Friday, October 31, 2008

Hallowed Eve is not very "hallowed" in my mind

I actually hate Halloween, I don't understand what all the hype it about. I like the dressing up part, it's cute for little kids and can be fun, but trapsing around to get candy from strangers homes (aren't we teaching our kids to not walk up to absolute strangers) and ask for candy ("don't ever take candy from a stranger") and then the whole part about having to manage the piles of candy for weeks on end so that the kids' blood sugar levels aren't through the roof continually. It's just not my idea of a good time. I have found it has become a good time to walk and talk with other neighbors.

Anyways, onward we go... I am letting the kids out this year... they have created their own costumes, which they usually do and it makes them have to be so creative when they have to use what they can find. I was perusing some blogs yesterday and came across a really cute idea for treats, so went full speed ahead into my attempt to "get with the Halloween spirit" as I heard on the radio. Well the fact is, that's the part I have a problem with - the spirit of it. Which spirit is that exactly? Not the one I know and love. Anyways, I'll stay away from my rant in favor of my kids going out and having a fun evening with friends.

Here's the cute treats, they actually look better in real life than in this photo. They're cake balls made to look like little pumpkins, the kids went wacky when I brought them into Jacob's class:


The pumpkins are carved, GREAT job E & J!


What else would this girl carve than the only thing worth carving in her opinion? :)


Jacob is imitating the expression on his pumpkin's face if you were wondering.


3 comments:

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

Love the treats ... those are adorable! And the pumpkins look great.

bigcanadiangirl said...

Well done guys! What excactly does your boy call that expression?

Kirstin said...

*Very* cool pumpkins!

And I understand the mixed feelings, especially after sending some time in Brazil...
'though as you know, I've ALWAYS loved dressing up! (we made all our own costumes as a kid, and even as kids we were quite confident that they were waaaay better than store-bought ones!)

But [and I know this'll come as a HUGE shock ;) ] learning some more about the origins of All Hallow's Eve has been something that my North American mom-friends in the UK and I have really appreciated. A lot of churches in the UK still intentionally celebrate All Saints Day (All Hallows Day), which I think is so cool. Such an amazing way to get to know the stories of some of the amazing people in the history of our faith -- Francis of Assisi, Hildegaard Von Bingem, Mother Theresa, Cathie Nicholl, etc.
Here in France the North American concept of Hallowe'en is one people mostly just know of from TV, but for people in our region anyways today's still called 'Tous-Saints' -- All Saints --and a national holiday if you can believe it (that is, All Saint's Day, not the 'eve'). I guess I know lots of folk who are ready to chuck Christmas & Easter too because of all the bad things (commercialism, etc) that seem to increasingly hang on to them -- and yet how tragic it would be to stop celebrating the central festivities of our faith just 'cause so many folk have forgotten what it's really about. To my mind it's far better to find the true and good out of which the fun first came, and refuse to let it be lost to the bad. This 'festival' is not as crucial as the other two, but originally there were still some important things about it. Hmmm -- I can't really say this well in a short space, but I think you know what I mean!
What the 'fight to regain the good' looks like may vary from person to person, family to family -- but it needn't mean we give up having fun!

[btw, in Scotland it was awesome: every single kid OFFERED a 'trick' in exchange for a treat -- a song, a poem, a joke, etc. I was truly amazed. And very impressed.]

-- 'For All the Saints'!
(and with 3 cheers for moms like you who care what their kids are up to & why!)
kj