We find ourselves saying, “Keep it simple, stupid,” more and more often. Sure, we want our kids to have fun and memorable childhoods, but why must we do so much to get there? We’ve all read about the simplicity of growing up in the 1900s when there wasn’t all this crazy technology, and our parents didn’t compete to “out-perfect mom” each other.
On Halloween, we trick-or-treated, got sick from too much chocolate, and that was it. Our parents relied on everyone else in the neighborhood to spoil us. But it seems that wasn’t good enough for some people, and they had to up the ante with “boo baskets.”
What in the heck is a boo basket? Well, some people think it’s just one more thing to spend a bunch of time and money on to make your children’s Halloween that much more extra, super terrific, fantastic, and incredible. But the idea of one more thing is making many parents want to scream. And, honestly, we can’t really blame them.
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Boo baskets were born from social media.
OK, we’ll give it to them: Boo baskets are cute. Some have a few pieces of candy and a small gift that’s seasonal and sweet. But others are over-the-top spooky surprises that rival some of the best Christmases in the 1980s. Someone started it, we aren’t exactly sure who to blame, and then others glommed on to out-boo everyone else.
Some of these baskets cost a fortune.
Creators on social media apps have been sharing their boo baskets, and they’re fantastic, but sometimes they’re really expensive. Sure, people would love to be able to do this kind of stuff for their kids, but not everyone has a budget to spend big bucks on a boo basket.
And guess what? That’s totally fine. Families should never feel pressured to give in to these trends just because they seem to pop up everywhere.
It's just one more thing for parents to do.
A lot of people are stuck on the fact that enough is enough. Not every day of our kids’ lives has to be about making a core memory. If we are competing with everyone else and ourselves to make each day better than the rest, we’ll never keep up. Plus, our kids will stop appreciating special things if every darn day is an excuse to give a gift or be over-the-top because we feel like we have to.
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Some parents put their foot down.
A TikToker named Carolyn Gonzalez, who posts as @carolg.310, posted her daughter’s boo basket, and 6.5 million views later, she’s a viral sensation. But even though she received a lot of positive feedback, others couldn’t take it.
“My kid’s boo basket is gonna be extra scary because it’s gonna be invisible,” one mom wrote.
Plenty of people can’t spend the money. “Ugh yet another trend my daughter will be begging for dude I’m broke,” someone else commented.
This parent is just saying no and makes a great point: “I could afford it and I am not doing it…to much anymore with this stuff. Next will be MONDAYS BASKETS.”
Look, we think boo baskets are cute, but we also understand parents who want to reign it in. Can we all agree that life’s not a competition and every family needs to do what’s best for them? No one needs a boo basket. A handful of chocolate candy, maybe, but not a candle and socks just because. We know – boo hoo.
