Like many holidays, it can be overdone. But kids have fun; and flirty costumes aren’t required. The last time that I took my daughter out before she aged out of the tradition, we went as plague doctor and victim. We worked for weeks on the setup. It was a lot of fun for the family.

The pseudo-holiday I object to is “Black Friday” which shouldn’t be a thing here in Canada, but it is now. It’s ridiculous. Our Thanksgiving is in October, not November. And given the official anti-Canadian policy in the U.S. federal government, I couldn’t be any less interested in U.S. marketing exports.