Halloween....hmmmm

Tomorrow is Halloween. I love seeing my kids dressed up. Is there anything cuter than a little kid in a cute costume. The deserve candy- they are so darn tootin' adorable. The truth is though I am really struggling with Halloween this year. My opinion up to this point is that I didn't want to celebrate the evil aspects of Halloween, but I also didn't want my kid to stick out like a sore thumb, if he or she was the only kid not participating, not getting a piece of candy in their lunch, not talking about dressing up. I was always allowed to go trick or treating and I looked forward to it every year. It was never about anything evil just about fun and candy; a day all about candy, what could be better to a child?

I am really struggling with the concept of Halloween today, however. I find it is HARD to KEEP it innocent for my child. Ava is 3 1/2. She is in the middle of the stage of "Nightmares"; she loses a lot of sleep cuz of these crazy nuisances! If the holiday were just about "fun", it shouldn't have to be a concern. Instead, I have to worry about decorations in every store we enter. Is it just me or have Halloween decorations gotten scarier? We can't even get a craft a Michael's without passing grotesque and scary displays. It quite honestly infuriates me. I can't drive down the major street to my house without having to try to distract Ava from the scary costumed people trying to lure people into the seasonal Halloween stores that have seeminly sprung up in droves.

Today Ava had ballet. Her instructor was dressed cute in a cat costume. Ballet should be a perfectly "safe" place to take your child. Today, however, it was all about Halloween. Is it cute for three year olds to dance to Thriller, I am not sure?! They were to pretend they were ghosts. My child said she was afraid of ghosts and was told "it was just pretend". Here is the problem, I am lying to my child if I tell her ghosts aren't real. See I believe there is plenty of evil that we cannot see. I believe that ARE evil spirits. I have taken care of patients, when working as a nurse, who were members of the Church of Satan and let me tell you they were VERY frightening people. Evil DOES exist and I don't see the humor in celebrating it and pretending it doesn't. But am I going to say to my three year old, "Actually ghosts are real". NO, instead I did my best to protect my child. Unfortunately today that meant keeping her back when the rest of her ballet class went through a "Haunted House". It was supposed to not be scarry, but I peaked in and some of the pictures would keep her up for weeks. I just don't get why as a christian I have to be so careful to be PC, to not assume someone celebrates Christmas or Easter, but God forbid anyone give equal consideration to the fact that as a Christian I don't think it is funny to celebrate witches, ghosts, or demons.

My faith aside- my kid gets scared. Why do people scare three year olds? Why is that okay? Why is that funny? Does no one remember waking from a nightmare and having to drum up every couragous bone in your body just to walk through the dark to your parents room/ to safety? I am just frustrated....F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-E-D! Should I hide my children away for the month of October? It seems it is getting scarier and scarier every year. Our poor children are exposed to severed heads, blood, and gore as toddlers just by driving down the street. How can we expect children to maintain any innocence?! We wouldn't let them watch horror films, but it's hard to keep them from viewing decor in a neighbors yard! Why are we surprised that children in our society are numb to violence and gore?