Remember that they are children

1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

     Every year the same controversy pops up in Christendom.  Do I allow my child to participate in Halloween or do I forbid it?  As a child, my mother did not allow me to participate in Halloween.  I understood that being sanctified meant a huge list of do's and don'ts.  Because I was a child, the grand interpretation of the satanic origin of Halloween meant nothing.  I could barely read the words in the Bible let alone interpret them.  My thinking was that of a child.  All the other children seemed to be having so much fun and I was stuck doing nothing.  When I got older, I understood as an adult.  I did not celebrate Halloween, but I did not make my children in my classrooms suffer.  I decided to celebrate Fall Festival.  I made caramel apples, I roasted pumpkin seeds, I made pumpkin pies and I created themes for them to dress in non violent costumes.  One year, It was the wild west and we all were cowboys.  One year it was the 1950's and we all were teenagers.  In time, they will come to know what Halloween is and make the decision for themselves.  One day, they will be adults and they may not ever need Fall Festival again.  As a child, I would have understood a fun alternative.  I could not understand nothing.  Nothing meant that you just did not care.  That is the only conclusion I could come to as a child. 
     We have to remember how adult decisions appear in the eyes of a child.  For those who partake, I ask that you use caution.  For those who abstain, I ask you to provide an alternative.  We must always remember that children don't understand theology.  They truly do think like children.