Have you ever felt like Halloween feels a little different than it used to? Maybe like it’s growing up with you? It’s inevitable to miss the memories of running through neighborhoods you’d specifically mapped out to make sure you got the king-sized candy bars. With a jack-o’-lantern bucket banging against your knees, you’d yell “Race you to the next house!” to your friends. As kids, the biggest problem we faced was being told we couldn’t leave the house without a puffer jacket ruining our “perfect” costume (at least in our opinion). To be clear, I’m not downplaying the jacket issue; nothing could kill a vibe quicker than having to mask your costume with a big coat! Little did our moms know that jacket would be out of sight and out of mind the minute you walked out the door. (Although I do owe my mom a big thank-you because I would usually end up putting it back on 20 minutes later as I started freezing). After returning home, the best part of the night was dumping out our candy on the floor and having a serious trading session as if we were professionals.

It’s true; it does make you feel a little old when you’re the one passing out candy to the younger kids, reminiscing about the feelings you used to get. Now that everyone reading this has probably hit the nostalgia phase, we can all agree that Halloween has taken a different form compared to our younger years. 

Now, as teenagers, the biggest problem is wondering if your costume will arrive in the mail in time. But just because we’re no longer sprinting around the neighborhood with numb fingers and toes doesn’t mean Halloween is any less fun. There are so many traditions now, like scary movies, late-night hangouts, and scrambling to find a last-minute Halloween costume that we procrastinated a little too much on. Some people will say they’re “too old” to trick-or-treat, but let’s be honest, I know all of you would say yes to a Reese’s if it were handed to you. 

I know for a fact that when we’re in our adult, business-y years, we’ll miss the traditions we have now, just like we miss the traditions we had back then. We can’t take these teenage years for granted. One day, we’ll look back and realize that the costumes that never ended up looking good, the late nights with endless laughter, and the long drives to haunted houses ended up being some of the best moments of our lives. And yes, things have changed; we’re not running down streets dodging other kids to get to the big houses first. But now it’s about who we’re with rather than how much candy we can stuff in our mouths. Eventually, we’ll be the ones helping our kids pick their costumes, thinking back to this time when we were “grown up” compared to our childhood, but still found joy in the same holiday. It truly is a skill to stay optimistic and find joy, even as things drastically change.