I don’t have any memories of Halloween from my childhood because my family never celebrated it. I never went trick or treating or to any Hallowe’en themed parties – it just was not such a cultural phenomenon that it has suddenly become nowadays.
If you asked me what summed up Halloween for me as a child, I would say E.T. Not the red fingered, brown wrinkled alien himself you understand, but the scenes in the film where the kids are trying to smuggle E.T out of the house wearing a white sheet, and you see lots of people in fancy dress. That was how I imagined trick or treating to be. Back in my childhood it was very much an American celebrated yearly event, and so it was only in films that I would see what it was.
Back when I was at school (yes waaaay back in the olden days!) , Hallowe’en wasn’t treated in the same way as it is today. Now as a Mummy to my two boys I am still not sure where I sit on the celebrating of Halloween here in the UK. Don’t get me wrong we have carved a couple of pumpkins, and the boys attended the school Hallowe’en disco last week but we have never gone trick or treating and I am not in a hurry to do so either. At the disco last week, both boys were not dressed up in Halloween fancy dress , instead I bought them a glow in the dark tee shirt each and a silly bat hat.
I did feel a little mean when they were at the disco, and almost everyone else present were dressed up, and Burton even asked why he didn’t have a costume. The thing is I just don’t really agree with the message behind Halloween and have never really explained it to the boys because I do not know how to! How do I let them have an outfit which is covered in blood, or is off a monster when at their ages they do not see TV shows or films where such ‘monsters’ are featured? So I prefer not to highlight the fancy dress outfits to them, and we just see it as a time when we have a pumpkin in the house and they are allowed to go to a disco!!
However, I am well aware that by next year Burton (and no doubt as a little copy cat to his big brother, Jenson will too) will want to have a proper Halloween, but then at the age of 6 maybe I will feel differently because he will be older so explaining about monsters night be easier for me? I think it is me that has the hang up when it comes to Halloween because it was not something I grew up celebrating, and therefore, I am not fussed about the boys taking part in it. However, I also realise that times change and it is now part of our culture and I suppose I should embrace it and allow the boys too aswell. But I would prefer the costumes available to them to be more family friendly and feature recognisable children’s characters.
So where do you stand on Hallowe’en outfits?
Do you think that the outfits made for children are inappropriate, maybe too gruesome or just not suited for their ages?
Do you think that the outfits made for children are inappropriate, maybe too gruesome or just not suited for their ages?
My Voucher Codes have recently undertaken some research into what we Brits think when it comes to Halloween costumes, for children and it makes for an interesting read:
- The majority (76%) of those aged over 55 felt that the costumes on sale for children were not age appropriate
- Thirty four percent of 18 to 24 years olds did not have a problem with the clothing on sale for children and did not find them inappropriate
- Parents are not impressed with children’s Halloween costumes on sale, with 83% finding them to be inappropriate for the age at which they are marketed.
They also discovered that many women feel that when it comes to dressing up for October 31st, their choice of outfits tend to be more sexy than scary with
- Fifty eight percent of men did not think women’s Halloween costumes were over-sexualised.
- On the other hand, 66% of women stated they thought costumes on sale were over-sexualised
You can read more about the findings here
Do you agree with these findings with your own experiences of buying outfits either for yourself or your children?
It’s tricky finding the right balance, isn’t it? I find it’s so much easier to find a child-friendly costume for girls. Amy loves dressing up as a witch and the outfits you can get are so cute. I wouldn’t put her in anything gory or blood soaked either. They can save that for when they’re in their teens, but maybe going as a pirate might be an alternative that you can all agree on? x
It’s a good question, like you I didn’t do anything for Halloween as a child. My Mum hated the idea of it all and one year there was some trouble with a few teenagers who upset some elderly neighbours with trick or treating which obviously didn’t help. I never liked Halloween until recently but it’s very different here, only celebrated a little by expats. We have small parties for our kids, spooky stuff rather than scary and more of an excuse to make some cool food and cakes and random stuff I’ve seen on pinterest 🙂
We did actually trick or treat last year to 3 apartments in our block but I had pre arranged it with them before. The kids wore whatever they fancied so we had a cute skeleton (louka) and Spiderman, a pretty witch and a ghost (homemade sheet costume, not scary) I just love any excuse for a party and to dress up!