Anyone else wasn't allowed to celebrate Halloween growing up

LemonPoppySeedMuffin
edited October 4 in Chit-Chat
So another year in our household, our curtains are drawn & we're ignoring the door. My mother isn't religious but she has a hatred for Halloween. I've missed out on so many parties, I was never allowed to go. I used to sit on my parents windowsill & watch in jealousy of other kids dressed up having fun.

Right now, I couldn't care less but I do think my mother was quite harsh. I wasn't even allowed to dress up or do anything. I think my brother & I are the only people we know who've never been trick or treating.
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Replies

  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
    My crazy and idiotic sister is following down that path fairly quickly. Not calling you or your family idiotic or crazy but my sister is. She's an effing moron.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    I'm real sorry you had a childhood like that. I dated a Jehovah's Witness for a while.. no Christmas, no Halloween, not even birthday parties. I always thought that was a really sad way to live.

    Good news is you've grown up and now you can make your own decisions. I love the idea of you getting the costume you've always wanted and going out. It's never too late.
  • idahogirl71
    idahogirl71 Posts: 1,110 Member
    I was never allowed to go trick or treating either or allowed to dress up as my family was religious and very much against Halloween. I took my daughter one time when she was 4 and have never participated any other time. I do not give out candy or answer my door on Halloween. In fact, I work swing shift every year so I don't have to even deal with it.
  • albali
    albali Posts: 225 Member
    I am in the UK, and while we don't do Halloween anything like as big as in America, the whole 'trick or treat' thing is catching on here. I have to say I am a bit of a grump and don't do anything, and I won't be encouraging my son to either! Sorry! Just find the idea of knocking on strangers doors a bit scary... and I really do NOT want anyone freaky knocking on my door either!!
  • I just wish my mother would give me a valid reason as she's not religious. Sometimes her answer is "it's not British, it's not our culture" but then she's always promoting diversity. She has a lot of Filipino friends & we're always invited to their gatherings & celebrations & she loves going so I don't understand the Halloween thing.
  • Katefab26
    Katefab26 Posts: 865
    I was never allowed to go trick or treating when I was a kid. I'm sad, too, because it seemed like it would have been a lot of fun!!
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Clowns love Halloween.
  • I am in the UK, and while we don't do Halloween anything like as big as in America, the whole 'trick or treat' thing is catching on here. I have to say I am a bit of a grump and don't do anything, and I won't be encouraging my son to either! Sorry! Just find the idea of knocking on strangers doors a bit scary... and I really do NOT want anyone freaky knocking on my door either!!

    I'm also from the UK. If I had children, I wouldn't want them trick or treating either. Don't we encourage kids not to take sweets off strangers? I think it's a bit freaky too. I've seen some kids so young on their own, it scares me! There's always creeps about.
  • debswebby
    debswebby Posts: 326
    I am in the UK, and while we don't do Halloween anything like as big as in America, the whole 'trick or treat' thing is catching on here. I have to say I am a bit of a grump and don't do anything, and I won't be encouraging my son to either! Sorry! Just find the idea of knocking on strangers doors a bit scary... and I really do NOT want anyone freaky knocking on my door either!!

    I'm with you. Am in the UK and am sitting here in the dark waiting for them all to go home :laugh:
  • sexygenius
    sexygenius Posts: 1,078 Member
    we celebrated "harvest" nothing scary,no witches,no ghosts,no zombies,ects... I wasnt allowed to go trick or treating till i was 12 and i was never allowed to dress as anything scary or threatening and we always went to church harvest parties..... so not really on the same scale but more strict then i would have liked, its funny how much people change over the years, now my mom is throwing a halloween party for her day care kids and we played ghost bowling...haha
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    Did you ever ask your mom why she is so against it? Halloween to me is like a big block party. It's a chance to see everyone you don't get to see all year. Everyone is happy and excited. It's my favorite day of the year.
    When you are out on your own, you can celebrate it the way you want. Another reason why education and a good job is so important. That way you can live your life the way you want to.
  • sandrinamsilva
    sandrinamsilva Posts: 651 Member
    We were allowed to go out but we didnt get the experience of actually putting on real costumes. My mom always put together at home with old clothes. My parents used to be real penny pinchers

    Last year was my 1st year rocking a costume, and I loved it.
  • mamashatzie
    mamashatzie Posts: 238 Member
    I've never been trick or treating either. I grew up in a very conservative religious home.

