I think it’s tricky to establish a useful metric for the op’s issue.

Just because one has a half dozen giant Halloween inflatables on their lawn plus lights strewn across the bushes doesn’t mean it’s over the top consumerism or wasteful. After all, such people tend to acquire decorations over time and reuse them for many years (decades even).

Ditto for Christmas decorations. Heck, I inherited some holiday decorations from my parents that have been used annually for many decades.

I believe someone referenced the “boo” baskets as being over the top. If you are talking about kids tossing a bunch of candy in a bag or box and doing the ding-dong-ditch surprise dropoff, don’t hate on it until you’ve actually done it. Kids love to do this. It’s fun. If you are talking about Martha Stewart moms doing fancy baskets for their friends, what’s it to you? It’s a thoughtful gesture.

We go overboard with holiday decor. My mother made our childhood home a magical place and always hosted big holiday parties. She did all the cooking and cleaning herself. I don’t know how she did it. The best I can do is decorate. I’d sooner cut off my arm than willingly host 50+ people for thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. But that’s not consumerism—it’s just holiday fun.

FTR, I’m still wearing clothes and boots and handbags, etc. from the 90s. I buy high quality stuff that last a long time, so I’m not contributing to landfill waste like some others are. Where does that play into the op’s metric?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe Halloween stuff should be near the top of our list of environmental concerns.

It's a class thing. I'm sure the posters complaining about this take international trips, have several cars, get everyhing delivered, have all the latest tech gadgets, etc, but God forbid some other family put out plastic Halloween doodles, they're killing the earth.

It is kind of funny but it’s hypocrisy, as you mentioned. I go on medical missions and risk my life in war zones, and also put up Halloween decorations for my kids every year because they love it. I think I understand materialism more than most people in my orbit but taking an issue with Halloween decor is just some Grinchy diabolical crap. I don’t believe it comes from a genuine place.

Not true. The Halloween decorating is just one typical example of the out of control consumerism here (I can think of more salient ones, like “bed parties” for kids heading to college). Go to nearly any other country and you will find people who do medical missions in war zones without the excessive plastic crap at home, so spare us your sanctimoniousness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not remotely consumerist -- more anti than anything. When I buy anything, I try to buy vintage, pre-owned, open-box, all the stuff minimizes impact.

But I've grown to have real empathy for many of the kinds of people OP describes. I've observed that they often seem to be trying to give to children (theirs, but also often others, sometimes including mine) something that they themselves didn't get as a child. As soon as I realized this — that this is just another way of trying to do the right thing, and to heal what ails -- I softened quite a bit.

You sound like a very kind person, pp!

I was raised in a really abusive home and I have older kids but in my day I loved hanging the flag with the school bus in September and the Winnie the Pooh Halloween flag, the one for summer etc. It was indeed profoundly healing for me. I was never celebrated as a child and I loved every minute of celebrating my kids in this way. And yes I adored Boo Baskets or whatever it is they are called.

I have a friend who goes insane for crazy hair day and all those dress up days at school. She had one child after nine years of infertility, they nearly got divorced over it and for her, crazy hair day is something that really makes her happy. You literally never know what people are carrying.

So true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe Halloween stuff should be near the top of our list of environmental concerns.

It's a class thing. I'm sure the posters complaining about this take international trips, have several cars, get everyhing delivered, have all the latest tech gadgets, etc, but God forbid some other family put out plastic Halloween doodles, they're killing the earth.

It is kind of funny but it’s hypocrisy, as you mentioned. I go on medical missions and risk my life in war zones, and also put up Halloween decorations for my kids every year because they love it. I think I understand materialism more than most people in my orbit but taking an issue with Halloween decor is just some Grinchy diabolical crap. I don’t believe it comes from a genuine place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you saying that “oh we’re just trying to be a light in the dark times and want to find some joy in this terrible world” aren’t getting that over-consumption is what is driving the darkness and pain and environmental strain.

The orange one is the source of darkness and despair. Let people find outlets to their pain and fears. And MYOB.

For the half of us who voted for him, no he is not a source of darkness and despair. Are you at all able to think about other people’s perspectives?

Cringe. Everyone is impacted by his destruction. If you haven’t realized it yet, your head is in the sand. SAD , as he would say.

You guys said the same thing last time...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe Halloween stuff should be near the top of our list of environmental concerns.

