Halloween Mom

I’ve never been much of a Halloween person.

Sure, I dressed up and got excited about endless amounts of candy as any kid would, (one year I went as a mime, which tells you a bit about what kind of child I was) but by 11 or 12, I was over it and more interested in being at home to pass out treats. In college, my costumes were tame and I often plopped together something at the last minute just so I wasn’t the only one not dressed up. My most successful costume was the Morton Salt Girl; people stopped me on the street to take my picture. As an adult, I liked to walk around the neighborhood amongst the Trick or Treaters and then would settle on the couch with a pumpkin beer and Reese’s Ghosts (my October baby is part chocolate and peanut butter due to how many I consumed during the final weeks of my pregnancy) to watch “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

Actually, reflecting on it now, I might have been more of a Halloween person than I thought. I don’t like scary movies and I have never worn a slutty costume in my life (not to shame those that do), but it often seemed like a secondary holiday, compared to Thanksgiving and Christmas, which are my two favorite holidays in that order.

Either way, something changed when I became a mom. With kids, the holiday took on an extra twinkle, and with each year, I lean more into it. Halloween four years ago I was pregnant with my first child, and I remember my husband calling me from our car. “Heather, what in the heck were you listening to?” I giggled. I was so excited thinking about having a little one to dress up and take out the next year that I had been listening to kids Halloween music on full volume. I was about to be a mom. This is how I would now celebrate Halloween.

That first year, my daughter only seven months, we took her to a community festival and she wore Halloween PJs (ones that my mom bought the year before on clearance) to school, but that was the extent of celebrating as she was too little for much else. I did take her out in her stroller that night to walk around the neighborhood, thinking about future October 31sts.

My son was four days old the following Halloween, and my mom had knitted him the sweetest ghost costume to match his sister, who was old enough to Trick or Treat, which we did at the mall because it was simple and in an enclosed environment. The next year, he couldn’t quite walk to join her but he was able to smash a chocolate ghost or two on his own.

This year, they both seem into it, and so am I. I hung up Halloween lights and decorations in September. I got us matching family skeleton pajamas. We have checked out at least half of the library’s stock of Halloween books. I’ve bought pumpkin earrings and have put my hair up in orange and black claw clips. And, we’ve been listening to children’s Halloween music similar to the songs I played in my car four years ago.

My nephew is 11 and this could be his last Halloween Trick or Treating. It seems like not that long ago he was dressing up as an old timey golfer and visiting my friend’s houses, where he was given extra candy to take pictures to make me jealous since I lived far way. Now, he is almost past the age where this holiday feels so special. My kids are moving right into prime Halloween age, and I want to savor this time before it’s gone. I want to create silly and precious memories, the way my parents did for me. For me, that feels like going in on activities, décor, and general aesthetic.

Motherhood has brought changes that have been hard to adapt to, including some that I don’t like. But, feeling more spirited around holidays, I like this part of mothering. It’s almost like a chance for me to tap back into my inner kid and for a bit forget about all the adult worries weighing on me. And, isn’t that such a special gift, to go back to being a kid for the sake of making your kids happy? I think so.

Happy Halloween.