My home is open for candy
Disclaimer first: I'm not the most positive, optimistic person on the planet. I'm a news person, and we can be a different breed of sarcastic skeptics. That said, I constantly make an effort to see the rose-colored version of things. I believe it makes life more enjoyable. And I'm married to one of the most optimistic people on the planet. Disclaimer over. Now I ask, when did some people get so angry, so negative, so cynical?
Here's where my question stems from - Halloween. Growing up, the holiday was quite simple. You put on a costume (typically covered that costume with a winter jacket - I grew up in Wisconsin) and then went house to house getting as much candy as humanly possible. At some point your parents told you, "you're too old." Or you decided, "I'm too cool for this and too old." Then Halloween traditions eventually change, and you pinterest things like "candy-corn Jell-O shots." FYI: #pinterestwin
Well this year I heard an adult complaining about the quality of trick-or-treaters. She was crowd-sourcing thoughts on how to deal with parents who come with kids who are too young to be trick-or-treating. She suggested the adults are using the babies to get candy. She also questioned teens who are too old to be trick-or-treating.
How to deal with them? The answer seemed obvious to me - Give 'em some candy. I don't think there should be fun-size chocolate police.
I have no problem if you put a time limit on trick-or-treating. I get that. People knocking on your door super late at night asking for candy can be creepy. Go ahead, shut them out. And really, shut out whomever you feel like shutting out. It's up to you, but own it. And just know some of us will think you need to lighten up.
I guess this is my problem. I was one of those "parents with babies" trick-or-treaters. I dressed in costume because I'm a nerd, and I would like Jack to look back on pictures when he's older and know that I've always been like this. And I took him out trick-or-treating because we went with friends, (who have slightly older kids) and because I love traditions like this. I did not take him trick-or-treating because I was trying to take a disproportionate amount of candy. If I knew people felt that way I would have carried my little Yoda around the house and knocked on the doors of different rooms. Husband Darth could've handed out the candy.
So back to my original question, when did some people get so angry, so negative, so cynical? Does it stem from a fear of not being safe? I get that, bad things happen. But bad things happening to innocent people handing out trick-or-treat candy are rare. Like really rare. Maybe we fail to see where people are coming from. Maybe that kid isn't wearing a costume because his parents couldn't afford one. I still think he should get some candy. Or maybe we allow negative people to perpetuate their negativity far too often.
Instead, why don't we see Halloween as a great time for kids to be out and having fun together. Hopefully their parents know where they are and, if so, it seems they could be doing worse things. It's a great, happy tradition, let's try to keep it positive.
I realize I kinda just ranted about people being too negative. Sorry about that. I just want my kid to grow up in a land of costumes and candy. I'm a realist so I understand we can't have it everyday but once a year doesn't seem like too much to ask for.
Oh, and in the future, my home is open to all on Halloween if you'd like some candy.
Here's where my question stems from - Halloween. Growing up, the holiday was quite simple. You put on a costume (typically covered that costume with a winter jacket - I grew up in Wisconsin) and then went house to house getting as much candy as humanly possible. At some point your parents told you, "you're too old." Or you decided, "I'm too cool for this and too old." Then Halloween traditions eventually change, and you pinterest things like "candy-corn Jell-O shots." FYI: #pinterestwin
Well this year I heard an adult complaining about the quality of trick-or-treaters. She was crowd-sourcing thoughts on how to deal with parents who come with kids who are too young to be trick-or-treating. She suggested the adults are using the babies to get candy. She also questioned teens who are too old to be trick-or-treating.
How to deal with them? The answer seemed obvious to me - Give 'em some candy. I don't think there should be fun-size chocolate police.
I have no problem if you put a time limit on trick-or-treating. I get that. People knocking on your door super late at night asking for candy can be creepy. Go ahead, shut them out. And really, shut out whomever you feel like shutting out. It's up to you, but own it. And just know some of us will think you need to lighten up.
I guess this is my problem. I was one of those "parents with babies" trick-or-treaters. I dressed in costume because I'm a nerd, and I would like Jack to look back on pictures when he's older and know that I've always been like this. And I took him out trick-or-treating because we went with friends, (who have slightly older kids) and because I love traditions like this. I did not take him trick-or-treating because I was trying to take a disproportionate amount of candy. If I knew people felt that way I would have carried my little Yoda around the house and knocked on the doors of different rooms. Husband Darth could've handed out the candy.
So back to my original question, when did some people get so angry, so negative, so cynical? Does it stem from a fear of not being safe? I get that, bad things happen. But bad things happening to innocent people handing out trick-or-treat candy are rare. Like really rare. Maybe we fail to see where people are coming from. Maybe that kid isn't wearing a costume because his parents couldn't afford one. I still think he should get some candy. Or maybe we allow negative people to perpetuate their negativity far too often.
Instead, why don't we see Halloween as a great time for kids to be out and having fun together. Hopefully their parents know where they are and, if so, it seems they could be doing worse things. It's a great, happy tradition, let's try to keep it positive.
I realize I kinda just ranted about people being too negative. Sorry about that. I just want my kid to grow up in a land of costumes and candy. I'm a realist so I understand we can't have it everyday but once a year doesn't seem like too much to ask for.
Oh, and in the future, my home is open to all on Halloween if you'd like some candy.
