Oh Halloween, Oh Halloween

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS ALI SCHWEITZER

It may officially be spooky season, but in my house, Halloween is never really over. On November 1, I’m out clearance shopping for costumes and decorations for the following year. I also start brainstorming costume ideas for the next year and will admit that my Halloween decorations and lights stay up well into November. In fact, we still have some big black spiders hiding around our front yard from last year.

I love Halloween; it really is my favorite holiday. I mean, what’s not to love? The costumes, the candy, the decorations, the haunted houses, the colors… did I mention the costumes? Ever since I was a little girl, dressing up in costumes was my go-to playtime activity. My grandma would scour garage sales and find boxes of old dresses, dance costumes, and play clothes that would entertain me for hours. So naturally I loved dressing up for Halloween. This love of dressing up didn’t stop as I got older. Costume parties were always my favorite thing growing up (and still are as an adult), and anytime my roommates and I would throw a party… it was themed.

These days I still dress up any chance I get, but you better believe I’m going all out for Halloween. As a business owner, my employees don’t have a choice… every year we come up with a different theme and we light up the eyes of all who dare to enter our office. And there’s no exception at my house either, whether you’re trick-or-treating or handing out candy, you better dress the part.

My kids and husband play along. While my kids love it (and we have the playroom costume rack to prove it) my husband isn’t always the easiest to convince. We (yes I said we) dress up for playtime and all year-round, but Halloween is the event of the year in my house. Not only do we wear multiple costumes throughout the day, but our house is a favorite in our neighborhood and oftentimes we’ll stand outside at night just to take it all in. Even my husband gets into the decorating, and never complains when I come home with at least two or three new decorations for him to put up each year. And as much as says he hates to dress up, he gets more and more into it each year. In fact, he even had two Halloween costumes one year…and, yes, it was documented. I also have to smile when my kids run back to the house for a quick costume change the night of… because my husband rolls his eyes, and I know he’s thinking he now has two more Halloween crazies to deal with. Even our date nights in October have a Halloween twist, and no matter how hard he grumbles when I drag him to all the haunted houses… I know he secretly loves it.

With each year that my kids (and my husband) get more and more into Halloween— whether it’s the candy, the costumes, or the fact that they get to stay up way past bedtime—I’m going to soak it all in and enjoy the season. So, watch out ghosts, ghouls and goblins, my family is taking over Halloween.

Dr. Ali Schweitzer is owner, chiropractor, and Halloween enthusiast at Active Family Chiropractic & Wellness. And while her office is always fun, it’s a special spooky fun in October.