Confession: Halloween is a least favorite holiday in our house. Dave and I don’t get particularly excited about costumes (I don’t even remember the last time I dressed up!), and even now that we have Charlie, we don’t want to make Halloween candy a big deal in case he doesn’t grow out of his food allergies.
Charlie is a little young for trick or treating anyway, so our Halloween plans so far consist of the following:
- Our traditional dinner on Halloween night (though this year, it will be Whole30 compliant, and we will sorely miss our usual cornbread side!)
- Taking Charlie to the Halloween-themed storytime at our library in his costume
- Attending an annual pumpkin carving party our friends are hosting
Maybe this amount of celebration is perfectly appropriate for a one-year-old, but I feel a little stuck on if there’s anything else we should start doing, so I want to turn to you! Do you have any favorite Halloween traditions that you partake in now, or that you remember from growing up? I’d love to hear them!
I used to be incredibly MEH about Halloween until we started really joining in on some traditions. Now I love Beau in Halloween jammies for all of October, and on Halloween night we do a trick or treat hayride with family and all eat chili together. It’s become one of my favorite family events. Otherwise 100% I wouldn’t consider taking Beau trick or treating haha! We’re also doing a pumpkin carving party with our home group on Friday.. so that will be a fun new thing to add into the mix!
The neighborhood I used to live in in Virginia did a trick or treat hayride and it was so much fun! It ended at the cul-de-sac where there was a bonfire and apple cider, which was so perfect for a chilly night. I would definitely do that if there was one near us! We just took Charlie to a few of our neighbor friends’ houses so they could see his costume and that was plenty for this year :)
We did trick our treating with James at a year and a half and it was bedtime and he was all meh. It wasn’t until he was almost 2 1/2 that he finally got it and enjoyed it last year. And we did trade in his treats for some “healthier” candy. I have heard of people giving kids the option of trading candy for a small gift, which we are considering! Not sure what we will be doing this year because the Astros might be playing that night. In that case, I would be on my own with the kiddos! hehe! Way to go with the Whole30! :)
That trade idea is so interesting! Definitely filing that one away, especially if Charlie’s allergies don’t go away. I would hate for him to feel like he was missing out if he couldn’t eat any candy!
We actually started a chili and cornbread tradition last year because of your blog! I have an almost two year old son. He will be a lamb, and we will trick or treat at just a couple of neighbors houses. Though afterwards we will give away all the candy my son gets from neighbors to whatever kids knock on our door. My parents are coming to dinner and one couple with their 1 year old. That’s the right amount of celebrating for my little family. I agree, Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday, but I do enjoy seeing little kids dresses in cute costumes.
The little kids in costumes (and HAVING a little kid in a costume!) was definitely the best part! I loved going to the Halloween-themed storytime at our library and seeing all the dressed up babies. Some people got so into it–super fun!
Ian and I carved our pumpkins last weekend. By Tuesday, a squirrel had eaten mine and yesterday, they were all gross and I had to throw them away. So I guess in the future we will carve our pumpkins a little bit closer to Halloween. I might give my students candy on Halloween if they’re good and I put tacky Halloween decorations up in my classroom.
Can’t wait to see Charlie in his costume!!!!
Oh, sad! We never did end up getting a carving pumpkin, but my fairytale pumpkins are still going strong :)
Halloween has never been a favorite for me, either, even when younger! But our family costume was fun last year, and of course the pumpkin party has been such a fun tradition to start!! There are plenty other holidays for us to enjoy :)
So true–it’s one of the only holidays I don’t get too excited about, but maybe the “break” is not a bad thing! :) Still so sad we missed pumpkins and soup. It looked like so much fun, and I’m so anxious to see your made-over backyard!
[…] There were some great ones, so if you don’t have any plans for the day, pop over to the post here to give it a […]