After finding traditional holidays stressful and expensive, one couple decided to make Halloween their biggest family celebration, allowing them to lower expectations and focus on creating unique traditions.
Holidays often become complicated after marriage. When we first tied the knot, we struggled to balance travel demands and expectations from both sets of parents—mine in Ohio and my husband’s in Florida. Our first holiday season was marked by expensive plane tickets, unmet expectations, and a lack of time to establish our own family routines.
To counter this, once we had children, we made two key decisions: we paused holiday travel, and we designated Halloween as our family’s main celebration, embracing its spooky glory.
We now go all out for Halloween. Our decorations include a 12-foot skeleton, multiple inflatables, and countless pumpkins by our front door. We host friends and their kids for a quick pizza dinner before trick-or-treating, and my husband grills hot dogs for the entire neighborhood. This year, he plans to grill 200 of them.
Choosing a less popular holiday as our family’s biggest celebration significantly reduced holiday stress and helped us create our own traditions.
Halloween Comes with Lower Expectations
Since Halloween usually isn’t a school holiday, the pressure to travel is virtually non-existent. Dinner is a relaxed affair—we usually order a few delivery pizzas—because the kids are too excited to spend much time eating before heading out trick-or-treating.
While I enjoy decorating, many items are reused annually, and since my children love to help make things spooky, the responsibility of making the house festive doesn’t fall solely on me.
The Financial Burden is Lessened
Beyond buying costumes and candy, Halloween doesn’t impose a major financial burden. Although our kids have various Halloween events, including trunk-or-treats and parties, we maintain a strict one-costume-only rule.
Our decor is generally inexpensive, sourced from places like the Dollar Store and Target. Our one splurge is the giant skeleton, which, despite being a bit pricier, brings us and the neighborhood significant joy.
It Leaves Room for New Traditions
Major holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving come with demanding, built-in traditions—elaborate meals, numerous gift exchanges, and extensive outdoor decorating. As a busy family, we often lack the bandwidth to incorporate new activities after completing the traditional requirements. Celebrating Halloween in a big way gives us the time and space to establish our own family routines.
Our primary tradition is my husband grilling hot dogs for the entire neighborhood. This custom, which he adopted from a neighbor during his own childhood, has earned him the nickname “hot dog man.” The hot dogs are a hit: they provide excited, pre-trick-or-treating kids with something substantial to eat besides sugar, and the parents appreciate it. Last year, he made 150 hot dogs, and this year we anticipate grilling 200.
While Halloween is certainly not everyone’s favorite—many aren’t keen on the spooky decor, costumes, or copious amounts of sugar—choosing this less popular holiday as our family’s unofficial main event has successfully reduced holiday pressure and allowed us to build our own sweet and spooky traditions.