It's a class thing. I'm sure the posters complaining about this take international trips, have several cars, get everyhing delivered, have all the latest tech gadgets, etc, but God forbid some other family put out plastic Halloween doodles, they're killing the earth.

Agree-the thread reeks of classism. Halloween gewgaws are beyond the pale but of course Peyton has to fly to her viola summer program and Parker has to fly ever third weekend for his hockey tournaments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you saying that “oh we’re just trying to be a light in the dark times and want to find some joy in this terrible world” aren’t getting that over-consumption is what is driving the darkness and pain and environmental strain.

The orange one is the source of darkness and despair. Let people find outlets to their pain and fears. And MYOB.

For the half of us who voted for him, no he is not a source of darkness and despair. Are you at all able to think about other people’s perspectives?

Cringe. Everyone is impacted by his destruction. If you haven’t realized it yet, your head is in the sand. SAD , as he would say.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People live in the Capitol?

The poors?

There’s no such word as poors.

NP.

Someone used it. I understood it. That makes it a word.

That’s not what makes it a word.

Yes, it is. New words are added every year to the dictionary. You know how new words are made? People assign a meaning to a word and start saying/writing them.

I just made up the word “fraggledouser.” It means pretentious a-hole. And you are a HUGE fraggledouser.

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe Halloween stuff should be near the top of our list of environmental concerns.

It's a class thing. I'm sure the posters complaining about this take international trips, have several cars, get everyhing delivered, have all the latest tech gadgets, etc, but God forbid some other family put out plastic Halloween doodles, they're killing the earth.

Anonymous wrote:My family watched ET together around Halloween last year.
In the movie, the characters decorated the day of.

I remember this in real life. I remember holiday seasons used to be shorter. It was possibly **just** the holiday. I was born in 84. I think we carved a pumpkin the week of. We put together our porch the day before.

It adds so much more stress to put up enough decorations that it takes a project management chart (lol) and weeks ahead. Meaning, it’s so much stuff that it would be a shame to put it up for only a few days.

People have been railing against consumption before many of us were born. Lots of holiday movies, including Charlie Brown, have it as a central theme because people have been buying gifts and decorating since the age of time. Go to any museum with ancient artifacts and you’ll see jewelry.

Anonymous wrote:I get wanting to do nice things for kids and I definitely relate to wanting to create fun things that just make people smile and happy. Life is hard enough. A couple years ago I started doing way more around the holidays for this reason. I actually decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving because I want to come home from my in-law's house to a home that feels festive and cheerful already.

But I think you can still be thoughtful and discerning. Why does everything have to be so over the top? I think that's what OP is complaining about. You can do something festive and nice for the kids without going way overboard and spending 10x more and producing a bunch of plastic trash.

It's just the culture of more, more, more. Put up some decor but you don't have to cover every square inch of your house in plastic crap. Throw a party for kids but you don't have to rent a bounce house and do a foam party -- you can just let the kids in sprinklers or go to the local park.

One negative outcome of always going the extra mile is that kids start to normalize it and then they think that's what's normal. In the long run, going way overboard with everything ultimately backfires because it becomes harder for your kids to be happy with simple things.

Eh, I gave my kids a big party every other year. They are 20 and 22 and barely spend $$ now. Oldest graduated college with $20k in savings and is maxing out his 401k. I had the money for a laser tag truck, and in the grand scheme of overconsumption that’s not a huge deal.

I really don’t like these threads. Yes, we should all be mindful, but it’s corporations and government who needs to step up. Donating $$ to lobbying groups probably more effective in the end.

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe Halloween stuff should be near the top of our list of environmental concerns.

DCUM is largely the "Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves" crowd.

I can’t believe Halloween stuff should be near the top of our list of environmental concerns.

There are people you can hire to stage a sleepover? WTF?
Why is this needed?

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get that people don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but it is downright bleak to go to any big box store right now and see the Halloween stuff already marked down and Christmas in full swing. Pumpkin spice is but a distant memory. Thanksgiving doesn't even exist. Where does everything go? The mind reels.

Yes, I find the stores, like CVS, more depressing than anyone's house. All that crap sitting there and stuff is ugly and cheap looking too.

And a lot of it gets thrown away, too. Not even sold at a discount later, just straight to landfill. Follow the trashwalker on Instagram or TikTok, or watch that documentary on Amazon and consumption from a couple years ago.

It's so bleak.

What’s the documentary? I would like to watch it.