Boo to Halloween
Boo!
Not as in "boo!" (to give you a fright)
Or as in "boo" (-hoo, although that could be appropriate)
But as in "boo" (the opposite of an encore, thumbs down).
This year, I'm letting Halloween pass us by. I have given it some thought, and I can't think of one good reason to make a big fuss of it. It's not even that I have objections to it per se (which perhaps you might expect given that I'm a Christian). But Halloween isn't being boycotted for negative spiritual reasons. Rather, it's because I can't think of a single positive reason to spend the time and money "making it happen".
Not that I haven't thought about it. My (many of them Believing) friends who are celebrating Halloween are doing so for a variety of reasons:
It's a great way to meet the neighbors: Maybe. But not in my neighborhood. We are surrounded by students who don't trick-or-treat, and who don't expect treat or treaters at their door. So we would have to travel to a more suburban family-friendly neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. Which kind of defeats the purpose for us.
I have such great childhood memories of doing this as a family! Um. Sorry, can't relate.
Candy!! Yes, a pro. But the con is.... candy. I don't need three weeks of daily arguing from my preschooler about her sugar rations.
It's fun to decorate: Dear Martha Stewart(s). I love to visit your home(s). But I do not love to decorate. I do not like to do crafts, or sew, or create. Making things pretty is not my strong suit. Please don't hold it against me.
It's fun to dress up: Yes it is! But we don't need Halloween to do that. And given that Callum doesn't like wearing costumes yet... and given that a great many of the decorations and costumes out there are pretty darn scary... and given that Teg can't even watch the Sesame Street version of Tchaikovsky's Peter and the Wolf because "the wolf is too scary" (My goodness! It's an ELMO wolf!)... it's just too much emotional m-a-n-a-g-e-m-e-n-t to make this the day for dressing up. Teg's birthday is coming up. We'll dress up then. Vampires and skeletons will be asked to stay at home.
Finis.
__________________________
As an aside: I'm eating punjab eggplant curry and drinking chai tea for lunch. I'm blaming the baby for these exotic choices. I think this Little one is going to be a curious mix of Jeremy-Brahmin.
Not as in "boo!" (to give you a fright)
Or as in "boo" (-hoo, although that could be appropriate)
But as in "boo" (the opposite of an encore, thumbs down).
This year, I'm letting Halloween pass us by. I have given it some thought, and I can't think of one good reason to make a big fuss of it. It's not even that I have objections to it per se (which perhaps you might expect given that I'm a Christian). But Halloween isn't being boycotted for negative spiritual reasons. Rather, it's because I can't think of a single positive reason to spend the time and money "making it happen".
Not that I haven't thought about it. My (many of them Believing) friends who are celebrating Halloween are doing so for a variety of reasons:
It's a great way to meet the neighbors: Maybe. But not in my neighborhood. We are surrounded by students who don't trick-or-treat, and who don't expect treat or treaters at their door. So we would have to travel to a more suburban family-friendly neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. Which kind of defeats the purpose for us.
I have such great childhood memories of doing this as a family! Um. Sorry, can't relate.
Candy!! Yes, a pro. But the con is.... candy. I don't need three weeks of daily arguing from my preschooler about her sugar rations.
It's fun to decorate: Dear Martha Stewart(s). I love to visit your home(s). But I do not love to decorate. I do not like to do crafts, or sew, or create. Making things pretty is not my strong suit. Please don't hold it against me.
It's fun to dress up: Yes it is! But we don't need Halloween to do that. And given that Callum doesn't like wearing costumes yet... and given that a great many of the decorations and costumes out there are pretty darn scary... and given that Teg can't even watch the Sesame Street version of Tchaikovsky's Peter and the Wolf because "the wolf is too scary" (My goodness! It's an ELMO wolf!)... it's just too much emotional m-a-n-a-g-e-m-e-n-t to make this the day for dressing up. Teg's birthday is coming up. We'll dress up then. Vampires and skeletons will be asked to stay at home.
Finis.
__________________________
As an aside: I'm eating punjab eggplant curry and drinking chai tea for lunch. I'm blaming the baby for these exotic choices. I think this Little one is going to be a curious mix of Jeremy-Brahmin.
posted by Bronwyn at 12:44 pm
4 Comments:
I am so glad you posted this. Thoughts aswirlin' around here. Not sure what to make of it all, but this year thought, "Um? Worth my time?" Nope.
AMEN sister.
Love it :-)
Halloween is only now beginning to become a theme for a few in SA - unfortunately! Suspect much of this is your roots showing :-) Yay to you. xx
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