Father's Day Friday: Missing Halloween
Today begins the transition of our Father's Day post/focus to Friday. That's to make room for the new Tween Tuesday.
Editor and blogging columnist Andrew Ratner is back as our Guest Dad today. While some of us are sweating face-paint and princess costumes, he's looking back on those days longingly:
"I've been feeling melancholy lately when I walk through the discount and grocery stores with their aisles brimming with Halloween costumes and candy. With my older two children away at college and the third in high school, Halloween, for me, is a shell of the spectacle it was when they were little.
"Halloween was often a mystical, magical hoot as a kid. And if you have children, you get a second bob at the apple when they're young. I enjoyed getting to do Halloween all over again, seeing it through their eyes: Going to hay rides and pumpkin farms with the kids, enjoying their delight in dressing up, escorting them on Halloween night to go trick or treating, sampling their candy afterward. I'm probably glossing over some of the pressure once felt to devise a clever, inventive costume, but by and large Halloween was a ton of fun.
"Though I haven't unfortunately outgrown my sweet tooth, All Hallows Eve now seems mostly hallow. The other holidays change, too, as a family grows older, but their relevance remains. Halloween seems just a ghost of itself, however.
"Elvis memorably sang of a "Blue Christmas." Is there anyone who sings about Blue Halloween?"
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
You need grandchildren or some younger neices and nephews. My children are grown & gone but that doesn't take away ANY of my excitement for ANY of the holidays. All you need to do is look at the faces of the next generations then smile and remember how much fun you had as a child and how much fun you had with your children. That can only put a glow in your heart. The only down side is having to be so very careful for fully check all candies that come into the house - we didn't have that problem as children (I'm in my 60s), and most of the time our children could go through the neighborhood on their own. Not nowadays - no matter what neighborhood you live in. But, remember, memories are wonderful things to have - feeling down, grab a memory! God Bless!
Posted by: Janet | October 31, 2008 1:26 PM
I agree whole heartedly with you Andrew. My kids are both High Schoolers now, and I was crushed when I couldn't walk them around anymore. I ran trick 'o treats like a military operation, getting the most candy with the least amount of effort. Kids from the neighborhood would beg to come with us. I would even carry dump bags so they wouldn't have to carry full bags.
Now I sit at the house handing out candy, retired from the trick 'o treating.
Posted by: Frank | October 31, 2008 2:43 PM
I always felt guilty for 'missing' Halloween now that my daughter is long grown. Glad to hear someone else looks back with nostalgia. Helping my husband think up a costume to wear to work or volunteer activities just isn't the same. (another story and opinion for another day) Likewise baking Halloween treats for adult functions lack the fizzle of those special cupcakes with the spider ring decorations for the class party. So after some years of 'forced' Halloween enthusiasm soon it will be time for real October merriment again when we become grandparents in a few months.
Posted by: ruth | November 2, 2008 7:12 AM