What's So Wrong with Halloween Anyway?

In my humble opinion, Halloween gets a bad wrap.  I don't think there is anything wrong with Halloween in and of itself.  When done correctly, Halloween (and trick-or-treating) can be a great, age appropriate activity.

Growing up in the public schools, we used to have Halloween parties.  Facing increased pressure from Christian parents, the name was changed to harvest festivals (or something along those lines).  Eventually, they (I believe) put the kabosh to all of the Halloween festivities.

I understand these Christian parents concerns.  As a Christian parent myself, there are aspects of Halloween that I don't care for and don't want my children taking part in.  But I think trying to completely avoid all Halloween activities to avoid exposing your children to certain things is ridiculous.

First of all, you can't enter a grocery store, Walmart, etc. without likely exposing your child to some of the more questionable aspects of Halloween.  Second, I don't believe in overly sheltering my children.  At some point, children need to be exposed to different view points and lifestyles.  It opens the door for discussion on what your family believes and why and how to deal with people whose views differ from yours.  Third, almost everything in this world has both good and bad components to it.  Have you completely cut out TV, the Internet, music, video games, books, magazines, etc. from your children's lives?  I highly doubt it.  All of the aforementioned things can be great.  You just have to use common sense and be guide for your children and supervise their use of such materials.

I think the same applies to Halloween.  Am I going to let my children go to haunted houses?  No.  Am I going to let them dress up as the Devil, or a witch, etc.?  No.  But do I think there is anything fundamentally wrong with letting my child dress up in a cute costume and go door to door for candy?  No.  And I intend on letting my children do it.

This year I made them Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes and I am so excited!

Sincerely,
The Mother of Thing 1 and Thing 2