my mom and my mother-in-law have a lot of things in common, but a love for halloween is not one of them.
growing up in my house, halloween was a four-letter word. my mom hated it. she actually had several good reasons for hating it. what other holiday parades large, black spiders as decorations? in washington, it almost always rained on halloween, making trick-or-treating a little miserable (umbrellas and coats can often ruin a costume). it really is the only holiday that i can think of where people become destructive. and the stress of coming up with an idea for and constructing a good costume can be overwhelming. as an adult with independent reasoning, i completely agree with my mother.
so, needless to say, halloween was anything but conventional growing up, as my mom did her best to minimize such a gross holiday. we still went trick-or-treating (with my dad as chaperon whenever possible), but it was certainly limited to our own neighborhood. none of this driving to several neighborhoods to rack up on candy. and once we were 12, trick-or-treating was over.* i won't say that my mom was completely unwilling to help us come up with a costume once we had any kind of ability to create one on our own (3 years old?), but maybe i will hint at it. don't worry mom, i actually think this fostered some great creativity, even if that wasn't your intention.
as we got older (unfortunately, after i had passed 12), my mom came with some even better ways to avoid halloween traditions. my mom promised my younger siblings that if they would forgo trick-or-treating, she would take them to the grocery store, give them a generous budget to buy the good candy that they wanted (no longer victims to tootsie rolls and dum dums) and rent any movie of their choice. and once we had the lakehouse? goodbye neighborhood with kids coming around begging for candy, hello secluded lake where we could escape and hunker down for a beautiful fall evening, devoid of ghoulishness.
if any of this sounds critical of my mother, i want you to know that it is not intended that way at all. i much preferred it this way and will probably continue several of these traditions.
jeanie, on the other hand, ADORES halloween. i started dating randy in october and still remember the witch refrigerator magnet that his mother had made for him hanging on his fridge. she loves not only making (we're talking hours of sewing) costumes for herself to dress up in, but also volunteers to help other people. let's just say randy grew up in a different halloween environment than i did.
so which side won out this halloween? linford or peck? a little of both. as you can tell from the picture, madeleine is wearing a t-shirt with bats on it for halloween, purchased by her grammy (score one for peck), and we do have a pumpkin on our porch, which my sister-in-law, kim, got for madeleine (score two for peck). but i refused to spend money on a costume for a 10-month old who would probably only be annoyed by it and want it off within the first two minutes (score one linford), and we certainly will not be traipsing around our sketchy neighborhood to go trick-or-treating (score two linford). in fact, we are not even going to be home to greet trick-or-treaters because we will be escaping up to my aunt and uncle's house for a family party, which i will only acknowledge as a celebration of my grandfather's birthday (score three linford).
in the end, the halloween hating linford side probably edged out a small victory. but don't worry madeleine, the tables may turn as you get older. but don't count on it.
*except for the yearly visit to our strange neighbors who worked for hershey's to accept a large bag of hershey's miniatures - later explained by them to be some kind of consideration for a social contract that ensured that we would not go on their lawn or use sidewalk chalk in front of their house. this was explained while we were engaging in said activities
growing up in my house, halloween was a four-letter word. my mom hated it. she actually had several good reasons for hating it. what other holiday parades large, black spiders as decorations? in washington, it almost always rained on halloween, making trick-or-treating a little miserable (umbrellas and coats can often ruin a costume). it really is the only holiday that i can think of where people become destructive. and the stress of coming up with an idea for and constructing a good costume can be overwhelming. as an adult with independent reasoning, i completely agree with my mother.
so, needless to say, halloween was anything but conventional growing up, as my mom did her best to minimize such a gross holiday. we still went trick-or-treating (with my dad as chaperon whenever possible), but it was certainly limited to our own neighborhood. none of this driving to several neighborhoods to rack up on candy. and once we were 12, trick-or-treating was over.* i won't say that my mom was completely unwilling to help us come up with a costume once we had any kind of ability to create one on our own (3 years old?), but maybe i will hint at it. don't worry mom, i actually think this fostered some great creativity, even if that wasn't your intention.
as we got older (unfortunately, after i had passed 12), my mom came with some even better ways to avoid halloween traditions. my mom promised my younger siblings that if they would forgo trick-or-treating, she would take them to the grocery store, give them a generous budget to buy the good candy that they wanted (no longer victims to tootsie rolls and dum dums) and rent any movie of their choice. and once we had the lakehouse? goodbye neighborhood with kids coming around begging for candy, hello secluded lake where we could escape and hunker down for a beautiful fall evening, devoid of ghoulishness.
if any of this sounds critical of my mother, i want you to know that it is not intended that way at all. i much preferred it this way and will probably continue several of these traditions.
jeanie, on the other hand, ADORES halloween. i started dating randy in october and still remember the witch refrigerator magnet that his mother had made for him hanging on his fridge. she loves not only making (we're talking hours of sewing) costumes for herself to dress up in, but also volunteers to help other people. let's just say randy grew up in a different halloween environment than i did.
so which side won out this halloween? linford or peck? a little of both. as you can tell from the picture, madeleine is wearing a t-shirt with bats on it for halloween, purchased by her grammy (score one for peck), and we do have a pumpkin on our porch, which my sister-in-law, kim, got for madeleine (score two for peck). but i refused to spend money on a costume for a 10-month old who would probably only be annoyed by it and want it off within the first two minutes (score one linford), and we certainly will not be traipsing around our sketchy neighborhood to go trick-or-treating (score two linford). in fact, we are not even going to be home to greet trick-or-treaters because we will be escaping up to my aunt and uncle's house for a family party, which i will only acknowledge as a celebration of my grandfather's birthday (score three linford).
in the end, the halloween hating linford side probably edged out a small victory. but don't worry madeleine, the tables may turn as you get older. but don't count on it.
*except for the yearly visit to our strange neighbors who worked for hershey's to accept a large bag of hershey's miniatures - later explained by them to be some kind of consideration for a social contract that ensured that we would not go on their lawn or use sidewalk chalk in front of their house. this was explained while we were engaging in said activities
3 comments:
without the rain and umbrellas and being forced to sing "three little pumpkins," i think it might have been a little more enjoyable. i still can't believe that i never took mom up on the movie and candy from the store deal...
lucky for you - you have Jeanie! You will always have someone abounding in great, creative costume ideas. Play your cards right, and maybe she will make them for you...
In self defense, the costumes were for the kids. And they were fabulous! Poor, deprived Madeleine, anytime you want Grammy to come and sew you a great Halloween costume, just call.That will even include taking you trick or treating - in a decent neighborhood. This offer extends to prom or homecoming dresses, also. It's a good excuse to come for a visit and leave little surprises around the house. Love you lots! Grammy
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