Alison Curtis: Change doesn't have to be scary so Happy Halloween!

Pic: Marc O'Sullivan

I have said it before in this column, it is my absolute favourite holiday of the year. My twin and I have our birthday on November 1, so as children it was a real week of celebration.

Halloween growing up in Canada was really magical. There was always a big build-up to it. For weeks in the classroom, kids chatted about their costumes. All of our projects at school had a spooky theme too.

We would spend hours carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds in the days leading up to Halloween and decorate every inch of the house.

The night itself was all about neighbourhoods getting together and kids roaming the streets in a pack in search of good treats. Adults and kids enjoyed it I think in equal measure as it was just a nice time to be together as a group.

When I moved here in 1999, one of my biggest shocks was that Halloween wasn’t as big a deal in Ireland and a lot of my friends didn’t have necessarily good associations with it growing up. The year I arrived I hosted a Halloween party and insisted everyone dress up. People were a bit reluctant at first, but as the night approached everyone got more and more into it, and some of the costumes that night were seriously impressive.

Throughout the years as well, I have had friends over to carve pumpkins. I entice them with wine but they end up really enjoying the carving part of the evening too!

Thankfully over the past number of years in Ireland, Halloween has become a nice family holiday. My daughter Joan and I really get into it every year. We average about 6 pumpkins to carve, we both get dressed up and make lots of ghoulish treats.

A few years ago my niece arrived on Halloween and since then it has become an even more special celebration in our family. 

We started the tradition of going to their house to trick or treat, as they live on a road where almost everyone is family and certainly it is a close-knit community. We would stay overnight at my sister in-law's and celebrate my birthday the next day. 

However this year Halloween is going to be different for everyone. But I feel we can still make it memorable for our children.

We have decorated our place and the pumpkin carving has commenced. My sister ordered my daughter an amazing costume from Canada which has already been worn several times.

On the day itself, we are going to play trick or treat in our own house and make it more like an Easter egg hunt. We have packs of treats ready to be hidden around the house for Joan to find. We are going to do a bit of baking and have some spooky recipes ready to go. Plus we have a list of Halloween films to watch. 

I know it is going to be tough on kids to not have parties or trick or treat together. But I still think they will get a kick out of dressing up and of course, the treats will all still taste the same!

Like everything else in 2020, it is going to stand out in their memories as the world has changed so much. Kids have had to forgo birthday parties, communions, school plays, matches, everything.

So this year we can still make Halloween fun. The year we did it a little differently and I am sure we will all be making lovely memories for our kids for years to come.