Steph Peters 
Even though my siblings and I are grown and out of the house, my mom still carves pumpkins and puts them on her front porch. While chatting with her recently, she asked if we had carved our pumpkins yet and I said “the kids are too young, so why even bother.” And you can guess her answer: it’s tradition! So today we will carve 2 pumpkins.
I’ll admit, I’m lazier than my mom. She would not only decorate the whole house and the yard for Halloween, but she also handmade our costumes. I on the other hand will go to the baby resale shop and get what is on sale and I only put out one Halloween decoration this year.
Some traditions I will carry on is her recipe for pumpkin seeds, and of course Trick or Treating. Another tradition our kids are technically too young for since they don’t eat candy, BUT we have dressed them up since they were babies and have fun taking them around the neighborhood. It’s enjoyment for us. Just like a 1 year old’s birthday party is more for the parents than the baby. The kid will never remember but the parents will, especially since they have hundreds of photos and videos to look back on!
I know one year they will start making memories from these traditions. Just like I will always remember the years dressing up in my mom’s handmade costumes, my dad driving us around the neighborhood, and then my siblings and I putting all our candy on the living room floor and trading our candy with each other. So even though I don’t carry on every single family tradition, I know one day when my kids are grown I will be saying to them “but it’s tradition!”
