How Halloween Became My Family’s Favorite Holiday
Halloween has become my family’s favorite holiday. Don’t get me wrong, we really love ALL of the holidays around here, from New Year’s Eve to Kwanzaa and all of the holidays in between. But most holidays are kid centered, and while it’s wonderful to witness our children’s enjoyment, parents are often left watching all the excitement from the sidelines.
There’s just something about Halloween that makes this holiday fun for the entire family.
There are a few Halloween traditions that we all look forward to. Visiting Mrs. Heather’s Pumpkin Patch is at the top of the list! On our very first trip, we took pictures that were later used to announce the pregnancy of our now 3-year-old. Now every year we recreate the picture and it’s so sweet to see how our family is growing!
Pumpkin carving is another family tradition that we all enjoy. When the season rolls around, we are on the lookout for the biggest pumpkin we can find! (Pro tip: Costco usually has the largest pumpkins in the area!) Once we decide how we want our Jack-o-Lantern to look, everyone pitches in to make the vision come to life. The kids are responsible for cleaning out the pumpkin, I usually sketch the design on the pumpkin and daddy does the carving!
Our favorite Halloween tradition is family costumes!
Family costumes are great because us parents get to have a little fun as well. The birth of our youngest daughter inspired our first foray into the world of family Halloween costumes when we all dressed as Sesame Street characters – Mom and Dad as Burt and Ernie, big sister as Elmo and little sister as the Cookie Monster – and she has chosen our theme every year since. Year two we dressed as The Addams Family and last year our theme was “Just Me and My Witches.” This year our toddler is obsessed with Barbie so we are planning to go as different types of Barbies and of course dad will be our one and only Ken. We usually save the family costumes for Halloween’s finale, Trick-or-Treating night.
But don’t worry, the girls have plenty of opportunities to wear their individual costumes. Baton Rouge has several family friendly Halloween events that we try to attend. The annual Boo at the Zoo is always a favorite for the girls. We also can’t miss Boo at SU as well the haunted hall event, “A Nightmare at Pinkie Thrift Hall” hosted by Southern’s College of Agricultural, Human and Environmental Sciences student organizations. Every year we manage to find new events to engage in and new places to visit in Baton Rouge to celebrate our favorite family holiday, Halloween!
