halloween parties in the last few years but I cant quite be fucked this year 😅

Surely you hardly even notice it’s on unless you live in a neighbourhood with trick or treaters and want to embrace that and get some sweets ready.
maybe it’s an age thing but it never used to be a big thing at all. Now my kids are bigger it will just pass me by I think. I’ve got usual Saturday night plans next weekend.

My answer was assuming you’re uk based, I think it’s always been a bigger thing in the US

I like the idea of some of the older traditions: a "dumb dinner" where you eat in silence and think about loved ones who have passed on, and getting a branch and decorating it with paper leaves on which you write the names of loved ones who have passed away. And you can always get prepped with candy for and have a carved pumpkin outside ready for trick or treaters who come to the door!

@Likewhatttt what brought this on, I mean why do you think it’s a big deal?

I don’t have kids - it’s always been something to be ignored, except for worrying about elderly parents and hoping no kids target them. I’ve spent a lot of time in the US where the parties are a big deal but we don’t have that here… and I wouldn’t really want it to be honest.

I decorate inside the house with a few Autumn/pumpkin type things. Then on actual Halloween we decorate our porch and leave out sweats for the trick or treaters to help themselves to while we watch a scary movie.

I always find Halloween is a do as much or as little as you want to affair and there is no expectation one way or the other. I know plenty of people who do absolutely nothing and others who go all out with or without children

Is it?

I’m 37, no kids, and I’m going to a Halloween house party, a Halloween bar crawl, a Halloween-themed ‘Vampire’ rave and to watch The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway.

I love Halloween. 💜

(I do live in the US where Halloween is a MUCH bigger deal though.)

I didn't give it a thought between the uni party days and the DC arriving. Was often caught out by guisers at the door and had to rummage for treats for them!

DC are older now and I'm back to ignoring the occasion.

I've never considered halloween to be a big thing. I've no desire at all to dress up and look stupid as an adult.

I'm in Ireland where it's always been a big deal. But now my child is grown up I don't really pay it any attention. I'll have stuff to hand out to kids and enjoy their costumes etc on the night but really, what more is required? I don't see why it's an issue

who even thinks about this, before kids it never even occurred to me that it was Halloween, I certainly didn’t go out partying because it was Halloween?

I've got some battery operated miniature pumpkin lights which I drape round my Zimmer frame when I go 'Trick or Treating', but that's about the only concession I've made to getting older.

I've never been to a halloween party which is sad.
Id love to go to one !

In fact as an adult it's a long time since I've been to a party !
However I have a Halloween play list / dress the house and watch spooky stuff...I'm well into it.

You might not, but lots of people did and still do! In the early 2000s loads of bars and clubs threw parties - it was one of the most fun nights of the year!

I'd probably equate it a bit with not being arsed with NYE events any more. That felt really weird to me at first, but now I like going out for an earlyish dinner and being home into time to watch the fireworks on TV. I still have primary aged DC, so still very much in the prime Halloween years. I think once they're over, I'll still carve a pumpkin, get some sweets in for the local kids and watch a horror film.

halloween is not anywhere near the same level as new years lool

Awesome!

It was always a big thing in my area of Scotland as a kid. I went out guising every year.

I then went out every year dressed up to the pubs and clubs.

DD is a student so Halloween is a non event for us. We don't even get trick or treaters.

We are 40s and go to a friend’s annual Halloween party. Otherwise, I’ll make a Halloween/autumnal table decoration and we tend to watch some horror films in the run up. I like the theming and structure to the year.

What? Surely you just ignore it.

When I grew up in the 90s it was barely a thing, and it didn’t register for me until DC got old enough to be interested.

My boys are all teens and young adults now and this will be the first year in 20 odd years that none of them are dressing up to go trick or treating. I feel a bit sad about that tbh.

I grew up in the 80’s/90’s and it was massive in Scotland. Every year we’d be out guising, usually in a costume made from a bin bag…ah those were great days.

I think if you are in a neighbourhood where kids trick or treat you have fun seeing the local kids in their costume.

In the neighbourhood we used to live in there was an elderly lady who would take a picture of each child. She would put up.the old ones in her porch each year with each child's photos together so you say them from when they were tiny to when they were big. It was really nice.

In my sister's neighbourhood, which is full of over achievers, there is a guy who has rigged up an old Beetle car in his front yard with a speaker, and the hood works on some sort of leaver. He hides inside and the car " talks" to the kids when they come up to the house.

If you don't have a fun neighbourhood, maybe watch a scary movie?

Yeah we are empty nesters and I do miss it. I’m still tempted to get in sweets and decorate a bit (have all the stuff) - I love seeing all the families out and the little kids dressed up and all excited. 🎃👻 such a nice community thing to be part of.

I am in my 60s and grew up in England, so I was a child in the 60s/70s and Halloween wasn't really a big thing. I mean, we knew about it and I think in my whole childhood I went to two "parties". One was organised by the school and, apart for bobbing for apples, I can't really remember anything about it. The other was when the weekly Brownie meeting happened to fall on the 31st Oct so we were told to go in costume and played party games.

But it was overshadowed by Bonfire Night and Mischief Night. For anyone not from that part of the country, Mischief Night is on 4th November and kids go out and play pranks on their neighbours.

Absolutely nobody had heard of Trick or Treat. In fact I was an adult before I had even heard of it as an American tradition by seeing it on TV and films.

However, by the time I had DD it was starting to be more recognised. I always make sure to have some sweets in just on case trick or treaters come round and when DD was little I would let her dress up and go to the immediate neighbours who also had children.

But celebrate it myself? Of course not!

We had houses quite close on our road that all had children born within 5 years of each other so there were a lot of children between the houses, plus we are near local schools. So it was Halloween central for a few years. The youngest of those children is a neighbours who is now 21 all of the families except one still live on the road and they all still give out sweets. Our record for trick or treaters to ours is 80 kids. We dress up and decorate. We have friends round usually though it’s not an actual party as such. Trick or treaters get a choice of sweets or crisps.

NYE was huge where I grew up, what felt like all of the very small town would do a pub crawl in fancy dress.