It is now fall. That’s right, put away the swimsuits and give me sweater weather! With fall comes annual trips to the apple orchard, boots with legwarmers, and everything pumpkin spiced from your lattes to your toothpaste. There’s also the one day in the year that almost everyone is going to tell you you’re too old to celebrate: Halloween.
What used to be known as Hallow’s Eve, a night that allowed for all things supernatural to crawl out of hiding and walk the earth, is now the night of the year where children get dressed up as princesses, superheroes, or their parents’ favorite sitcom characters. They go out and have a ball while collecting more treats than tricks and hitting every house until the porch lights are burnt.
My question to be pondered is this: who put an expiration date on dressing up for Halloween? Who declared that teenagers were in the same basket as parents on the costume-meter. Could it be true that people can get too old to dress up, and that role play has a completely different meaning from when we were younger? My answer? HELL NO.
As a self-appointed advocate for Halloween — a title I gave myself after winning best costume all throughout high school — I do not agree with this statement. To hell with those who believe that I am too old for costumes and getting the same thrill out of Halloween that my seven year old niece does. I’m not talking about those "sexy cat costumes” you see girls in at a house party. I’m talking full on “I spent three months creating this stuffed olive costume out of paper mache” dress up where you’re unrecognizable.
(Me as a bowl of Easy Mac in high school)
I loved it as a kid when a couple would open the door dressed as Frankenstein and his bride. Did it scare the heebie-jeebies out of me? Yes, yes it did. But that’s okay because I knew that these people still had the glow in their eyes when October rolled around. My best friend’s mom would set out every year to make sure her lawn was the scariest and most decorated of them all in our town of 1500 people. I would do anything to be able to go back and trick-or-treat before houses simply set out a bowl with a “Pick One” sign on their porch. The magic of Halloween grew tiring to people as they became restricted to wearing costumes that are “age appropriate” or “suitable for children”. Yet I’m supposed to open the door and give candy out to a boy in a Scream costume with fake blood all over his clothes?
YOU ARE NOT TOO OLD TO DRESS UP. Everybody, say it with me! And Halloween shouldn’t be about who can wear the least amount of clothes while still somewhat resembling a character. Halloween shouldn’t be a chore for parents and older siblings as the young ones take to the streets under “adult” supervision. It should be about expressing yourself and your creativity. Parents, don’t simply dress up your children! Become the Incredibles, or the Proud Family. Immerse yourselves and make for a night that your children and yourselves won’t forget. Don’t believe that you can’t celebrate Halloween because of this age limit some idiot made to keep adults from having fun.
