Last year, I posted about my hatred (or perhaps misunderstanding) of Halloween. This year is my last year of allowing myself to feel that way, since Edwin is still too little to trick-or-treat (though I know some do this, I feel really uncomfortable carrying him around dressed up and asking for candy that will clearly be eaten by me and my husband) and is also too little to stay up for the Halloween children’s concert I’d been hoping to take him to. (It’s from 7-9 on a Wednesday, the night before Halloween. Isn’t that late?)
Next year, when Edwin is two, I know I’ll be entering the land of costumes. I’ll have to dress him up, and possibly myself too. The thing is, I don’t just dislike Halloween because of the candy and focus on greed and pranks. I also don’t like costumes.
When I was a kid, I did like dressing up. I remember some particularly fun costumes, especially the ones I chose for myself (a hippie in sixth grade, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz in seventh grade, complete with a stuffed Toto in a basket). I was also in the school musical for all four years of high school, mostly doing small parts, since my singing voice wasn’t as great as many of my friends’ voices, but I did have one memorable role as Mae Petersen, Albert’s mother in Bye Bye Birdie. (I was the only one who could pull off the “Jewish mother” stereotype. And when I look back on my performance, I cringe a little, because it really was a stereotype.) Of course, I wore costumes for all of those roles, and I “became” someone else during that time. I had a blast doing it, too.
As an adult, however, I have no desire to put on a costume. People have tried to explain to me what it’s all about. They say, “It’s the chance to be someone else for one night.” But here’s the thing: I don’t want to be someone else. I’ve worked pretty damn hard just to be myself. I had to figure out who I was and what I wanted from life, and that took many years, thousands of journal entries, and a lot of so(w)ul-searching. Now that I finally feel secure and happy with who I am, I have no desire to become someone else, even just for a short time. I’m sure some people would say that I’m taking it too seriously, and they’re probably right, but that’s just how I feel.
Am I still missing the point? How do you feel about dressing up as an adult?
Edwin’s Halloween “costume” last year
OK I hate getting scared, I stay away from scary movies and haunted houses because I don’t want to be up all night shuddering in terror and jumping at every noise for months. But I don’t mind Halloween itself—I think the costumes and the pumpkins can be a great outlet of creativity, and often quite a challenge, if you are trying to put something together with what you have, or thrifty materials. And pumpkin carving is a skill—some of the ones I’ve seen are amazing! I haven’t dressed up for Halloween since having kids, but I used to enjoy it as a young adult; I loved Halloween parties and we actually hosted them for several years. We went all out with decorating, costumes, and “spooky” themed food and drinks. I’m extremely proud of some of the costumes I’ve put together simply from items in my closet or the Goodwill down the road.
But let me tell you what I’ve grown to hate—trick or treating. I HATE the gaggles of kids coming, some hardly dressed up, basically demanding candy. I hate the very concept of demanding things from your neighbors! I had no intention of going trick or treating until my nearly 4-year-old mentioned this morning that he was so excited to go trick or treating (I guess his friends at schools taught him about the ritual?). I guess we’ll go to 3-4 houses of people we know, that’s enough for a 3 year old. Yes, its greedy, and gluttonous, and unhealthy to boot.
Ana, I agree with all above- though I’m not very crafty, so the challenge of putting together a costume is intimidating to me. (I’m asking for a small sewing machine this Christmas, so maybe by next Halloween I’ll feel more capable of doing simple projects.) I hate the “demanding” part of trick-or-treating too. Maybe a party is the way to go- that way, it’s just fun, and no one has to walk around in the dark (and cold/rain, as we had last night).