I’m a Christian and I let my kids celebrate Halloween. Say what?! Yep, they celebrate Halloween AND I let them believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. Holy blasphemy and brimstone and fire! I’m thinking that some front (and even some in the back) row Baptists just fell out of their pews (relax, I’m Baptist too).
How on this earth can I proclaim to be a Christian yet allow my children to participate in the unholy pagan holiday of Halloween? How could I lead them so willingly down a wayward path? My answer to you would be this: I’m NOT. Plain and simple, I’m letting them be kids. Nobody bats an eye when a kid plays dress up any other day of the year. In fact, we encourage it---it creates imagination. Yet we make a BIG ol’ deal of it one day a year. Oh I can hear the critics now, “yes but you parade about on that particular day that pays homage to pagan beliefs.” Listen, on any given day, I’d let my kids walk out of our house in dress up clothes as long as they are dressed in something. That’s on about any five of seven days I’d let that craziness fly in my house. If they dress themselves, I generally don’t care what it is as long as it’s weather appropriate.
I also allow my kids to believe in the other make believe characters that this world has dreamed up. About eight years ago, I was dumb enough to even jump on the crazy train of the whole Elf on the Shelf nonsense (side note, I’m looking for great suggestions on how to phase that choice out of our lives). In all honesty, what harm comes from my kids believing in make believe for a very short window of their lives? I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I also don’t think it’s wrong for churches to participate in things like Trunk or Treat.
Oh holy rollers, she’s done it now! Yep, that’s generally how I roll, straight on through. I think it’s GREAT that churches do this. Not only is it a safe place for kids to go and not get into trouble, it elevates a platform to spread the word. Holy cannoli what a great idea!
Here’s the bottom line in my world. My kids get to participate because to them it’s an innocent day of fun. If you were to ask them why we have Halloween, they’d likely tell you something along the lines of “so we can dress up and get candy.” They have no idea of the origins of it all. There’s a reason for that; it’s because we don’t tell them. See, our beliefs are in Christ, not ghosts so that’s what we share with our children. We teach them about what’s important to us.
Do other holidays have artificial figures that we all hubbub about? Yep. Lots of non-Christians celebrate Christmas. Lots of families have Easter dinners that don’t believe in Christ’s resurrection. Do we crucify them for celebrating something that they don’t believe in? As a general rule, no.
Around here we let the kids believe in the magic of Santa Claus and they annually have a picture with him. We hide teeth under pillows in hopes of a couple of bucks showing up in place of a tooth. Eggs pop up around our yard and house at Easter time with the eagerness of seeing what the bunny left. Halloween will continue to be the annual big dress up day around here. We’ll continue to do these things not because we idolize the figure that each represents, rather we let the kids celebrate the innocent fun that each season presents.
I feel confident that our children aren’t being led astray simply because they participate in a dedicated day. What I do feel confident in is that we are raising them to be creative and imaginative. I feel confident that at Christmas and Easter, our kids will know that we celebrate these not because of the fictional characters that appear at each, but because they coincide with the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So I’ll say it a little louder for those in the back, this Christian mama is going to continue to let her kids celebrate the no-no holidays. And I’m not going to feel even a little bit bad for doing so.
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