Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Growing up, Hallowe'en was one of my favourite "holidays". Dressing up was fun, but the getting candy was even better! But I must admit that the older I get, and the older my children get, the less I like the whole event. I don't even like the days gearing up to the event! All the decorations in the store...and the decorations people put on their lawn...it makes me feel a bit ...uneasy.
There is a verse in the Bible that I am trying to memorize:
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such thing."
It fits into every part of my life, and so I'm trying to apply it when it comes to what I read online (such as falling into those Hollywood gossip sites. Man, those are hard to ignore for me!) and what I watch. But it truely comes into play this time of year for me. Especially when I see all the decorations everywhere.
Has anyone else noticed how it has become a holiday of massacre? mayhem? death? evil? I see gravestones, dead bodies, hangnooses, Black Death figures, etc in yards, and I can't help but wonder why we do this? Why is it okay to celebrate these things for one day? Hallowe'en has given everyone a ticket that says we're allowed to partake in evil deeds and pretend to be a part of it, and I find it disturbing. What happens on November 1st? We're all 'back to normal' and suddenly death and murder and decay isn't 'cool' anymore. If that's so, then why is it okay for that one day? Or am I missing something? maybe it has come down to it that people aren't bothered by those things anymore either. After all, the biggest t.v shows and movies out there are about vampires and psycho killers.
But let's just put this aside for a moment and just say that perhaps it's just me. Maybe I'm being too sensitive. I need to grow up. I need to stop whining and Have Fun. Okay, I can handle that. Fine. But there are other bits that make this event difficult for me: My kids.
My children are sensitive. At first I would be a bit embarrassed that my children couldn't watch the regular movies that everyone else their age and younger could watch. The Incredibles? Nope. Monsters Inc.? Not likely! Abi would run to the other room when Barbie would face some danger or be scared and she'd never get to watch the end of the movie! Now I am finding that to be just fine with me. I have discovered that not only do they not like to be scared, but they are sensitive to witnessing someone do another harm, even if it's just something as "simple" as disobeying their parents! That's something I can be proud of! I WANT my kids to find things like that distressing, I don't want them to become desensitized! So how does this fit with my growing dislike for Hallowe'en? All the creepy decorations and costumes, of course!
Now, Abi and Kai are getting older and they are starting to handle the costumes better and can tell me that they don't like them without being frightened. But poor Bryn did not like it at all! There were a few houses that we had to walk away from! He didn't like our neighbour's costume, and he didn't like our other neighbour's paper skeleton on the door, and he certainly didn't like the electronic witch cackling at him with dry ice floating around the house on the next street! That's fine, I held his hand, reassured him that he was being very brave and didn't have to go to those houses, and explained that it was all pretend. But I find it tough. We tend to forget that there are many little kids out there still!
But speaking of little kids! I was appalled at how many Dead Cheerleaders and Corpse Brides costumes there were on TODDLERS!!! Seriously! I passed a few and was wondering what was going through their parents' heads. I told Abi that she could dress up as a bride one year if she wanted to...as long as it wasn't dead!!!!
But aside from that...why are we letting our kids take candy from complete strangers anyways??? They can't do it any other day but Hallowe'en, either! Isn't that confusing?
So, call me a Party Pooper, I'm a Big Girl and can handle it, but you've got to wonder about this so-called holiday. It's supposed to be FUN...but I'm finding it more disturbing. So much for kid's having fun...it's geared towards adults in every way, from decorations to costumes.
I would LOVE to find a venue that my children could be involved in. I wish our church was large enough to host a Harvest Party or something, or even the school. But instead, every year, we've gone out trick-or-treating. One day, we will hostess our own annual Harvest Party at our house, with games and fun. No dead things...other than leaves! lol Maybe we'll plan a Family Night and go out...or stay in and watch a movie with our lights off...think of something.
