[{"id":"98c2662","elType":"section","settings":[],"elements":[{"id":"9c0a391","elType":"column","settings":{"_column_size":100,"_inline_size":null},"elements":[{"id":"626734a","elType":"widget","settings":{"editor":"<p>Well, it\u2019s nearly that totally creepy time of the year where we are legally allowed to walk about freely, goo all over faces, acting like lunatics, knocking on random doors to exchange a moments \u201cspookiness\u201d for a piece of lame candy.<\/p><p>We never used to have Halloween in Australia. We knew it was American, and we didn\u2019t pretend it was part of our culture. It was nice to see it in film or TV. Then I moved to London, and Halloween celebrations were starting to infiltrate London life. Houses were draped in scary. In fact, some competitively so. Pumpkins were either hacked or carved creatively.<\/p><p>I didn\u2019t need to worry as my kids weren\u2019t interested in it \u2013 until they were. And suddenly it was on our agenda. That\u2019s when I truly knew that I couldn\u2019t stand Halloween. Being the good sport that I was, I shared my view with my daughters. They just didn\u2019t see it my way \u2013 it was just fun, lollies, costumes and of course \u201ceveryone is doing it\u201d. They bought the commercialised version of Halloween hook, line, and sinker.\u00a0<\/p><p>The costumes were kind of cute despite being horridly overpriced for a wear only once-a-year outfit. And let\u2019s note that children grow a lot in a year \u2013 so this outfit is often a one-time wonder! The kids loved scabbing from complete strangers, which undermined my intensive stranger danger training to ensure they didn\u2019t accept offerings from strangers nor invitations to come to their car to see their puppy.<\/p><p>Was I the only parent to have a slight fear that some mad neighbour was going to poison the chocs?? Only a few years before there had been anthrax attacks in America, and London was gripped by the Polonium-210 poisoning of Russian businessman Alexander Litvinenko, not to mention the widespread use of Rohypnol as a date-rape drug.<\/p><p>Could I really be the only parent concerned about spiking? Well, it appears I was, and how lonely it was to be <em>that<\/em> parent who both hated and had anxiety about Halloween. Maybe as a therapist I\u2019d just seen and heard too much.<\/p><p>The children\u2019s massive, sweet stash flew in the face of moderation lessons I\u2019d been implementing and because the contraband was delivered directly into the children\u2019s own receptacle \u2013 the sweets were technically \u201ctheirs\u201d. This all irritated me. I just couldn\u2019t hide it. This Halloween-hating, bitch-mama told them to choose their fav 10 sweets and then send the rest back out to fellow trick or treaters.<\/p><p>Why were we indulging kids in this weird American culture that had no relevance to us? I totally get it from a child\u2019s perspective \u2013 but why do we buy into it? Even if we know that Halloween celebrates All Hallows\u2019 Eve dating back to a pagan festival, why do we celebrate it now? Does anyone care about that?<\/p><p>How\u2019s this - the origins were that people would dress up as saints and go door to door. Yes \u2013 you read it correctly \u2013 saints! \u00a0<\/p><p>How did we go from door knocking saints to grotesque and misshapen faces in expensive outfits often worn once, sweet begging, and poison dodging Halloween? This feels like a whopping stretch to me. Have you ever seen even one kid in a saint costume on Halloween? Yeah \u2013 me neither.<\/p><p>Well, I guess saints\u2019 costumes don\u2019t sell so well. In 2020 \u2013 even in the middle of a pandemic \u2013 Halloween added $8 million to the US economy. So, it makes perfect sense why Halloween moved swiftly around the globe in the last 2 decades. Everyone wants a dollar from the merch.<\/p><p>If we really need to have Halloween \u2013 why can\u2019t we get the kids to engage in behaviour that\u2019s even remotely saintly before scabbing - like performing a random act of kindness, or raise some money for charity, or walk the neighbour\u2019s dog. Then I think I might just like Halloween \u2013 even a little bit.<\/p>"},"elements":[],"widgetType":"text-editor"}],"isInner":false}],"isInner":false}]