We are still in the middle of back to school nights, sports are ramping up and homework is starting to roll in. But I feel like I'm losing time because every store I go into has Halloween decorations and candy. Since I have four kids, I really love and embrace holidays as a chance to celebrate and create happy childhood memories.

I'm going to make a confession. I don't like Halloween. Orange and black with a hint of green don't go together for me as a kid color palette. They are perfect for a tiger. Too harsh and scary for little kids. And I don't like pumpkin carving at all. Now there are tools for sale at every store and all the classrooms across the U.S. have pumpkin carving events. My son summed up the insides of a pumpkin quite correctly, “Pumpkin guts are gross!” Ninety percent of the mush gets thrown away. Room moms actually expect the dads to take a day off to come in and help carve the pumpkins. The kids are not carving them. So the dads either ask the mom to fill in or enter into a pumpkin carving competition.

The night of Halloween, children attempt to collect massive amounts of candy. It's not the sweets. I love birthdays and valentine candies. There are two things I do love about Halloween though. I love homemade costumes and Jimmy Kimmel's annual video contest. All the parents tell their children they ate all of their Halloween candy and tape their responses.