But instead, this year, I went out trick-or-treating and brought along with me a Bunny, a Princess and a Transformer! What a year it was for deciding costumes, too! Abi was lucky that Grandma Lynn had this costume in her closet for a while, so that was one down! Kai wanted to be a Skeleton, but I couldn't find one for him and I didn't know where to start or didn't have time to make him something, so we were very lucky that Grandma Lynn (our hero!!!) found a Transformer costume for him for 1/2 price! (he doesn't watch Transformers, doesn't have any toys of them, I don't even know if he knows what a Transformer is, but he wanted to be one!) And Bryn was too frightened at the idea of going out, so he didn't even want to think of a costume. Knowing that on the day of he would, so I planned that he could use our bumblebee costume. However, we couldn't find the wings anywhere! And I know it probably would've been find if he went out sans wings, but it bothered ME! So I searched and searched for something else, and came up with a Bunny costume that was given to us from Cousin Isaac (since he outgrew it) What fun!
Here are my delightful children.
Snow White: isn't she beautiful?
"bumblebee" from Transformers
my cute Bunny
We went out for about an hour with Cousin Mia and our neighbour Josh, and it was fun! (aside from the creepy houses and costumes, of course!) I find that a third of the houses in our neighbourhood are gone (or they don't answer the door) or they are too creepy for my kids (we steer clear from the ones with those spooky soundtracks playing) or the street isn't lit up enough for safety. So we hit maybe 30-50 houses. My kids were satisfied, but I'm realizing soon the older ones will want to go out longer! Next year, I'll have FOUR kids to take out and that should be interesting!
Bunny, Bumblebee, Snow White, Uniqua from Backyardigans, Elmo from Sesame Street (and Jody!) What a cute bunch they were!!!
Rhys stayed home and actually fell asleep on the couch for a nap just as we were starting to head out. Oh, and the orange juice in his bottle? not a good idea! he threw it up later! :(
on a search for chocolatey loot!!!
this is the kids' favourite houses in our neighbourhood. They decorate like this every year! the kids get a kick out of the (non-creepy) inflatable eyeballs!
*sigh* what a strange holiday we celebrate! The dressing up is still FUN and the candy still the Best....but still a *bit* creepy.
There is a verse in the Bible that I am trying to memorize:
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such thing."
It fits into every part of my life, and so I'm trying to apply it when it comes to what I read online (such as falling into those Hollywood gossip sites. Man, those are hard to ignore for me!) and what I watch. But it truely comes into play this time of year for me. Especially when I see all the decorations everywhere.
Has anyone else noticed how it has become a holiday of massacre? mayhem? death? evil? I see gravestones, dead bodies, hangnooses, Black Death figures, etc in yards, and I can't help but wonder why we do this? Why is it okay to celebrate these things for one day? Hallowe'en has given everyone a ticket that says we're allowed to partake in evil deeds and pretend to be a part of it, and I find it disturbing. What happens on November 1st? We're all 'back to normal' and suddenly death and murder and decay isn't 'cool' anymore. If that's so, then why is it okay for that one day? Or am I missing something? maybe it has come down to it that people aren't bothered by those things anymore either. After all, the biggest t.v shows and movies out there are about vampires and psycho killers.
But let's just put this aside for a moment and just say that perhaps it's just me. Maybe I'm being too sensitive. I need to grow up. I need to stop whining and Have Fun. Okay, I can handle that. Fine. But there are other bits that make this event difficult for me: My kids.
My children are sensitive. At first I would be a bit embarrassed that my children couldn't watch the regular movies that everyone else their age and younger could watch. The Incredibles? Nope. Monsters Inc.? Not likely! Abi would run to the other room when Barbie would face some danger or be scared and she'd never get to watch the end of the movie! Now I am finding that to be just fine with me. I have discovered that not only do they not like to be scared, but they are sensitive to witnessing someone do another harm, even if it's just something as "simple" as disobeying their parents! That's something I can be proud of! I WANT my kids to find things like that distressing, I don't want them to become desensitized! So how does this fit with my growing dislike for Hallowe'en? All the creepy decorations and costumes, of course!
