Everyone around me loves Halloween and Fall; I now find it depressing and I don’t know what changed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love fall but I despise Halloween.

Man, we should start a club.

I feel like the 10% of people who LOVE Halloween make it miserable for everyone else. It is so much forced fun, if you have young kids. Pretty much every other holiday, I feel like it's possible to pick and choose what works for your family. Because Halloween gets shoehorned into a weekday most of the time, and happens in your neighborhood and involves this reciprocal arrangement with trick or treating, it feels much harder to opt out. I do it for the kids but loathe it.

Hopefully in a few years, my kids will either want to go out with their friends on their own, or just stay home and give out candy to little kids, and then I can check out on it.

You loathe the one single day of ToT for your kids?

As you point out, it's easy enough to opt out of most esle.

+1. People here seem very high strung about Trick or Treating. Your kid picks a costume, you buy a costume, you follow them around for a few hours OR you send your spouse out to follow them around. I can't imagine what drama is going on to make people loathe it.

Start with everyone leaves work early which creates massive traffic jams early on Halloween every single year.

Teenagers stealing candy - kids emptying bowls of candy left out because you’re out with your kids.

Kids ringing doorbells when the home has the light off

The expectation that every home should decorate

There’s work in the morning and school typically

Are your kids taking candy to lunch?

Are you doing dentist buyback programs?

The list goes on…

WTF is a dentist buyback program? Your kids get candy, you set some kind of reasonable rules about eating it. They eat it under those rules. There's no reason to think about this more than that.

They get too much candy. We wind up throwing a lot of it away. People buy too much candy and even if you limit ToT, people will hand out whole handfuls of candy -- last year my kid's bucket was full after like 6 houses. If we kept it all, and said our kid could have one piece a day, it would take months and months to finish it. And since the winter holidays also often involve a lot of candy and sweets. It just piles up. And we are a family that enjoys sweet treats! But candy is such low quality treats -- I'd rather make some good muffins or cheesecake bars or something like that.

I don't remember having so much candy as a kid. People would give you one piece of candy. No one in my neighborhood gave out full size anything. I don't know why the volume of candy has gotten so out of control at the same time that I think most people are at least a bit more restrictive about kids having candy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love fall but I despise Halloween.

Man, we should start a club.

I feel like the 10% of people who LOVE Halloween make it miserable for everyone else. It is so much forced fun, if you have young kids. Pretty much every other holiday, I feel like it's possible to pick and choose what works for your family. Because Halloween gets shoehorned into a weekday most of the time, and happens in your neighborhood and involves this reciprocal arrangement with trick or treating, it feels much harder to opt out. I do it for the kids but loathe it.

Hopefully in a few years, my kids will either want to go out with their friends on their own, or just stay home and give out candy to little kids, and then I can check out on it.

You loathe the one single day of ToT for your kids?

As you point out, it's easy enough to opt out of most esle.

+1. People here seem very high strung about Trick or Treating. Your kid picks a costume, you buy a costume, you follow them around for a few hours OR you send your spouse out to follow them around. I can't imagine what drama is going on to make people loathe it.

Start with everyone leaves work early which creates massive traffic jams early on Halloween every single year.

Teenagers stealing candy - kids emptying bowls of candy left out because you’re out with your kids.

Kids ringing doorbells when the home has the light off

The expectation that every home should decorate

There’s work in the morning and school typically

Are your kids taking candy to lunch?

Are you doing dentist buyback programs?

The list goes on…

WTF is a dentist buyback program? Your kids get candy, you set some kind of reasonable rules about eating it. They eat it under those rules. There's no reason to think about this more than that.

They get too much candy. We wind up throwing a lot of it away. People buy too much candy and even if you limit ToT, people will hand out whole handfuls of candy -- last year my kid's bucket was full after like 6 houses. If we kept it all, and said our kid could have one piece a day, it would take months and months to finish it. And since the winter holidays also often involve a lot of candy and sweets. It just piles up. And we are a family that enjoys sweet treats! But candy is such low quality treats -- I'd rather make some good muffins or cheesecake bars or something like that.

I don't remember having so much candy as a kid. People would give you one piece of candy. No one in my neighborhood gave out full size anything. I don't know why the volume of candy has gotten so out of control at the same time that I think most people are at least a bit more restrictive about kids having candy.

Yeah spending your time worrying that kids get too much candy is exactly what I mean by high strung. People like you are incapable of being happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dislike the period from late October to New Years. There are just too many social and familial expectations and the days keep getting shorter. I always feel relieved when we finally get to January.