    The happiest thing about being an adult is getting to make such choices for myself now. :) This year I'm dressing my toddler in a puppy dog costume (sooo cute) and handing out candy at the door. I think he's too little still to ToT.
  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
    We had devote Catholic neighbors who did not allow their kids to trick or treat, in fact, if anyone did knock on their door, she would had out fliers about how bad Halloween is.

    We were aloud to trick or treat to ONLY people we knew. (we lived in a small town, so that wasn't hard). We take our kids out and dress them up. This is one of hubby's favorite holidays.
  • juliecat1
    juliecat1 Posts: 3,450 Member
    I wasnt allowed to either because of religious reasons. I grew up just fine and now have kids of my own that I take trick or treating. Im sketchy about letting them dress up as "evil" things but thats more of an age appropriate issue than anything else.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    I see a lot of post from people in the UK who say they don't like Halloween. I watched a program over the weekend and the day originated in the UK and was bought here by the puritans.
    Jack O"Lantern was a real person. They say "He was so horrible that the devil even cast him out of hell". Seen it on the history channel. :laugh:
  • kimletton11
    kimletton11 Posts: 72 Member
    I grew up in a very religious home and we were never allowed to celebrate Halloween or dress up. Over the last 5 years or so, my parents have gotten divorced and my mom lets my younger sisters dress up and go trick or treating. I always hated missing out on it when I was a kid so now that I'm older, I dress up and go to parties. :happy:
  • samhradh
    samhradh Posts: 297 Member
    My mum is a manic depressive, and every Halloween we where put in the front garden to sweep up the leaves, with the instruction to tell everybody that mum was not at home
    she never gave out sweets, no decorations no fun allowed.

    Fast forward 20 years trick or treat is in full swing here my kids are out on the street with there friends, i'm manning the door giving out the treats,our house is like the set of a horror movie, my kids love it. it is fantastic not to follow in my mothers foot steps.

    Halloween was born from the Celtic druids, the carved pumpkin was originally a hollowed out turnip to bring home some of the flame from the bonne fire, which is supposed to bring good luck to your home for the coming year.
  • starbucksbuzz
    starbucksbuzz Posts: 466 Member
    haha me!

    My husband teases me about it. For my parents it was a religious thing... Now I feel oddly disconnected with the whole holiday. It just makes the office candy more prevalent and easy to get to. Meh.
  • DietingMommy08
    DietingMommy08 Posts: 1,345 Member
    Halloween is actually a Pegan Holiday to celebrate Samhaim which is marking the shift from the 6 light months of the year to the 6 dark months.

    The different parts of halloween have been represented from different parts of the world.

    Most families (religious or not) wont celebrate this holiday even tho with society these days its nothing like its meant to be.
  • DietingMommy08
    DietingMommy08 Posts: 1,345 Member
    My mum is a manic depressive, and every Halloween we where put in the front garden to sweep up the leaves, with the instruction to tell everybody that mum was not at home
    she never gave out sweets, no decorations no fun allowed.

    Fast forward 20 years trick or treat is in full swing here my kids are out on the street with there friends, i'm manning the door giving out the treats,our house is like the set of a horror movie, my kids love it. it is fantastic not to follow in my mothers foot steps.

    Halloween was born from the Celtic druids, the carved pumpkin was originally a hollowed out turnip to bring home some of the flame from the bonne fire, which is supposed to bring good luck to your home for the coming year.