Now, Abi and Kai are getting older and they are starting to handle the costumes better and can tell me that they don't like them without being frightened. But poor Bryn did not like it at all! There were a few houses that we had to walk away from! He didn't like our neighbour's costume, and he didn't like our other neighbour's paper skeleton on the door, and he certainly didn't like the electronic witch cackling at him with dry ice floating around the house on the next street! That's fine, I held his hand, reassured him that he was being very brave and didn't have to go to those houses, and explained that it was all pretend. But I find it tough. We tend to forget that there are many little kids out there still!
But speaking of little kids! I was appalled at how many Dead Cheerleaders and Corpse Brides costumes there were on TODDLERS!!! Seriously! I passed a few and was wondering what was going through their parents' heads. I told Abi that she could dress up as a bride one year if she wanted to...as long as it wasn't dead!!!!
But aside from that...why are we letting our kids take candy from complete strangers anyways??? They can't do it any other day but Hallowe'en, either! Isn't that confusing?
So, call me a Party Pooper, I'm a Big Girl and can handle it, but you've got to wonder about this so-called holiday. It's supposed to be FUN...but I'm finding it more disturbing. So much for kid's having fun...it's geared towards adults in every way, from decorations to costumes.
I would LOVE to find a venue that my children could be involved in. I wish our church was large enough to host a Harvest Party or something, or even the school. But instead, every year, we've gone out trick-or-treating. One day, we will hostess our own annual Harvest Party at our house, with games and fun. No dead things...other than leaves! lol Maybe we'll plan a Family Night and go out...or stay in and watch a movie with our lights off...think of something.
But instead, this year, I went out trick-or-treating and brought along with me a Bunny, a Princess and a Transformer! What a year it was for deciding costumes, too! Abi was lucky that Grandma Lynn had this costume in her closet for a while, so that was one down! Kai wanted to be a Skeleton, but I couldn't find one for him and I didn't know where to start or didn't have time to make him something, so we were very lucky that Grandma Lynn (our hero!!!) found a Transformer costume for him for 1/2 price! (he doesn't watch Transformers, doesn't have any toys of them, I don't even know if he knows what a Transformer is, but he wanted to be one!) And Bryn was too frightened at the idea of going out, so he didn't even want to think of a costume. Knowing that on the day of he would, so I planned that he could use our bumblebee costume. However, we couldn't find the wings anywhere! And I know it probably would've been find if he went out sans wings, but it bothered ME! So I searched and searched for something else, and came up with a Bunny costume that was given to us from Cousin Isaac (since he outgrew it) What fun!
Here are my delightful children.
Snow White: isn't she beautiful?
"bumblebee" from Transformers
my cute Bunny
We went out for about an hour with Cousin Mia and our neighbour Josh, and it was fun! (aside from the creepy houses and costumes, of course!) I find that a third of the houses in our neighbourhood are gone (or they don't answer the door) or they are too creepy for my kids (we steer clear from the ones with those spooky soundtracks playing) or the street isn't lit up enough for safety. So we hit maybe 30-50 houses. My kids were satisfied, but I'm realizing soon the older ones will want to go out longer! Next year, I'll have FOUR kids to take out and that should be interesting!
Bunny, Bumblebee, Snow White, Uniqua from Backyardigans, Elmo from Sesame Street (and Jody!) What a cute bunch they were!!!
Rhys stayed home and actually fell asleep on the couch for a nap just as we were starting to head out. Oh, and the orange juice in his bottle? not a good idea! he threw it up later! :(
on a search for chocolatey loot!!!
this is the kids' favourite houses in our neighbourhood. They decorate like this every year! the kids get a kick out of the (non-creepy) inflatable eyeballs!
*sigh* what a strange holiday we celebrate! The dressing up is still FUN and the candy still the Best....but still a *bit* creepy.
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