Fall Party Traditions If You Don’t Celebrate Halloween
I grew up in a family that did not celebrate Halloween. My parents never bent on that rule, but mom made it an extra special night for my brother and I every year. We were never allowed into their bedroom to watch television, but on Halloween, we were not only allowed to watch television in there; we ordered pizza and ate all the candy we could fit into our little bodies.
We would all sit on their bed and watch Star Wars on laser disk. I loved that my parents made a special memory for us. I don't remember ever really feeling left out of anything. There were some awkward moments when kids at school would ask me what I was going to "be" for Halloween, but that was about it.
Fast forward to me having my own family. Brian grew up in a family that did celebrate Halloween. We had to come to a compromise about the time Julia was in third grade. I wanted a way to honor my parents legacy and decided to just make it about neighbors, fall, and fun.
My kids have always loved dressing up and I have always loved getting to know our neighbors. We decided to host an annual fall party at our home the same year we moved to Arizona. We light the fire pit and invite all the families on our street to come on in to our courtyard. Our little ones are only allowed to dress up as heroes or saints. They have to do a little research on who they are dressing up to be and present to Brian and I why they'd like to dress up as that person.
Last year, Nate was an air-force pilot (honoring both of my grandfathers who were pilots), Riley had just been given a Woody costume that he hardly ever took off, and Julia decided to be Jesse to go along with Riley's theme. I thought it was perfection.
The dads walk the littles around and the moms pass out the candy as people come up to the party - there is no knocking on the door or hearing the phrase "trick-or-treat".
I feel comfortable with their choice of who they are dressing up as, I am honoring my parents legacy by not having anyone say "trick-or-treat" at our door, and Brian and I both love investing time in our neighborhood and building relationships.
Do you celebrate a non-traditional Halloween? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
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