So it's not begging?

Carpool last Friday was quite a sight! Ghouls, ghosts, fairies, princesses, rockstars and all manner of scary creatures lined the corridors. It didn't appear like there were any teachers present too, although Frankenstein was bizarrely as tall as one of the teachers in the school...

I was so convinced that I was in the wrong place, (surely, this had to be Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) until I realized it's the Friday before Halloween!

Happy Halloween, to those who celebrate!

You see, I don't really celebrate Halloween because I don't really understand it.

I understand it's all fun and games for the kids - dressing up, seeing how much candy you can get, and just generally being out in the neighbourhood on a supposedly scary night.

But I think differently. I also think it is begging. For candy, and I'm not even a huge candy fan!. (I also see the New Orleans Mardi Gras frenzy as begging. For beads. But that's a different story!)

You'll have to forgive me as this is probably a cultural and religious thing, as I never celebrated Halloween until we lived in America. (We celebrated All Saints day - 1st November - in church as a day of solemn reflection for all saints - known and unknown. But the act of celebrating ghosts, ghouls, witches, wizards and scary creatures - no.)

In my first year in the US, I was swept along with excitement and went trick-or-treating with my kids. Knock on the door, smile politely, trick or treat, candy in the bag, off to the next home - right? But when I got back home and assessed my paltry stash (the neighbours were not very generous(!) and I gave up after a few homes as it was a cold, wet and windy evening!), I decided it wasn't worth it. Not now, not ever again. (Oh, and I nursed a cold for the rest of that week as well, because in a bid to show off my fancy costume, I did not cover up appropriately.)

So since then, I have enjoyed opting to be the one to stay at home (warm and cosy) with the candy waiting for the neighbourhood kids to drop by, while the rest of the family goes trick-or-treating.

Thankfully, I'm the only one in my household that thinks trick-or-treating is begging, as everyone else thinks it's a wonderful way to socialize with neighbours and get free candy as well!

Do you think it's begging? I'd be curious to know what you think!