Halloween - What Do We Tell Our Kids?
My View Article by Julia Bettencourt

It's getting closer to that time of year again-Halloween. We as well educated Christians know what origins it has, but what do we do about it in relation to our kids? We could try to ignore it, but will it go away? No. We, along with our kids will constantly be reminded of it by all the horror movies advertised on television this time of year, by the invitations to Halloween parties our kids are invited to, by all the costumes and the packed out aisles in the candy section as the time draws closer.

So, what do we tell our kids? Sorry! I don't have an answer for you. It is something that you have to make a decision about yourself. My best advice is to stay informed but don't go off the deep end and make your pursuit of knowledge a detriment to you.

I know that there are just literally hundreds of articles on the web about Halloween and Christianity but I wouldn't personally choose to read all of them. I feel people are sometimes so caught up in it that somewhere their feet leave the ground as it were. The pursuit of the knowledge itself becomes a drawback for them. I think we should stay knowledgeable on the subject but I also feel there's a balance we need to keep. Some of the articles go way beyond and you can easily get swept away into reading more about witchcraft and the devil than I personally think is healthy to us as Christians. I know the basic origins of the holiday and I don't choose to delve into it anymore than that.

I do know that it's something you have to deal with if you have kids. Personally, we've just always kind of placed other things as our priorities during Halloween and we've always been somewhere where when our oldest daughter was little that she could participate in something such as a Harvest carnival or party. We did have the "dress up" day in grade school a couple times to contend with. We chose storybook characters and let her go dressed up too. I didn't want our daughter to be alienated either. One year I made her a Little Bo Peep costume, and another I made her a Little Red Riding Hood costume. (I know. I know. Some nursery rhymes have their bad origins too!) As parents we can never be sure our choices are the right ones except by being as close to the Lord as we can and leaning on Him to guide us in our everyday decisions. Now I have two more little ones coming up and I'll have to deal with the Halloween thing all over again. Am not sure if I'll handle it differently or not. I think each situation calls for each decision.

As you make your decision about Halloween, I trust that you will use your best judgment and God's guidance when delving into any study on the subject.