I remember Halloween being pretty much a one-day celebration when I was a kid. When October 31st came around each year, I was excited to reveal my costume to friends and head out trick-or-treating after school. My family’s only pre-Halloween activity was a trip to a pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin to carve.
But the whole culture of Halloween has changed since then. I have been celebrating Halloween with my kids for WEEKS now.
Halloween costumes were out in stores by Labor Day and you had to move fast because options were picked-over or sold-out by the end of September. My kids’ costumes (a cat and a dog) are tattered and dirty because they have worn them so many times already. We are going to wear them again this weekend for a pumpkin-carving party. Ellie now regards her cat costume as just another choice in her wardrobe (last Thursday she said, “I am going to wear my cat outfit to the grocery store today, Mama.”).
And we have attended one Halloween event after another. Last weekend, we hit the Chicago Park District’s Oz Park Pumpkin Patch (along with literally every other mom, dad, and tot on the North Side of the city). Then we did pony rides, pumpkin painting, a costume parade, and a puppet show at the Halloween Festival at Ellie’s pre-school. We had plans to go to Boo at the Zoo today, but decided against it because of weather and general Halloween burn-out. Halloween is still four days away. What is left for the actual big day?
Way too much, it turns out. Come Wednesday, Ellie has a little party at school where each child gets a treat bag. After school, we are off to meet up with neighborhood friends for trick-or-treating and then back to our house for a little Halloween dinner party. I am expecting Ellie’s sugar intake on Wednesday to be a lifetime high for her.
All of our Halloween activities thus far have been fabulous and my little ones have enjoyed each one. And I am looking forward to taking them trick-or-treating this Wednesday. But I do confess to feeling a little burned-out and eager to pack all of the Halloween stuff away until next . . . September, I guess.
Cross-posted at ChicagoMomsBlog.
But the whole culture of Halloween has changed since then. I have been celebrating Halloween with my kids for WEEKS now.
Halloween costumes were out in stores by Labor Day and you had to move fast because options were picked-over or sold-out by the end of September. My kids’ costumes (a cat and a dog) are tattered and dirty because they have worn them so many times already. We are going to wear them again this weekend for a pumpkin-carving party. Ellie now regards her cat costume as just another choice in her wardrobe (last Thursday she said, “I am going to wear my cat outfit to the grocery store today, Mama.”).
And we have attended one Halloween event after another. Last weekend, we hit the Chicago Park District’s Oz Park Pumpkin Patch (along with literally every other mom, dad, and tot on the North Side of the city). Then we did pony rides, pumpkin painting, a costume parade, and a puppet show at the Halloween Festival at Ellie’s pre-school. We had plans to go to Boo at the Zoo today, but decided against it because of weather and general Halloween burn-out. Halloween is still four days away. What is left for the actual big day?
Way too much, it turns out. Come Wednesday, Ellie has a little party at school where each child gets a treat bag. After school, we are off to meet up with neighborhood friends for trick-or-treating and then back to our house for a little Halloween dinner party. I am expecting Ellie’s sugar intake on Wednesday to be a lifetime high for her.
All of our Halloween activities thus far have been fabulous and my little ones have enjoyed each one. And I am looking forward to taking them trick-or-treating this Wednesday. But I do confess to feeling a little burned-out and eager to pack all of the Halloween stuff away until next . . . September, I guess.
Cross-posted at ChicagoMomsBlog.
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