I love Halloween. Mostly.
I love kids dressing up as witches or Wonder Woman or whatever. I love people decorating houses with fake cobwebs and fake blood. I love chatting to neighbours I’ve only ever nodded at before. I love seeing lots of people wandering the streets on a warm evening.
I don’t care that it’s American. I mean, it’s not like Halloween is replacing some great traditional Aussie celebration like Drop Bear Day. It’s not like we had anything to do on October 31.
I just hate the candy. I even hate the word.
The treats that get handed out at Halloween are mostly the cheap stuff, the lowest of the low when it comes to lollies. Sugar with nothing but artificial colours and flavours added.
That’s understandable. People welcoming trick-or-treaters at Halloween might get hundreds of kids dropping by.
You can’t expect them to hand out good treats, like chocolate bars, because they’re too expensive, and you can’t expect them to hand out homemade treats, like cupcakes, because they’re too much effort. (Plus, a lot of parents would be wary of their kids taking food from a stranger that’s not sealed in plastic. Plus, food allergies.)
I love my kids’ excitement about getting dressed up and walking down the street. I just dread bringing them home afterwards, loaded up with cheap lollies.
I usually do a deal with my kids – eat maybe a couple of things and bin the rest, or swap them for something equally tasty but with a smidgen more nutrition. Even ice cream or cake is better.
It’s not like our kids need more lollies. My kids get lollies handed to them all the time. Teachers give them out as rewards. Kids have birthdays and hand out lolly bags to the whole class. Indulgent oldies dish them out, ignoring my feeble objections.
Enough is enough!
Wouldn’t it be good if we could take the candy out of Halloween – or at least reduce the sugar content of it a little bit?
Listen: The worst Halloween costumes for kids. Post continues after audio.
It’s such a new tradition in Australia that little kids would barely notice, or care, if they only got a handful of lollies instead of a bucketload.
Isn’t it enough that children get to dress up? Don’t they get excited just by visiting houses with spooky decorations – like Christmas time, when they visit houses with lights?
I’d love to see more people handing out stuff that doesn’t contain sugar. Last year, one house we visited had a bowl of plastic spiders for kids who didn’t want lollies. That was pretty cool. How about spooky stickers, or black balloons?
Halloween, with a reduced sugar content. Am I all on my own here?
Top Comments
My mate, his (American) wife and their (Canadian) neighbours have been doing it the past few years in Wyndham Vale, getting hundreds, if not thousands of people passing by. Gave out over 50kg of lollies this year and raised over $2,000 for the Starlight Foundation.
Talking to people as they came by, they were all saying they hadn't seen so many families out, socialising and having a good time in years. Not to mention the boost the economy would have got from all the lollies and costumes being sold.
So yeah, lets shitcan something because it's "Americanised" even if it's good for the economy, brings together the community and is a bit of fun for the kids. Lets stick to the fair dinkum Aussie stuff. You know, like Maccas, Coke an Netflix.
And how many other people actually turn it into a fundraising night? Citing the exception to the rule isn't a case for supporting the majority who just go doorknocking for lollies.
Yep,the look on the kiddies faces when they knock on your door wanting lollies and you offer them broccoli bites is priceless
I see you are a man of culture as well - sugar coated deep fried broccoli bites with a dusting of chocolate shavings are the bomb.
And I always use fresh,no frozen