+1

And I hate hearing Chrismas music for two months straight everywhere and seeing commercials ordering me to spend money and on top of that be happy happy happy.

+2

Stop trying to make me be cheerful when it's dark outside at 4:30PM!

I respect your feelings but humans have been scheduling holidays involving lights, social gatherings, music, and celebration around the winter solstice basically since the beginning of time specifically because it's dark and miserable and cold and there is an instinct to counteract that. I personally do not like Christmas music so I don't need that, but all the other holiday stuff is fine with me even though I'm not religious because December would be so freaking depressing without all the holiday lights and office parties and days off work. I think it's necessary, frankly.

NP. Winter doesn't even start until the end of December. There is NOTHING in January, February or March to look forward to. It's dark because of the time change and just miserable. There aren't holiday lights and the only holidays we get are MLK and Presidents Day.

What days off work do you get in December? There's only Christmas?

It's not winter, it's winter solstice, which happens late December. People complain about it being dark. Culturally people have been addressing this by having light and celebration-filled holidays in December since forever. Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, Yule, etc.

Thanksgiving and New Years also fit into this tradition -- holidays focused on spending time with others and special foods that happen to occur close to winter solstice.

By January/February, days are already getting longer, even if it's cold. Though I agree daylight savings is a mistake. I think it would be easier if she just accepted the seasonal change in sunrise/sunset and adjusted lifestyle during that part of the year accordingly.

I do like Christmas lights as a counter-balance to December early darkness. But the music, parties, pressure to buy gifts, and everything else make it worse for me. I feel a sense of relief when January comes; even though it's still cold and gray, the days get 1-2 mintues longer each day, and life returns to a normal low-key routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to enjoy it as a kid and have fond memories of Halloween. As an adult it seems the adults around me all have a love for Halloween and Fall in general. My neighbor was saying it’s her favorite holiday. A couple of good friends, my husband and teenage daughter have Fall as their favorite season. They’ve been mentioning this more and more lately as we get into Fall.

The closer it gets the more depressing it seems. Costume shopping for my kids is probably the most exciting part for me but the day of Halloween it just seems not exciting at all.

Depressing probably isn’t the right word but it seems like I have such a letdown feeling about Halloween and Fall. Maybe it’s the end of Summer I feel or I generally don’t like Fall? Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday also.

I don’t know what changed over the years but I just don’t enjoy Halloween or Fall anymore.

SAD -Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs during certain seasons of the year, typically in the fall and winter months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love summer and always hate the impending cold weather

Same! I need to move to the tropics.

I live in the tropics and we have the same Halloween decorations and pre-Christmas consumerism, minus the dead leaves and seasonal affective disorder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love summer and always hate the impending cold weather

Same! I need to move to the tropics.

I live in the tropics and we have the same Halloween decorations and pre-Christmas consumerism, minus the dead leaves and seasonal affective disorder.

+1. And there is no DST so there is a gradual change, as nature intended it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dislike the period from late October to New Years. There are just too many social and familial expectations and the days keep getting shorter. I always feel relieved when we finally get to January.

+1

And I hate hearing Chrismas music for two months straight everywhere and seeing commercials ordering me to spend money and on top of that be happy happy happy.

+2

Stop trying to make me be cheerful when it's dark outside at 4:30PM!

I respect your feelings but humans have been scheduling holidays involving lights, social gatherings, music, and celebration around the winter solstice basically since the beginning of time specifically because it's dark and miserable and cold and there is an instinct to counteract that. I personally do not like Christmas music so I don't need that, but all the other holiday stuff is fine with me even though I'm not religious because December would be so freaking depressing without all the holiday lights and office parties and days off work. I think it's necessary, frankly.

NP. Winter doesn't even start until the end of December. There is NOTHING in January, February or March to look forward to. It's dark because of the time change and just miserable. There aren't holiday lights and the only holidays we get are MLK and Presidents Day.

What days off work do you get in December? There's only Christmas?

Love Jan-March. It’s so nice and quiet outside. Trails aren’t crowded. Now lawn mowers and leaf blowers. And if it shows heavily, it’s even quieter. No traffic, just like a blanket over the world. Cat, book, fire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear you, OP. Summer is ending, days are getting shorter, winter will be here, everyone is indoors, etc, etc, etc.

I loved Halloween as a kid when it was one day. Now, it's a huge season, and I find it super annoying. Adults use it as an excuse to party, there is always some drama about who is trick or treating with whom, or who is dressing up together.

