Halloween in Oz...or not.

When we moved here 5 1/2 years ago, Halloween was not a big deal at all. The stores didn't have decorations, and at least in our part of Sydney, no one dressed up or trick-or-treated. I remember our first Halloween here--I had a two year old and a two week old, and I was perfectly happy to not have to do it all!

Over the last few years, though, I've noticed that more people and more of our grocery stores and shops are getting into Halloween. I've heard about some neighborhoods that go all out, with every house decorated. And though it's nothing like what it is in the States, there's a lot more Halloween chatter and activities going on. It's been interesting to watch it gradually catch on here.

Yesterday, Grace and I were at Woolworth's (our local grocery store) and I saw this:
Good news is, you can get a Halloween pumpkin for your very own self. Bad news is, you gotta pay 25 bucks for it. I stood there and laughed to myself in the produce section. Because there is no way, noooooo way, that I am paying $25 for a pumpkin. Not gonna happen.

Thankfully, our kids don't know what they're missing. They don't know that their cousins in America will go out trick-or-treating and come home with 8 pounds of candy. Last year, we visited about 4 houses--all friends of ours--and came home. Ava and Nate were happy, and so was I. Easy peasy.

A few nights ago, I was at a preschool committee meeting and the subject turned to Halloween. Most of the moms there were ambivalent about it, but a few were adamant. They didn't like Halloween and didn't see the point of it. It wasn't really because of their religious views, as is often the case in the States with people who don't participate in Halloween. It was more like, why do people do this? What's the point? Plus,isn't this an American thing? You can imagine that, if you didn't grow up doing it yourself, the idea of dressing your children up and sending them out to countless houses asking for candy is a little bizarre. One lady said her husband was caught unaware by some hopeful trick-or-treaters last year and all he had to give them was dried figs. Ha! Awesome.

Because we're pastors, people sometimes ask us what we think about Halloween. Jason's birthday is on October 31st, so you can imagine how great Halloween was for him as a kid. I think he was probably 12 before he realized that all the costumes and candy weren't just for him. We both grew up dressing up and going trick-or-treating and it was lots of fun. I am reasonably certain that I didn't accidentally worship the devil in the process. But I get why people are concerned. I understand that it's disturbing for some. So when people ask my opinion about Halloween--which doesn't happen so often over here--I usually say that if it bothers them or violates their conscience in any way, don't do it.

For us, we allow our kids to trick-or-treat. But I don't like making a huge deal of Halloween. Mostly cause I don't want Christmas to just seem like that other thing we decorate the house for. Know what I mean? And also, cause I ain't paying $25 for a pumpkin.