Ghosts and Goblins Make Me Mushy

Growing up, I lived in a household and a neighborhood that loved Halloween. I’m talking about graveyards set up in front yards, fog machines, parties, decorations, and candy galore. I didn’t realize until I moved away that that kind of stuff is not the norm. I didn’t realize that not everyone’s parents dressed in costumes, not everyone had 100 trick or treaters come to the door, and not everyone went “all out” for the occasion.

When my husband was first introduced to our Halloween festivities he thought we were crazy. He came from a house where you decorated for fall (not necessarily Halloween) with indian corn and mums. We decorated with skulls and fake blood -to each their own I guess. Now as a grown up myself (umm...when did that happen?) I find myself teetering in between the two worlds. We have mums on our doorstep and our house is not decorated like crazy (in my opinion). Although my husband recently said, “I’ve never seen so many Halloween decorations.” Of course, I had just been thinking maybe we need more so maybe I am crazy (like my mom), after all.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they don’t like Halloween which is fine. Not everyone has to love everything and to be honest I wouldn’t say that I LOVE Halloween. What I love are the memories that I have of it. The memories of happy times with my mom who is no longer here to celebrate. So when you’re schlepping your kid from party to party, or parade to parade, or house to house, keep in mind that these might just be the times that your child looks back on and remembers fondly. These could be some of the times that mattered the most to them when you’re gone.

Happy Halloween from my crew to yours!