Harvest instead of Halloween?

[Camno's Mama]

I would say that we mostly celebrate "Falloween". I love the whole pumpkin patch visiting, apple pie making, leaf raking, mums sitting on the porch aspects of this time of year.

The kids do dress up and go to the town festivals and all that, but it's all part of the big picture. I have absolutely no religious aversion to Halloween, but in our house, it's just the day that wraps up the fun part of fall. (I'm not so in love with November...the weather here is no treat at that time of year...so Halloween is where it ends in my head).

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I LOVE Halloween, so do my children (and my BIG child-DH) I mena it's not like the Halloween for the kids that scare the wits out of them- that's the halloween I love (and I am Christian & go to church) but for them it's the thought of dressing up (they haven't chose anything scary) but what ever works for you is great. They don't do "Halloween" parties in our school or let the kids dress up, we have fall parties. When I was in school we dressed up till 5th grade & had parades at school (I miss that for my kids now) but we go out on Halloween & have fun...having fun is what matters

 

[lntsmom]

of our ethnic and religious heritage. I'm not ashamed to admit that we joyfully celebrate Halloween at our house. (and there isn't a monster, devil, or murder anywhere amoung the decor)

 

[MaryKLady]

I LOVE Halloween! I'm so excited, I started putting up my decorations already. How could a holiday where you get to wear too much makeup and eat candy for dinner be bad?!?!

 

[idieh]

I don't like candy corn.

How can you not like candy corn???? Here in NJ, we don't have many harvest festivals. We mostly grow corn, tomato's and eggplant. All summer crops. I personally don't go for the bloody, horror costumes; and thankfully, DS has never wanted to dress that way. I look at it more as "fun" holiday and tend to ignore the religious significants.

 

[princessmom29]

im not offended. its quite hard to offend me actually. i am fully aware of the misconceptions with my religion.
paganism is to wicca as catholicism is to christianity.

Thanks for the info. That really clears things up actually. Nothing like a good analogy!! Believe it or not I can understand the misconceptions. We are Episcopalian in the south. For lots of ppl the first question is where do you go to church, and lots of ppl look at me like I have grown 2 heads when I tell them. Then they ask me if that is a christian church.

 

[imthatgirl]

Thanks for the info. That really clears things up actually. Nothing like a good analogy!! Believe it or not I can understand the misconceptions. We are Episcopalian in the south. For lots of ppl the first question is where do you go to church, and lots of ppl look at me like I have grown 2 heads when I tell them. Then they ask me if that is a christian church.

i love religion, it intregues me. but i have to be honest there are a couple ive just never looked into much. epicopalian being one of them, also protestant and lutherin. but maybe now i will have to. i hate that i cant add anything to an episopalian conversation...except that im quite aware that its a christian religion, lol.

 

[minkydog]

We do not celebrate Halloween. It doesn't fit with our values & beliefs. However, I do love candy corn, flannel, pumpkins, orange/gold/brown, bonfires,sweaters, muffins, and all the trappings of harvest season!

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

I'm Jewish and I celebrate Halloween! XD The rest of my family is Christian so I usually celebrate Christmas with them. It may sound weird but I like to be with them during their holidays and they take interest in mine. It doesn't reflect my beliefs one bit, I just love holidays XD

Technically if you're a Christian and do not celebrate Halloween because of the religion than you should not celebrate Christmas in December either because the Catholic church placed this holiday in December to try and convert the Pagans...

 

[CrAzY4DL]

I LOOOOOVE Halloween!! Maybe *** I was born October 29th but seriously, LOOOOVE Halloween!! I'm not into the scary and/or gross stuff either ***, eww gross! But I love having my kids dress up and every year we dress the kids up, load them in the car and hit all of our relatives houses. They get to trick or treat, family gets to see them AND they can eat the candy!! Last year, our church did a huge parking lot trick or treat event and it was so amazing!! Was called Trunk or Treat. You brought your car, popped the trunk, decorated it and handed out candy you bought or candy that had been donated. We also had bouncy houses and cake walks (my kids were quite ticked when they found out you win cake mix and frosting in a can which made me CRACK UP!!!) and live music. It was so amazingly fun and safe. I had no problem letting my kids wander the parking lot together (with an adult behind them discreetly...LOL). Last year my oldest DD went as Hermione Granger which I LOVED because we are huge Harry Potter fans and DD recognized that it's better to be SMART than to not be smart....LOVE IT!! And younger DD was Belle. Yay for Halloween!!!
This year, hubby and I are going as one of the most important and culturally significant couples in history:



Mario and Luigi!!!



PS-the *** are where i used the word C O S instead of because. That's just trippy!