Took me a while to realize I hated Halloween, but here we are!

+1. I no longer hate Halloween, but that’s only because the kids are now past ToT ages.

In general, the only thing worse than fall is winter. I have SAD and the short gray days are literally depressing. I can handle the shorter days when they’re sunny and crisp, but gray rainy days like today - yuck!

PS people on DCUM generally think you’re weird if you don’t think summer sucks, so be prepared for an onslaught of “at least we’re done with the summer” crowd.

+1 to every single sentence.

[Anonymous]

its still summer. Live it up. Im hitting the beach this wknd!

[Anonymous]

I grew up in DC area and now live in the northeast and I am so happy we don’t start school until after Labor Day. It just pushes back the fall nonsense until closer to … actually fall?

I hate the giant skeletons and sameness of all of it. Like gray paint and subway tile and sad beige.

[Anonymous]

I have come to not like Halloween.

I think this is because it is (in recent years) a genuinely made up holiday to last a month. But the purpose seems to mostly occupy sahms and underemployed moms, all of the white MC and UMC suburban variety. Like, 2025 Halloween is a one-for-one venn diagram overlap with HomeGoods shoppers. Junk, shopping, surburban basic moms. I don't think there is a lot of interest in Halloween in cities or with POCs. It just feels like the most boring basic mom invention for white women with some money who don't have enough going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have come to not like Halloween.

I think this is because it is (in recent years) a genuinely made up holiday to last a month. But the purpose seems to mostly occupy sahms and underemployed moms, all of the white MC and UMC suburban variety. Like, 2025 Halloween is a one-for-one venn diagram overlap with HomeGoods shoppers. Junk, shopping, surburban basic moms. I don't think there is a lot of interest in Halloween in cities or with POCs. It just feels like the most boring basic mom invention for white women with some money who don't have enough going on.

This

[Anonymous]

The giant size skeletons from Home Depot and elsewhere and those gawd ugly inflatables yuck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love fall but I despise Halloween.

Man, we should start a club.

I feel like the 10% of people who LOVE Halloween make it miserable for everyone else. It is so much forced fun, if you have young kids. Pretty much every other holiday, I feel like it's possible to pick and choose what works for your family. Because Halloween gets shoehorned into a weekday most of the time, and happens in your neighborhood and involves this reciprocal arrangement with trick or treating, it feels much harder to opt out. I do it for the kids but loathe it.

Hopefully in a few years, my kids will either want to go out with their friends on their own, or just stay home and give out candy to little kids, and then I can check out on it.

You loathe the one single day of ToT for your kids?

As you point out, it's easy enough to opt out of most esle.

+1. People here seem very high strung about Trick or Treating. Your kid picks a costume, you buy a costume, you follow them around for a few hours OR you send your spouse out to follow them around. I can't imagine what drama is going on to make people loathe it.

Start with everyone leaves work early which creates massive traffic jams early on Halloween every single year.

Teenagers stealing candy - kids emptying bowls of candy left out because you’re out with your kids.

Kids ringing doorbells when the home has the light off

The expectation that every home should decorate

There’s work in the morning and school typically

Are your kids taking candy to lunch?

Are you doing dentist buyback programs?

The list goes on…

WTF is a dentist buyback program? Your kids get candy, you set some kind of reasonable rules about eating it. They eat it under those rules. There's no reason to think about this more than that.

They get too much candy. We wind up throwing a lot of it away. People buy too much candy and even if you limit ToT, people will hand out whole handfuls of candy -- last year my kid's bucket was full after like 6 houses. If we kept it all, and said our kid could have one piece a day, it would take months and months to finish it. And since the winter holidays also often involve a lot of candy and sweets. It just piles up. And we are a family that enjoys sweet treats! But candy is such low quality treats -- I'd rather make some good muffins or cheesecake bars or something like that.

I don't remember having so much candy as a kid. People would give you one piece of candy. No one in my neighborhood gave out full size anything. I don't know why the volume of candy has gotten so out of control at the same time that I think most people are at least a bit more restrictive about kids having candy.

Do you live in a wealthier neighborhood than you grew up in? My kids do not have this problem!

[Anonymous]

The whole season is full of socializing that I wish I was doing. I see other families getting together to trick or treat because the dads are all friends. Then Christmas parties and so on. My family is all dispersed, parents having health stuff, husband totally antisocial, and I have women friends but I always get overlooked for invites because my sons aren't super social either. How did I end up in a family of hermits.