Dude, did you know it's Halloween soon?

I don't know my neighbors, but it seems they are big fans of Halloween (and Christmas judging by their year-round Christmas lights).  If you have been to my house in the past month you will know exactly what I'm talking about.  For those that haven't been to my house I will try to explain.  Let's see... At Christmas time many people have big snowmen or snow globes that light up at night to decorate their yard.  They usually only have one and then smaller items to accentuate the one monster size snowman.  Somewhere, somehow my neighbors acquired not one, not two, but five of these monster sized purple halloween "items" that "glow" in the night.  There is a huge purple spider on their house and the legs aren't firmly attached so a few of them flap around in the wind.  There is a walk way with a ghost-like person attached to it and I'm told that it makes scary noises at you when you walk through it.  Then there's a big Scooby and a few others that I can't remember because I have yet had time to take everything in when I drive by.  It's just crazy!  And to be honest, it's so ugly.  Having one of those items might be fun, but five or six?  It's just insane.

Earlier in the month I was going door to door taping some fliers to the front doors, you know, a less confrontational form of solicitation.  This neighborhood is a little more upscale than mine (no big purple balloons in any front yards) so I found myself constantly admiring the perfectly manicured lawns (for the most part) and the interesting porch decorations.  A lot of the houses were very festive and decorated for fall with pretty wreaths, maybe a few pumpkins or something.  Then I saw a house that had put cobweb all over their front porch and you had to walk through the cob web and past a standing skeleton to get to the front door.  Another house had a hooded skeletel looking creature attached to the front door so it looked like the creature was halfway through the door.  And then there was another house with huge cobwebs but this one had a big, ugly black spider on the web.  Ew.

Of couse we all have to buy candy for this huge event so we are all seeing many different advertisements for the candy that is going on sale.  Believe it or not, I have a favorite commercial.  I think it's a kit-kat commercial but I could be wrong.  In this commercial there is a six year old little boy in full bat man gear standing in front of a bucket of candy and a sign that says "Please take one."  As he is standing there contemplating this a cute blonde little girl in what looks like a bee costume comes up and grabs a handful of candy.  "Batman's" moral compass is directed on her and he tells her about the sign to which she replies, "I can't read."  She takes one more piece of candy, rolls her eyes and skips away leaving a very dejected "Batman" behind.  Have you seen this commercial?  It's so cute!  You must keep your eyes out for it.

My last random thought about this holiday are the COSTUMES.  I like the costume part.  It's fun to pretend to be someone I'm not.  Last year I was Cinderella and although I was frozen by the end of the night, it was very fun to play the part of a princess.  I am always interested in seeing what innovative costumes people come up with and then the little girls in their tutus are all dressed up and look so adorable!  It's all very fun.   But as I'm sure you know everyone grows up and girls tend to wear less and boys tend to become more vulgar with their gore.  I do understand that these are generalizations and not everyone fits into these molds that I am discussing.  Anyways this happens, many of us have "been there" right? Riiiiight?? It's okay to nod your head, no one is looking.

There are two things that bother me about costumes.  First, the gore of it all and second, the slutty moms. So the gore...When we dress up and have blood running down our faces and clothes and a knife appears to have been stabbed through our skull, what are we celebrating?  When we dress up like ghosts, goblins, demons, devils, zombies etc., what are we celebrating?  I'll tell you.  It's death, it's evil, it's pain and in it's core, it's Lucifer himself.  Oh great, now I'm sounding like one of "those people" who's all obsessed with religion.  But hey, if that's how I sound then that's how I sound.  It's just that evil is very real whether we want to acknowledge that or not.  I really struggle with the idea that this is something to be celebrated.

Okay, enough.  Now the slutty moms.  Oh man, did I touch a nerve?  Oops.  Oh well, I'm over it now and hopefully you are too.  It bothers me, no, it pisses me off when I see or hear that a mom is planning to "dress up" for Halloween as a sex object.  Ok come on, I know you know what I'm talking about; slutty television and movie characters, firefighters and police officers with only a quarter of the uniform on, french maid, sexy nurse, the list is endless.  It kills me to see moms in particular conform themselves to these ideas of femininity because of the message it will send to the kids.  I feel bad for the teenage boy whose mom, dressed as a play boy bunny, prances about serving candy or heads off to a party.  How embarrassing for that 15 year old.  I feel like I'm in the process of crossing over some unsaid boundary so I'm going to stop with this blog while I'm nervous.

Halloween does have it's pros and cons.  I'm not one of those moms who is going to forbid the kids to dress up and trick-or-treat.  But I am going to be careful.  I hope that if Halloween starts taking us down a wrong path that my husband and I will see it and be able to take action against it.