Planning Halloween {From my Calendar}

Can I be honest with you? I really do not like Halloween, and at the same time I love it. To explain; my family growing up did not celebrate this holiday, too many scary stories about how it originated and so we stopped cold. No more costumes, no more candy, and I went willing to the library during the in classroom school parties. Yes, I was THAT kid. Still am. Now my siblings and I are grown and we have talked over Halloween with our parents and while we still have a great unease about this holiday we have found that there is some good in the modern way it is celebrated. It creates cute kid memories, it is a chance to be friendly with neighbors that you do not see the rest of the year, it is a way for families to bond.

Why am I telling you all this? I am not trying to convince anyone of my beliefs or get into a discussion on this site about the logistics of this holiday. I wanted to explain my views before sharing the  Halloween planning list that I have kept every year since we dressed up our first baby, who was way too young to eat candy :). I made this list with an eye toward minimizing the negatives and emphasizing the positives (in my view) of this holiday. I have also found that (believe it or not) it is a great time to teach some scripture. This is because Halloween touches on some spiritual issues such as fear, death, etc. and I will include the references briefly at the end of this post.

My Halloween Planning List:
-Cost: Pumpkins 4 at .20/lb is around $10.00, candy $3.00 from dollar store (we do not get a lot of trick or treaters), $30 for costumes (this is just a 'benchmark' amount I have listed for planning).

-Get gloves, hats, and scarves together for tonight, we will need them from here on through winter.

-Check for harvest events the schools, churches, and fairgrounds put on.

-Make sure we have ingredients to make toasted pumpkin seeds. (From the jack-o-lanterns, see a recipe at the end of THIS post.)

-Chili, I make chili a day before and serve it on halloween before we go trick or treating so that every one has had a warm meal and candy is less tempting.

-Plan lots of veggies in meals after halloween to off-set all the empty calories.

-Plan yogurt, garlic, and cranberry juice into menu for November to help neutralize and flush toxins from candy.

-Buy or just make sure we have pumpkin carvers and patterns

-Carve pumpkins two days before Halloween (that way there is time to enjoy them and they do not spoil before the holiday)

-There is a lot of waiting for Halloween night to start. Crafts, family and activities such as decorating the porch for tick or treaters help to fill the hours.

-Media- watch the TV and keep it turned off. A lot of the negativity and scariness of Halloween comes from the TV including children's cartoons. I begin watching for it about 1 week before hand and again a couple of days after the holiday.

-Buying halloween toys, such as plastic spiders and kid rings, is a great alternative to candy and lasts from year to year if you end up stuck with it.

-Malls and businesses often are a good place to trick-or-treat depending on your area. (We don't really like the mall though because it is a lot of standing around in line).

-Find/buy supplies to make costumes. I love making them from scratch, and there is a certain pride that comes when they turn out well.

-Hot apple cider is a family favorite on halloween.

-We make a tradition of watching 'The Never Ending Story' (the old 1970's one, not the weird newer one).

And Scriptures (for those who are interested): 2nd Samuel 24:16-about the Death Angel and why he is called the grim reaper, Psalm 91-protection and not being afraid of the dark, Psalm 23- trust in fearful situations, Psalm 27-fear in battle, 1st John 4:4 -Power of God, Roman 8:31- overcoming, Psalm 40:1-3 restoration, John 11 Lazarus (a mummy! sort of).