Ok so Obviously this question is to mothers who are Muslim & Overseas Pakistanis.
When its Halloween time (& when your kid is school going around the age of 3, 4, 5… ), how do you handle the Halloween Candy thing with them. Everyone of us know that the bringing up phase is not a one month lesson and we are doing it since their childhood and that makes them learn a lot of things about our religion, customs and traditions.
I certainly have no idea when its time of Halloween and when they are school going, are being with their friends and of course their friends discuss about the Halloween Candies… how does it all go???
Does your kid get his share for the Halloween Candies or what you tell him?
Not sure what you’re really asking here, since as Deeba pointed out, there is already a thread on this topic, but here goes:
My kids look forward to Halloween all year as i did when i was young (and still do!) My kids dress up in costumes of their choice and I take them trick or treating…sometime it’s in our neighborhood, sometimes in a group of friends in someone else’s neighborhood, or at a Halloween festival…just depends on the plan that is made that year.
As far as their candy goes…i let them pick out a handful each, and the rest is either eaten by my husband and I or tossed.
My 5th grader is already starting to lose interest in trick or treating…my twins will most likey outgrow it fairly soon too, so I’m sure in a couple of years it won’t be a big deal in our house anymore.
re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
just checked after your post. But the thread is about “is it wrong” thing. My question isn’t about that.
I want to know if a parent is NOT in favor of Halloween and doesn’t want his child to celebrate it (due to religious issues), how would she make her child understand about it when she knows that her kid is surrounded by so many other kids who are with him at the school time and ARE celebrating Halloween!!
In that thread, I found both the parties, ones who are in favor and others who feel it shouldn’t be celebrated so my question is from those mothers or fathers here who are NOT in favor of Halloween Celebrations.
Other things are ok but you know kids are too much in love with candies and if you stop them for whatever reason from having them (even with a religious point of view & giving them an idea that its not an Islamic Ritual), it would be pretty hard for them to understand why they can’t get their Halloween candies while other kids can!!
re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
Honestly kids don’t brag about Halloween at schools. However, you can simply tell your child that you and your family celebrates other event like xyz. Also, just educate your child about different cultures celebrating or observing different events. Bring books and talk about different cultures and their celebration. Compare the similarities and differences. Hopefully your child will understand and move on.
re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
As far as candies goes, you have set limits no matter it is Halloween, Easter, or Eid. There was an Eid Party at my son’s school, I made goody bags without candy.
Not all kids are “too much in love with candy”. And the charm of Halloween that attracts kids is more about the activity of dressing up and having fun then just solely the candy.
As a parent, it’s your job to teach your children what is acceptable and allowed vs what is not. It’s really not as big of a deal as you’re anticipating. When your child is old enough to understand the concept and sees that their is no mention of Halloween in your house nor a y attention paid to it, he/she won’t be expecting to participate anyway. And as far as school influence goes, well this is just a drop in the bucket. As long as you keep open dialogue and have a relaxed approach to teaching your kids, they’re not going to feel left out. And if they do (which is a normal reaction) they’ll get over it real fast
re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
My kids are (4, 3 and 6 months) mA!! This year was the first time I took the older ones to trick or treat, because she has been talking about it from school, I took them they both dressed up as well. While my husband stayed back with the baby and he was on giving out candy duty. We didn’t do a lot of houses because it rained here on the 31st but nevertheless we had a great time despite of rain.
We came back with significant amount of goodies, My husband and I checked their bags carefully, the 3 year old hardly ate anything she just opened some of it and took out of the wrapper!! They didn’t fuss over it, they actually forgot about it next next morning, my girls are more into play-doh/crayons than candy (for now) so we had no crying fits over it.
The rest of the remaining candy my husband put in a ziplock bag and saved it for ourselves as a treat after dinner
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
To answer the title question… then you just dont make a big deal out of it.
My son is only 2 so he knows nothing about it yet and I have never bothered dressing him up.. I know there are costumes days at school and when he is in school, he will be free to participate that day but I dont any plans of taking him trick or treating.
I know two non Muslim (christian) families who dont celebrate halloween due to the whole concept of evil, witches and pagan association and I feel like they have a hard time explaining that to their kids and neighbors than we will
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
halloween and thanksgiving are a big deal in the US - good clean family fun, and arguably the best season of the year too. a little like the start of the monsoons for desis. very earthy.
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
My daughter is 3.5 yo and this was the first year she got a costume and went trick or treating (at school).She was ecstatic and looked pretty and had a great time.I was happy to see her happy.That is it.
I have never made it a huge deal before.She wasn’t that aware of the whole thing before going to school either.For me,it is ok if she wants to participate in something happening at school,but I don’t think we will be too keen on doing the whole neighborhood thing.
Regarding candy..she got quite a lot.I removed more than half of it from her bag some because it had gelatin in it and some for myself,and the rest she has it.She has had a few pieces of it so far.Candy isn’t a big deal for her (atleast not at this point).
Anything is a big deal if you make it,otherwise it isn’t (this is what I think after 3.5 years of parenting).
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
On a separate note she saw a piece of the red wrapper from a small bag of Skittles I had been enjoying late last night,this morning.She interrogated me even before going to the bathroom and told me she thought I had eaten her candy treat and that I shouldn’t do it again as it will give me a tummy ache…
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
I just though of something really funny…
I recall a party that an ex-guppan had at her house. It was a “themed” party and all attendees were encouraged to come as a Bollywood personality hence they had to “dress up” in “costumes”.
This ex-guppan is a strict hijaban that teaches at an Islamic center.
Go figure.
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
lol, of course not, they don’t brag, its just about.. when children discuss with each other about how different/many candies they got yesterday and blah blah and the other child is just quiet because he/she doesn’t know about candies or this specific day candies because his mother chose not to let him celebrate.
However, I liked an idea here brought by some guppan which says that you can give them candies on every occasion and so that he will treat every occasion same!!
The question is not about me… I had this discussion going on with a group of friends last Sunday and just thought to know your views too
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
That is actually true.November & December are a favorite time of the year.The happiness,cheer and festivity of the whole season is contagious and hard to ignore.
Re: What to do if you don’t want your kids celebrating Halloween?
If you don’t want your kid to go … You tell them no. Simple.
yes there may be tears and perhaps even a tantrum … Well so what … Kids do that for lots of other things too. You can try explaining to them why you don’t participate … It may or may not sink in … Depends on the mental age of the child.
my daughter is 2yo. She hasn’t a clue about what Halloween is and/or it’s various controversies. She dressed up as a pink fairy this year and loved her “ings” wings. She didn’t go trick or treat cuz she was sick, it was chilly out and I had a night shift.
my husband handed out the candy to kids … He told me Our daughter just squealed in delight at seeing kids every time and wanted to run away with them
she ate zero candies … She doesn’t like them. Licked a chocolate and said ewww.
She did have me open up 5-6 the next day n played with wrappers, stacked up the rest and practiced pouring them from one container to next … That’s really the extent of it
Some things become evil/big deals only when we makes them that.
