“Halloween will be here waiting for you when you come back.”

We’re “missing” our first major US holiday. What impact does that have on the kids?

The Halloween holiday in the U.S. is mostly a holiday for kids, but it’s still fun for all ages. We’re now in Holland and missing it. There’s something called Sint-Maarten on November 11 that sounds similar, but it’s of course not the same.

I put “missing” in quotes because I’m not really feeling like we’re missing it. We’re here, it’s there. This is what we’re doing and it’s different. We’ll do it again when we live there again.

“Not the same” is OK.

If it were the same, then why go anywhere? Why travel? Why move? Why change? Is this not what growth and change and progress and learning is all about? How do people do things in other countries? Even other states or regions of the same country? If we don’t experience something different than what we know, how do we even know what we know?

Especially for kids, if they don’t experience any sort of change, how are they supposed to cope with it when they’re older?

We’re missing Halloween and it’s OK. We’ll get through it. Now pass the Reese’s peanut butter cups.