My Favorite Holiday: #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge, Week 29
My Favorite Holiday is
Halloween
Growing up, my brother and cousin and I used to hit our south St. Louis neighborhood as soon as the sun went down, ending up at my aunt’s house to empty our bags and go through our haul.
And nothing changed when my kids hit trick-or-treating age. One of the most fun holidays I ever had was escorting my son and two of his friends around our neighborhood, all of them dressed as the Grim Reaper.
No Pressure
Thanksgiving involves days of cleaning and food prep. Christmas requires weeks of shopping, cleaning, decorating and cooking. Halloween only requires a costume (thrown together is okay) bags of candy, and minimal decoration. Some years I don’t even carve a jack-o-lantern, and the kids who come to my door don’t care!
Yes, I’m a slacker about cleaning/cooking decorating, but it wasn’t always the case. For years, we partied from the end of November to the beginning of January. In the last several years, the missing ingredient at Thanksgiving and Christmas for favorite holiday status has been kids. And kids are just built into the Halloween festivities.
And Running a Close Second
In a close second place as my favorite holiday is the one we just recently celebrated, the Fourth of July. I love the outdoor eating and fireworks, as long as I don’t have to host the barbecue!
I have a new grandchild arriving soon, so I expect the next decade of Christmas celebrations might move up into second or first place in the favorite holiday rankings. There’s nothing like sharing cookie-baking and Santa with little kids, and watching them tear into presents on Christmas morning.
What’s your favorite holiday? And what makes it special for you?
This is a blog hop, so hop along with my fellow MFRW Authors and see what they have to say on this topic.
Images: Jack-o-lantern, depositphotos.com; pumpkins scene, wikimedia commons
I love Halloween, too. I didn’t choose it as my favorite, but it’s a close second, for sure. And yes, grandkids will help bring the magic of all the holidays back! Congratulations!
Thanks, Sherry!
Congrats on your new grandchild!
Thank you, Valerie!
Congratulations on the pending arrival! I will say that having a grandchild in the house at Christmas (mine is now 5 y/o) has infused a fresh attitude toward Christmas, though the 4th of July is still my current fave:)
Thank you, Kenzie. The only drawback for the Fourth is how upset my poor pets get. Seriously, this year, I felt like I was in a war zone. We had 360 degrees of fireworks going, including some rockets going right over our house. Crazy neighbors!
Congratulations on the new Baby! That does make Holidays fun!
I hope he arrives soon!
I’m not surprised people like Halloween, though I can’t say I’m one for dressing up. Here in Arizona, July 4th is too darned hot to enjoy. (I feel kind of like a grinch…)
You’re right about that heat, Ed. And in the northern parts of AZ, no fireworks are allowed because of the fire danger.
Very true that Halloween is easy. Well unless you have kids like me that are picky and can’t make up their minds on what they want to be some years. LOL Only my younger 2 still want to dress up. My oldest boy was never really into Halloween, he’s not a fan of sweets (complete weirdo LOL) And my daughter is an adult now. My ‘costume’ has been the same for years. I have a t-shirt that says ‘Official Halloween Candy Dispenser’ because yes my job for many, many years now has been to stay home and hand out the candy. The hubs takes on the walking of the neighborhood.
Picky kids make every holiday more difficult!
You’re right that Halloween is a fairly easy holiday, unless you go hog wild on the decorations like some of the people in my neighborhood. And Christmas isn’t nearly as much fun without kids around.
Congrats on the new baby! I love halloween, too
Congrats on your future grandbaby! Kids make all the difference – once they move out, the magic seems to leave with them.
We’re getting close! I hope tomorrow or Saturday he’ll make his arrival!