I'm one of those wishy-washy folk who can't seem to decide whether I like Halloween or not. I know I certainly don't like what it has become, and I don't like the kids having all that candy. In our home we have always foregone the whole Trick or Treating thing (we live in a rural neighborhood with no near neighbors, so that's easy to do) and had a little at-home party. The kids would dress up and we would play Halloween Bingo, Pin the Head on the Headless Horseman, watch a bunch of old Scooby Doo cartoons and finally have a treasure hunt with clues, with each child getting a bag of candy. It's a good plan, and I rather like it.
The only real trouble is that the next day is All Saints, and we just can't seem to have two celebrations in two days. The other trouble is that I alone am in charge of any celebration, and just in November and December there are Thanksgiving, Gabriel's birthday, St. Nicholas Day and Christmas. I am in charge of shopping, cooking, baking, gift-buying, decorating, card-writing, and anything else connected with any holiday. I get burnt out.
This year I hoped Halloween would go unnoticed. I didn't buy candy (as we are moving away from sugar as well as we can) and I didn't do the clues for a treasure hunt, and our VHS player is dead, so no Scooby Doo. Well, the older kids noticed and passed the information to the younger kids, and there was a great deal of disappointment, and naturally, I feel guilty.
Today we will have a simple celebration of All Saints Day...the kids have the day off (that is always a popular choice), and I printed out an All Saints Bingo Game. I will bake something special, and we will go to Mass this evening. I think that we'll do an actual All Saints party next year...I think that if there is enough fun and baked goods, the kids will be okay with not celebrating Halloween. The truth is, I can't manage to do both, and a Holy Day of Obligation takes precedence.
Happy All Saints Day!
Happy Feast Day... +JMJ+
ReplyDeleteit sounds like a good plan. :)
ReplyDeleteBlessed feast day to all of you (however you choose to celebrate)! We are definitely into simple around here - we will naturally go to Mass and we will have dessert (breaking the election fast) - c'est tout. (We did go to an All Saints' Day party on Sunday, and there's another one at church next Sunday, so that is suffice.) Your 'pin the head' game is fabulous! Your kids are so blessed to have an artist mother.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't go trick-or-treating. The kids enjoyed it more to have a pan of brownies that we could cut up with cookie cookies and frost. We had a ghost-shaped pizza and stuck our fingers in eyeballs (grapes in some water). Today, I joined them at their Catholic school for the All Saints Day Mass. It was so much more enjoyable, and no costume stress, and it feels better.
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