Mom's complaint about scary Halloween decorations in her neighborhood gets a delightful reality check
Talk about a lesson in coexisting.
Halloween is upon us, and with it a bajillion ways to decorate. You could choose a movie-specific theme, gothic Victorian, I even saw a whole section at Home Goods dedicated to cutesy pink ghosts and pumpkins. The possibilities are endless.
But most folks will probably stick to a tried-and-true aesthetic: horror. After all, you wanna make those decorations bought years prior worth the purchase. And for many, going all out with the scary vibes is part of the fun.
Still…someone thinks those folks should tone it down a bit.
A mom who goes by @lindswitt on TikTok recently said,“I’m going to need someone to explain to me why people decorate their homes for Halloween in complete horror,” when they live in a neighborhood that has young kids.
She pointed out one home in particular in her neighborhood that has its garage “covered…corner to corner” with a pictures of the clown from It, aka Pennywise.
“That is only one of the decorations that I get the joy as a mom of explaining what that picture is and trying to shape it in a way that doesn’t sound terrifying to my young children,” she said.
While she did add the caveat that she understands everyone has the right to decorate their home for the holiday in a way that they see fit, she still argued that “just from a humanity aspect, in a neighborhood with children, why decorate your home with such horror in such a bold, loud, unmissable way? It’s not even October and mommy is already tired of explaining ‘Oh it’s just a friendly clown, that’s just the way he smiles.’”
@lindswitt are most parents unbothered by this?? #halloween #decorations #momsoftiktok #mom #toddlermom #momlife ♬ original sound - lindswitt
The video quickly racked up over 100,000 views, along with a few comments serving as funny, if not a little snarky, reality checks.
“Because it’s their house,” one person wrote, keeping it simple and to the point.
“As a mom of a two year old... it’s Halloween. Hope this helps,” quipped another.
A few more:
“Can someone please make me understand why people use their free will to do the things that they want at their house cuz I just can't get it?!?! WHY DON'T THEY THINK OF MY FAMILY FIRST??!?!”
“Her neighbors should take turns constantly knocking on her door to get her kids' approval on everything before they purchase. Gotta make sure these kids learn that the world will cater to them!”
“I hope we learned something today.”
Plenty of parents with small kids chimed in as well:
As a mom, w four kids who also decorated her house scary…it’s Halloween and I tell them it’s a scary decoration, or it's from a scary movie. No other explanation required. It's not that serious.
“I have four kids and I have never once expected the rest of the world to cater to them lol. Not every space is meant for kids and that’s okay. Maybe just try to avoid the house if you can.”
“…as a mom of teens I promise they’ll survive.”
Listen, it sounds like maybe this mom is operating from frustration and fatigue, and the parental balancing act of shielding your kids from the world and letting them learn to navigate through it isn’t easy—so let’s cut her some slack.
But just focusing on the conversation her video sparked, it’s easy to see how wanting to protect kids can go too far. After all, parents never quite know what is going to elicit an intense fear reaction from their kid—I was terrified of the Easter Bunny, for crying out loud. Having to explain the difference between real and imaginary is part of the parenting gig, and not someone else’s burden.
Bottom line: everyone seemed to agree that this was nothing worth getting upset about. And it’s nice to have universal agreement from time to time.