 

[DaisyD]

We celebrate Halloween in our house and we are catholic. My kids were and are allowed to dress up however they like. They trick or treat, and after my inspection, are allowed to eat the candy. Of course, these treats come from our neighbors who are not strangers at all. I would never allow them to go into a neighborhood other then our own. We also love the fall festivals and attend those too. We have a catholic priest that serves our church and also lives in our neighborhood. Apparently he has no problem celebrating it either as his house is decorated with pumpkins, witches, and black cats. He also hands out the best candy bars in the neighborhood!

 

[JimmyJr'sMom]

We don't coddle. A good scare can be very invigorating. And he giggles after he's been scared anyway. We have (for the last 3 years) hung up those motion sensor ghosts, blinking eyes that we stick in the fridge when he least expects it, fake rats, bugs, you name it. He loves to get together with Mommy to see if we can scare Daddy. We have a good time, no one gets traumatized and as a result- he's a very unflappable little fellow.
We much prefer this than a kid who's afraid of his own shadow.

PS- At this point both Christmas & Halloween are basically commercial holidays. It serves no purpose to villify a fun and creative holiday for kids in the name of religion. Can you say Taliban?

No Flame suit needed. Everyone has their own opinion.

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

We don't coddle. A good scare can be very invigorating. And he giggles after he's been scared anyway. We have (for the last 3 years) hung up those motion sensor ghosts, blinking eyes that we stick in the fridge when he least expects it, fake rats, bugs, you name it. He loves to get together with Mommy to see if we can scare Daddy. We have a good time, no one gets traumatized and as a result- he's a very unflappable little fellow.
We much prefer this than a kid who's afraid of his own shadow.

PS- At this point both Christmas & Halloween are basically commercial holidays. It serves no purpose to villify a fun and creative holiday for kids in the name of religion. Can you say Taliban?

No Flame suit needed. Everyone has their own opinion.

Thank you! I'm glad someone said it. Todays kids are wimps XD jk, but seriously, a good scare is good for everyone now and then

 

[ChristusG]

We dont "celebrate" Halloween. We dress up and go trick or treating....but that's the extent of it. We dont get all into the decorating, etc. No gory, weird costumes.

We do go to MNSSHP though.

 

[daleswife]

I LOVE the fall and HATE how fall stuff gets overrun with Halloween stuff. It's silly. Also, I would NEVER allow my children to eat candy/snacks from strangers any other day of the year, so I will certainly not allow it on that day either.

Thats the reason we only trick or treat at friends and family members homes. Im lucky enough to live around a WHOLE bunch of family!!! As far as the scary costumes....NOPE. I am a Christian and I love halloween. But I love the cuteness of the Holiday, not the spookyness of it. I dont like that people have made it into something horrid. Around here, practical jokes run wild. But thats why we have a DOG!!! LMAO......hes a golden retriever. He'll LICK you to death!!!!

 

[Narnia]

We are kind of odd we allow halloween but at christmas no santa. No santa decorations,cookies,stockings,girfts labled from santa. We try to allow christmas time to be focused on what it's truely about. Sure we give gifts and recieve them we just don't make that big of a deal about it. Halloween is differant only to a select few does it have any meaning. For my kids it's trips to the pumkinpatch, dressing up and eating junk. To each thier own.

 

[livndisney]

We are kind of odd we allow halloween but at christmas no santa. No santa decorations,cookies,stockings,girfts labled from santa. We try to allow christmas time to be focused on what it's truely about. Sure we give gifts and recieve them we just don't make that big of a deal about it. Halloween is differant only to a select few does it have any meaning. For my kids it's trips to the pumkinpatch, dressing up and eating junk. To each thier own.

I agree, it is to each their own. But I think PP calling kids "wimps" was unnecessary.

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

I agree, it is to each their own. But I think PP calling kids "wimps" was unnecessary.

I don't recall anyone on this board saying they liked gore Even if you did call them something I don't think they'd care much XD I just think it's better to teach your kids not to be afraid of holiday, explain it to them instead of sheltering them. That's all. No offense intended.

 

[livndisney]

I don't recall anyone on this board saying they liked gore Even if you did call them something I don't think they'd care much XD I just think it's better to teach your kids not to be afraid of holiday, explain it to them instead of sheltering them. That's all. No offense intended.

Who said anything about "sheltering" children? And calling todays kids "wimps" is not intended to be offensive?

In your opinion a good scare is fun. And do your children agree with you on that?

 

[Princess_Michelle]

We do not celebrate Halloween. One of us did growing up, and one of us didn't. So, we compromise by carving Pumpkins and using them and other Fall things to decorate and attending Fall (or harvest) parties, instead of Trick or Treating. It works really well for us, and we pass absolutely no judgment on those who do celebrate it.

This is a GREAT article about the origins of Halloween, written by a Christian Pastor, who tells about all the incorrect myths that Christians use/have used to NOT celebrate Halloween. He has done a lot of research and uses sources to back it up. Excellent read A MUST read for Christians who don't celebrate b/c they think it is Satanic....

http://www.new-life.net/halowen1.htm