OP, Halloween is about as religious as Valentine's Day. Don't worry about it or over think it. Put your kid in an adorable costume and take them trick or treating. You don't want your kid to eventually be known as the poor, weird kid who's not allowed to participate in Halloween.

I've never liked the holiday. I always think how bad it must be for those who have a loved one die right before the holiday. It would be hard to be faced with the skeletons, tombstones, caskets, etc and to see everyone make light of it all. Meanwhile, you are mourning.

Bring on Christmas.

My preschool child will be dressed up as a zombie, with fake blood and a knife. Who cares, I don't.

I'm Presbyterian and Halloween has nothing to do with Christianity. Good lord, no one is holding a gun to our head so keep your porch light off and don't participate. How is this a difficult decision?

or you can dress the child as an angel and celebrate all saints day a bit early

I'm Jewish and fairly observant, and I've always celebrated Halloween. For our family it was just about dress up and community (i.e. the fun of trick or treating with our neighbors.) Nothing religious or horror involved.

I say if you want to participate, make it your own. Give it whatever meaning you want and skip the rest.

Or just skip the holiday entirely. That's what we did for Christmas, and it wasn't a problem. Whatever works for you.

Love halloween! I am jewish, and did not realize some jews did not celebrate it. The jews I know do. Do not have kids (yet) but I do teach preschool, and I love all the projects, activities that come from this holiday!

OP, Halloween is "All Hallow's Eve," the vigil of All Saint's Day, a Christian feast day. Google "Catholic Halloween" and you'll get the full history of the holiday. Lots of interesting facts about the origins of trick-or-treating and jack'o'lanterns.

The occult has certainly crept into the day, but it is far from the actual meaning of the day. There is no requirement that your child celebrate evil or gore! Let it be the sweet American childhood activity of neighborliness and fun, and if you like, add some Christian elements, such as praying for the souls of the deceased, or reading about a saint's life.

FWIW, my kids often dress up as their favorite saints

Do not take it so GD seriously, OP. Celebrate it or not. But I swear to you, if you ruin it for my kids I will hunt you down personally.

OP, we are Jewish. I have no idea what the meaning of halloween is. When I was a kid we dressed up to get candy. Period. We did not decorate the house or throw parties etc... I got to go around the neighborhood with friends (when I was much younger my parents did not dress me up and take me out). My kids like to dress in a costume. they like to go with the neighborhood kids and trick or treat. They like to count their candy. They get about 5 things and then we give the rest away (in all honestly, they do not even get enough to fill their loot bags anyway). I have never discussed the meaning of this holiday with my kids. I just told them it's a fun thing that ppl do and they can dress up and go out if they want to. We did not start doing halloween until my oldest was 4 though. (prior to that my child would not put on a costume so we visited a nice neighbor and DS got a lollipop).

I am Christian. We celebrate Halloween in the sense that we get a costume, go trick or treating, go to Halloween parties, etc. I am not a big horror fan. We don't focus on the scary aspects of it, but more on the fun of it. I am not Muslim, but if someone invited me to their Eid celebration, we would go. I am not Jewish, but have been to many bar and bat mitzvahs. I have been invited to, attended and participated in Passover Seders, Shabbat dinners, etc. I don't think anything of celebrating with friends and family of other faiths. And Halloween isn't a religious or antireligious holiday.

It's not all horror, for young children it's playacting! It's really quite fun. Children can dress as their favorite animal or character ... Also, it's celebrated in the UK, Japan, some South American countries, Sweden, too. I'd try it, you might be surprised! (Is your mother here?) What does your mother think the meaning of the party is? Read the Wikipedia entry for Halloween to get some context.

We are Jewish, so halloween is not "our" holiday, and the pagan ideas that contributed to it are not "our" pagans.

We don't decorate the house. We don't overdo it. We do share the fun with our neighbors and enjoy. That's one of the great things about living in a place where everyone isn't just like me.

Dress up your kid as something sweet, do whatever the standard neighbor is doing, and call it a day. Don't over think, and don't tell your mom. Unless your whole life is fairly devout so that participation is in direct conflict with your day to day, there's really no reason to skip the fun.

We are Jewish, so halloween is not "our" holiday, and the pagan ideas that contributed to it are not "our" pagans.

We don't decorate the house. We don't overdo it. We do share the fun with our neighbors and enjoy. That's one of the great things about living in a place where everyone isn't just like me.

Dress up your kid as something sweet, do whatever the standard neighbor is doing, and call it a day. Don't over think, and don't tell your mom. Unless your whole life is fairly devout so that participation is in direct conflict with your day to day, there's really no reason to skip the fun.

Why do you NOT celebrate Halloween?

In my home country we don't have such holiday/festivity and this is the first time my child (2yo) is invited to participate. I'm not sure about what to do. My mom, after reading about the meanin of the party said we should not participate. I don't know what to do... (we're Christians)

I'm not a big fan of the horror aspects of it but I see that DC will miss a lot of fun going out with friends and dressing up as she gets old.

If you don't celebrate it, what's your reason to skip it? Our harvest feast is in April during Easter and that's the major holiday for us...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.