Growing up around children who celebrated different holidays that were different from mine was a constant in my life. I loved all the holidays and breaks, but the one thing I really missed was the actual celebration. This applied to other holidays too, like Christmas and Easter (because they were more religiously based). Halloween was something that my parents had put a restriction on for my siblings and me. The only way I got to experience any sort of Halloween spirit was at school or when handing out candy; we don’t celebrate but that doesn’t mean we aren’t monsters. Halloween was the one time of year to be someone else besides yourself, to have fun in your imagination and creativity, and when you feel as though you are being restricted from doing so, a young child (like I once was) will find ways.
Giving Out Candy
Most kids with strict parents weren’t allowed to give out candy during Halloween, and I wasn’t either until my mom came into play. My mom was the one who loved being involved in the neighborhood activities and would continuously allow me to buy candy and then hand it out when kids would ring our doorbell. In the beginning, my dad didn’t really want any involvement. So when we weren’t allowed to give out candy either, we would turn off the front porch lights and any light that could be seen through the windows, pretending that we weren’t there. But we still got doorbells and knocks, which I always felt guilty about and wanted to acknowledge. I loved seeing the kids walk up to our door in their costumes, it always looked so fun. So I would sneak around looking through windows or just lurking behind bushes in order to watch the kids walking around in their colorful costumes. I didn’t have to do that anymore once my mom got more involved with the celebrations here in America.
Sneaking in Costumes
I feel as though universally, every kid with strict parents had snuck costumes on for school. School was THE place on Halloween day for us kids. I would convince my mom a few months before Halloween that a part of a costume would look great on me for an outfit (example: tutu- I was a kid), and then some other aspects would come from asking my friends to bring them. My school had trick or treating parades and costume showcases, and being a part of these things was really important to me, no one wants to feel left out. I was also a bit of a selfish kid and so getting candy was always the true motivation. Sometimes I would even convince my mom that I needed to dress up because it was required for a good grade as if elementary schools would really care.
My First and Only Time (Trick or Treating)
Having sleepovers was a crucial part of everyone’s childhood, inviting some and leaving out others. Halloween sleepovers were the best, having a sugar rush and then passing out with all your friends. This was something that had also been restricted for me; that was, until sixth grade. I had a best friend who had somehow come into my life to make sure that I was able to experience the “normal” things that every kid should. We would have constant sleepovers, and one happened to be Halloween night. She somehow convinced my mother to let me go trick or treating. It is a memory I will never forget.
Childhood memories are always different for everyone: we all have different experiences with the things we were able to do as kids. Halloween is the only night where knocking on someone’s door and asking for candy is a completely normal thing to do. When your parents come from a different country where Halloween was seen as a sin and praising the devil, it makes sense that they would forbid you from playing along. It is crazy how over time being in this environment they understood that this wasn’t the reason for this holiday (at least not anymore). My brother and I now wear costumes and go out to Halloween parties, and our parents don’t really care anymore. My mom even wore a costume once to work (she was a slice of bread). So even if it may seem as though your parents may never change their minds on specific things, they are still human and they learn and grow as we do too. Halloween is one of my favorite celebrations in America. I’m glad that I was able to grow with some sort of childhood memories, even if they are different from everyone else’s.