Halloween is an awesome holiday, so much more worth celebrating than just collecting candy from the neighbors. In our house Halloween planning began in late September. One of our family favorites was the tradition of "ghosting". We would find Halloween decorations, attach a small bag of candy and make cards that read "Happy Halloween. You've been Ghosted.. Pass it on!" Then we would take these and go all around town to their friends' homes and put them anonymously on the doors. As you can guess, the Ghosting spirit spread and so did the smiles!
With four children all trying to come up with costume ideas, it was also a challenging time. When they were small, we did our share of Princesses, Super Heroes and cute Animal costumes. Those were easy. However, as they got older they were annually in pursuit of "group" costume themes with their friends. We had The Wizard of Oz, hippies, Snow White and her dwarfs, sports teams, diva girls and even sailors to recall just a few. Half the fun was the discussions and planning that went into the process. Numerous trips to the party store, rummaging through closets, raiding Grandma's attic, making tie-dye t-shirts and raiding the girls old dance recital costumes were just a part of the fun. Of all the costumes I can recall over our 20 years of Halloween, my favorite had to be my son and his friends back in 1996. They decided to be the US Womens Olympic Gold Medal Gymnastic Team, complete with their own Bela Karolyi. They won Best Costume in the local parade and were the buzz of the neighborhoods as they trick or treated their way through town. It is memories like this that made me glad that we never settled for a quick costume purchase at the local store. Halloween truly was an event in our home.
We furthered the Halloween celebration with a huge Halloween party for all 4 kids, their friends and included the parents. This was no ordinary "Pin The Tail On The Pumpkin" party. This party evolved over the year into a "mega" event that in the kids memories was as big a part of Halloween as trick or treating. There were usually close to 40 kids plus at least 20 parents. They ate, went on a scary scavenger hunt and ended the night with a spectacular, very frightful, performance put on by the Dads. One year those crazy guys came parading down the street in full costumes, beating bongo drums, chanting and carrying torches; followed closely by a police car. It took a bit of explaining but the show went on! They would plan their show for weeks and it would change every year. One year it was a Monster Mash rock show, a séance a year later and a ghost from the graveyard on the loose in yet another year. Amidst the screams and the shrieks, there was a ton of laughter. Yes, like the costumes, this took a lot of work but was worth every moment of the planning.
So celebrate the Halloween season with all your energies. I can tell you from first hand experience, there will come a day when they are all out of the house and you will sorely miss all the fun and excitement. For more ideas, read further about our family Halloween celebration traditions at
Carol is married with four grown children. She loves to celebrate everything! Her family celebration experiences and traditions can be further viewed at http://www.celebrationideasonline.com There are some great ideas for creating lasting family memories!
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