I Hate Halloween. *GASP* There, I Said It.

2
hate Halloween
Photo Credit: Julia Young Photography

I may be the only person on the planet (surely not), but I really just hate Halloween.  

I have never been one to enjoy scary haunted houses or horror movies.

What would I rather do?

My introverted self would much rather just buy a big bag of candy (a kind I actually like) and sit at home eating it than go out knocking on doors and asking for candy that I’m going to end up throwing out, anyway. And Halloween parties? Forget about it. 

I don’t decorate my house for Halloween.  I have exactly one jack-o-lantern platter for parties at school, and one cute ghost candy holder.  My son, Zachary, occasionally asks why we don’t decorate for Halloween, and I make up some excuse. “We just don’t have any decorations to use.” “We don’t have the money right now to buy decorations.” “It’s too late now to decorate! It would only be up for a week!”  

And then there’s the issue of costumes.  Should we dress up as a family, or just put Zach in a costume?  Do we want to spend $150 on costumes for our family? Do I want to spend the time to make our costumes?  WHAT THE HECK WOULD WE EVEN WEAR???? I had one good idea last year. We dressed up as Mario, Princess Peach, and Yoshi.  But now, I have zero good ideas left. That was my one, and I used it up. I hate Halloween. 

But when you have kids, you kind of have to get over it, right? 

Holidays are not really about me anymore (shocking, I know).  So I try to make the best of it.

Here are 3 tips, just in case there’s another person out there who also dislikes Halloween:

  1. Buy YOUR favorite treat to hand out to trick-or-treaters.  This way, if you have leftovers, you’re not just stuck with some generic is-this-even-real chocolate or the classic love-it-or-hate-it candy corn (which, by the way, who is actually eating that stuff??).  
  2. Take your kids to a retirement home for trick-or-treating.  You will make the residents’ night! You’ll feel like you’re doing some good in the world, instead of just trick-or-treating.  Plus, you don’t have to deal with the spooky/scary stuff that often presents itself in neighborhoods. 
  3. Attend a fun event, such as Boo at the Zoo!  I, personally, am a huge fan of our Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and they put on a great Halloween event!  By attending Boo at the Zoo, you can skip a lot of the usual Halloween stuff (trick-or-treating, parties, etc.), and instead, you get to see all the new baby animals in our zoo (the meerkat babies and the giraffe baby are my personal favorites)!  

And good news, Halloween-hating mamas, this holiday only comes around once a year!

2 COMMENTS

  1. Great article! When my kids were young, 50 yrs ago, I dreaded Halloween because Moms made elaborate costumes that encouraged competitiveness. As a part time working Mom I often didn’t have time to make complicated costumes. Once in awhile I came through with elaborate ones. Now parents are smart. They buy.

  2. SAME. I like the idea of the fun that can be had… But I know my reality is that it’ll be far more stress for me and only short-lived enjoyment for the kids. When we were growing up, we were told to make a costume out of stuff from our big dress-up trunk and craft supplies. It was fun! My kids do similar things. I’m a BIG fan of the trunk or treat events that are popular now. It doesn’t take long, the kids get some candy, and there’s a definite end. There’s no “one more block, mom!” 😉

Comments are closed.