    Jack-o-Laterns with candles inside where put in front of doors of the irish to scare evil spirits away.
  • _Timmeh_
    _Timmeh_ Posts: 2,096 Member
    Just sad reading some of these replies.
    Halloween is a fun time of the year, great memories of friends going from street to street all decked
    out in some cheesy home made costume. Then as an adult going to Halloween parties. Woohoo good times.
  • debswebby
    debswebby Posts: 326
    I see a lot of post from people in the UK who say they don't like Halloween. I watched a program over the weekend and the day originated in the UK and was bought here by the puritans.

    Its not halloween we don't like, its trick or treaters. We Brits don't like people knocking at our doors without a prior appointment :laugh:
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I grew up in a very religious conservative family and we celebrated the hell out of halloween. My dad (a Catholic deacon) would decorate the whole house and put a blacklight up in the front porch with a cauldron of dry ice and records with spooky sounds. He'd have all kinds of scary props and stuff out in the yard and would dress up in a scary costume and scare the crap out of all the trick or treaters (he was so scary one year that my little sister wouldn't even go back in the house). We got turned loose on the neighborhood to trick or treat until we wore the soles off our shoes. It was a different world then and I take my kids trick or treating but I wouldn't let them go by themselves in this day and age. I feel like by the time they're old enough to trick or treat by themselves they're probably old enough to not trick or treat any more. I don't know what the cut off should be but it's annoying when 17 year olds are trick or treating.
  • There are other parents that think that we should selibrate God and not Halloween. I personally think that halloween is a day for the kids to have fun and inneract with one another.
  • My mum is a manic depressive, and every Halloween we where put in the front garden to sweep up the leaves, with the instruction to tell everybody that mum was not at home
    she never gave out sweets, no decorations no fun allowed.

    Fast forward 20 years trick or treat is in full swing here my kids are out on the street with there friends, i'm manning the door giving out the treats,our house is like the set of a horror movie, my kids love it. it is fantastic not to follow in my mothers foot steps.

    Halloween was born from the Celtic druids, the carved pumpkin was originally a hollowed out turnip to bring home some of the flame from the bonne fire, which is supposed to bring good luck to your home for the coming year.

    My family are Celtic so she deprived us our ancestors :P
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    Me.

    If I tell you why, it would involve religion, so I will let you guess.

    But I encourage my kids to enjoy the heck out of all holidays and celebrations!! We even make up some of our own :drinker: :laugh:
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Disregard. Might have been religious.
  • I see a lot of post from people in the UK who say they don't like Halloween. I watched a program over the weekend and the day originated in the UK and was bought here by the puritans.

    Its not halloween we don't like, its trick or treaters. We Brits don't like people knocking at our doors without a prior appointment :laugh:

    Haha, we don't like getting off the sofa for no reason :tongue:
  • Pocket_Pixi
    Pocket_Pixi Posts: 1,167 Member
    I grew up in a very religious conservative family and we celebrated the hell out of halloween. My dad (a Catholic deacon) would decorate the whole house and put a blacklight up in the front porch with a cauldron of dry ice and records with spooky sounds. He'd have all kinds of scary props and stuff out in the yard and would dress up in a scary costume and scare the crap out of all the trick or treaters (he was so scary one year that my little sister wouldn't even go back in the house). We got turned loose on the neighborhood to trick or treat until we wore the soles off our shoes. It was a different world then and I take my kids trick or treating but I wouldn't let them go by themselves in this day and age. I feel like by the time they're old enough to trick or treat by themselves they're probably old enough to not trick or treat any more. I don't know what the cut off should be but it's annoying when 17 year olds are trick or treating.

    This is fantastic!! I think it is great that your father put aside the religious side so that you and your neighborhood kids could have a blast. I do agree that there should be a cut off, because I do not think I should have to give candy out to a 17 year old. My mom had a rule and that was once you were 13 you were done trick or treating and could hand out candy instead.

    I didn't grow up in a religious household so Halloween was never an issue for me. Being as I grew up in a small town (less than 500 people) we were aloud to go out from the time school got out until almost 9 o'clock at night with out any worries. However; now not so much parents take their kids around but its still fun.
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