Is your pumpkin patch sincere enough?

One of life's great pleasures, for me, has always been the viewing of the various Charlie Brown holiday specials. For about six or eight years there, they were almost never on, and that was a sad time for me.

My absolute favorite has always been It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Watching it always reminds me of cold fall nights when I was child and we would all pile into my parents' bed and watch it with the lights off.

I think I had a special attachment to it because my parents made it into something special for us. We were latch-key kids from a pretty young age. My mom didn't want us to be out trick or treating with no adult at home to guard the house and to check on us. So, for several years of my childhood, we weren't allowed to trick or treat. To make up for it, on those years, we would each get a gift from the Great Pumpkin.

When I grew up and moved out, my father kept the tradition alive. Every year I would get a small package or a card or something in the mail from the Great Pumpkin.

My sisters probably think the whole thing is weird and won't carry it on with their children (they're only 2 years old and one week old, so this year it's a moot point), but I like the idea. And I've never been a huge fan of Halloween, so maybe this would be a nice family tradition to keep alive.