If you’re a parent of a high schooler who wants to dress up with friends and go trick-or-treating and then come back to your house and order pizza, I really think you should be celebrating. Here’s why.

It’s ok to hold onto a bit of childhood

Instead of going out partying, drinking (and maybe worse), your kids are holding onto a treasured part of childhood.

Last year was the first year my daughter, who was then a senior in college, didn’t dress up and go trick-or-treating with a friend. And it wasn’t because she wanted to hit the wild party scene.

We were still feeling our way through COVID and Halloween looked a little different anyway. Many neighborhoods didn’t participate in the usual trick-or-treat festivities. We were lucky that ours arranged something fun that everyone could feel good about enjoying.

My daughter wore a cute Halloween t-shirt and helped me hand out candy from a table at the bottom of our driveway. And then? We walked to our neighborhood park and enjoyed freshly made (yes, deep-fried) apple cider donuts and apple cider and talking with so many of our neighbors, of all ages.

They don’t have to grow up so fast

My college son stopped trick-or-treating in high school, but not because of exchanging it for the parties. He was in tech for theater and there was always work to be done for the show around this time. So, many of the tech crew and actors would dress up and indulge in lots of candy while getting their work done.

There’s something to be said for holding onto favorite childhood traditions. For not being anxious to grow up too fast. Maybe we’re throwbacks. But like me, my kids recognize what’s really precious, and we look forward to the fun – and of course, the candy.