Spooky season is in full swing, and many people have leaned all the way in, decorating their houses and yards with gravestones, ghosts, and enough life-sized plastic skeletons to go to battle with the life-sized zombies in the yard up the street. But one mom is not feeling the Halloween spirit this year—TikToker @lindswitt posted a now-viral video complaining that some of the decor in her neighborhood isn’t appropriate for her children—because they are not into scary Halloween decorations.
“I’m going to need someone to explain to me why people decorate their homes for Halloween in complete horror,” she said. “We’re talking scary decorations, when there are neighborhood children — young children that ride bikes, play outside, drive by these homes, for the entire month of October.”
She continued. “We have a home in our neighborhood their entire garage… is just covered—I’m talking corner to corner—with a picture of the clown from It… And that’s only one of the decorations! So I get the joy as a mom of explaining what that picture is and trying to shape it in a way that doesn’t sound terrifying to my young children.”
@lindswitt says she knows people have the “right” to decorate their homes how they want to.
“But just from a humanity aspect, in a neighborhood with children, why decorate your home with such horror in such a bold, loud, unmissable way?” she asks. “It’s not even October and mommy is already tired of explaining ‘Oh it’s just a friendly clown, that’s just the way he smiles.’”
No shame in anyone’s game, but the world is a scary place. On the list of scary things, a picture of a clown from a movie is pretty low ranking. Plus, it’s pretty easy to explain it in a way that’s not terrifying for kids, like she asked for. “It’s a scary clown for Halloween. Look at all the fun decorations at this other house!”
The Children’s Hospital of Orange County offers some great tips for parents of little ones who aren’t big fans of Halloween. For some children, really spooky costumes and decorations can be overstimulating. To help, start preparing for Halloween early. Exposing them slowly and carefully to feared stimuli–can reduce anxiety.
They suggest taking your kids to visit the Halloween aisle to look at masks, costumes and decorations in small doses and in a safe environment. (Home Depot Halloween aisle is such a big hit for many kids, just saying.)
Parents can also spend time reading books or watching movies about Halloween and explain to your kids that although sometimes Halloween can be scary, it’s all pretend. Share some of your personal experiences with Halloween with your kids.
The folks in the comments of the video felt pretty much the same way.
“As a mom of a two year old… it’s Halloween,” one commenter wrote. “Hope this helps.”
“I decorate my home for me, not other people’s kids,” another said.
One added, “Trust me it’s scarier to be at school for them right now then it is in a decorated neighborhood.”
That’s a good point, considering how scary the world can be. Plus, a lot of kids love Halloween, scariness and all. As much as we all want to protect our kids, this is a probably a good example of “live and let live.”
