Halloween

[ruthandsam]

That awkward moment when my 6 year old daughter's friends turn up at the door with an invitation to a Halloween Party. It is against everything I stand for but what to do?

[naomi24]

Say 'thank you for the invitation, but she won't be able to come'.

[Mamyalynne]

You have to decide whether you can simply accept it as a bit of fun - most children see it as an excuse for a party - not devil worship. If you cannot then you must be honest with her , good luck.

[pretty_snowdrop]

If you wouldn't mind her going to her friends house for another kind of party, i would let her go. After all she is only 6 years old.

[sherrardk]

Why are you so anti-Halloween, it's just a fun time for kids.

[erin-x]

If you don't mind me asking, why are you so against it?

Nowadays it's nothing more than an excuse to gorge on sweets and get scared silly! :-)

[Alliegid]

Maybe next year organise your own 'light party', we always did at our local Christian school. My 3 never went to Halloween parties and it didn't do any harm to them. Halloween is not just a harmless fun evening, it does have satanic roots.

[sandyRoe]

Hardly Satanic, pre Christian maybe. Apart from the fireworks it's just a good opportunity for kids to have a party.

[plautus]

It would be interesting to see how may people who "celebrate" Halloween, short for All Hallows' Eve, are in church the next morning to worship on "All Hallows' Day" - "All Saints' Day" and the next day, All Souls' Day, when they may remember their departed love ones.

[woofgang]

Depends how far you want to take it. you can explain to your daughter why she cant go and, I think, also explain to the parents of the kids so they don't think she cant be invited to other parties. If they get the feeling that you just don't want her to socialise with their kids, she will have a pretty lonely childhood....

[erin-x]

Does it have satanic roots? Is it not just about the day of the dead when the door to the afterlife is open and spirits can come and visit, so to speak...

[Mosaic]

I think the greater problem is parents caving in to pester-power to lay on parties for small kids who would be as happy with a packet of jelly babies and an outing to the park. A lot of people are hard up - unsurprisingly, halloween themed tat is cluttering the supermarket aisles - and of course this will become a source of competition between parents with the kids dragged into it.
And as you know with this issue, the problem with taking a stand is that your kid bears the brunt of it.
But where does it end? Valentines parties for 6 year olds? Midsummer parties for 6 year olds? The marketing opportunities are endless.
Be nice though if there were a way to put the brakes on pressure to buy tat and instead buy and distribute food in a good old-fashioned harvest celebration. For 6 year olds.

[douglas9401]

Tell you what Mosaic, these six-year-olds are having a better time than me. :)

As to the question, a little bit of flexibility goes a long way and keeps a six year old happy in her group of friends.

[DSJ]

Hey up! Don't ban Halloween - it happens to be my birthday!

[modeller]

If you don't explain why you are against it , I don't see how we can tell you what to do . I would say though you should do what is best for a 6yr old not allow your prejudices to probably upset a lot of people.

[Mamyalynne]

You can still have a fun party and not buy all the pricey plastic tat - apple bobbing, make hats from card and crepe paper, get the children to decorate cupcakes.

[starone]

I love hallowe'en. The kids like to dress up and come round with their loot bags. They, or their parents I suspect at the children's instigation, take a lot of trouble with their costumes and they do not know anything about what it is - they are just having fun - and so am I. I always buy crisps and lollipops to hand out. The children's faces are a delight, even covered with make-up.

[ll_billym]

Don't be so uptight, it's only a bit of fun and we'll all be dead soon. Not sure if this should be my stance on Christianity also these days.

[dotty.]

it's actually my birthday on 31st and so i give you permission to call it a dotty party and save the hassle

[NOX]

Alliegid, don't be an offensive ignoramus- there are NO Satanic connections with Samhain ( the correct name for Halloween if you are a Pagan- and it is a Pagan festival). Pagan's do not even believe in your Devil (only you Christians have him as your bogeyman) so how could it possibly have any Satanic connection? If someone believes in Satan it means that loosely they are playing by Christian rules not Pagan ones, so any daft individual who is practising Satanism is in fact embroiled in your doctrines not ours.
Samhain is a festival where we believe that the veil is thinnest and that a reconnection can be made with loved ones and those we have lost. It is a time for reflection and for understanding our place and the place of life and death in the greater scheme of things, it's not evil, it's not wrong and if you don't mind me saying so it's offensive of you to suggest it is, I can't imagine you would be so rude about a Sikh or perhaps a Hindu festival, yet with this you seem to feel free.
To address the poster's question, most people are not Pagans, so this is a harmless 'Disney' style party your little one wants to go to, nothing more, I doubt the 6 year olds have any religious overtone to their little fun day, so I would personally let her enjoy herself as it doesn't clash with your beliefs at all if there is no religious element.