Halloween

[Minouri]

At my school, I'm a kindergarten teacher, we dress up for Halloween. This year I'm a butterfly.

I feel kind of bad about the Halloween party I'm sending Tony to alone tonight. His friend makes his yard so cool every year that it's a local favorite to go trick or treat at. Tony is going to be a headless corpse in a coffin on the lawn.

I've been during some years past...but something about spending all day with 25 hyper halloween kids makes spending the night with neighborhood hyper halloween kids less tempting.

I'm going to come home tonight, turn off the lights and watch a good movie.

What are you all doing tonight?

[Mellifluous]

I am dressing up for work too. We are having a little party and bringing in lots of goodies. I made a lovely kitty litter cake.

Tonight we will be going to a co-worker's Halloween party or going out to eat at the local mexican eatery.

[ErinC]

sleeping....

kids go off with friends.

we live in the boonies NO ONE comes to our house.

DId I ever tell you guys I hate Holidays

[Terri]

Okay, here it comes, my annual Halloween rant. I am with Erin, I hate Halloween. It is just so incredibly inconvenient not to mention just down right stressful. It started yesterday. Need to work on costumes and pumkins. Of course it happens at the end of the month went all other "regular" stuff needs to be done. 4h records are due at the county extension office on Nov 1, my son's big English project is due on Nov 2 and I have to close the books for the church for the month - computer is hot to the touch. In the middle of it all Mico decides it is a good day to have one of his colic spells, the soccer coach changes the time of practice without telling me and they dryer repair guy never shows up and my laundry for a family of 5 is backed up to my eye brows. I pull my daughter, who is working on her records, off the computer to walk Mico, run David to soccer and make a half hearted attempt at starting supper, pull a costume together for David, go look for Chrissy and Mico, who are by this time 1/2 way to Plymouth. We were up late carving pumpkins. By the time I went to bed my arms, legs and shoulders ached. I took 2 Ibuprophen and a bottle of Smirnoff and went to bed.

This afternoon we will need to finish those records, the English project, carve the other pumpkin, find the candy I hid from myself and take David trick or treating. If Mico colics again I'll just put him out of my misery. Then out Trick or treating with hyperactive kids filling a bag with sugar!

Fortunately this year the weather is cooperating and it is warm (for us) and clear. There have been halloweens where we have trick or treated in parkas with umbrellas turned inside out. Remember the movie the Perfect Storm?That was a real storm that happened here on Halloween, of course. Oh and usually one or more kids has broncitis. I have in the past utilized teenagers to take the younger kids out, until 3 years ago a neigbor, not recognizing my older daughter, commented on how nice it was to see a young mother and son out. Jackie was mortified and refused to do it again.

Oh, and there is the school. Remember when we used to send in cookies for a halloween party. Now it is "healthy snacks" for Orange and Black day. What the heck is that???? A healthy snack???? on a day that celebrates candy????? I don't think I have any of those. Am I supposed to cut up apples and send then in? by the time they get to it, it will be brown. Oh geeeze.

I think some of my friends who self righteously avoid Halloween don't really do it out of religious confiction do it out of convenience.
So I am the grinch that steals Halloween, next month Thanksgiving and then I will take aim at that over commericalized Holiday, AKA Christmas.
have fun all.

[Linda Y]

I am also anti-halloween. We live in the boonies at the end of a long dirt road. We keep our gate closed and locked, so there are never any trick or treaters.
Last night someone was having a haunted house. Even as far away as it was, we could hear all the spooky sounds. Until we figured out what it was it was a little disconcerting! :shock:

[Pam M]

I love Halloween!! And I haven't had a chance to enjoy it properly in years! We live out in the country and never have trick or treaters. My kid is a teenager now and doesn't get into dressing up. Plus he has a soccer game tonight so that's where we'll be. I always get a craving to move into a neighborhood this time of year, just for a few days, so I can dress up and pass out candy! Maybe I'll go visit mom after soccer tonight - she gets so many kids that she goes through about 20 bags of candy!

[Mrs. E.]

I also LOVE Halloween and miss it. When I was a kid we lived in a small town in Ohio and everyone went out trick or treating. In the little town where I lived it was know as "beggers night" When I moved to Florida no one heard of beggers night. I also remember that they use to rope off Front Street and had booths and (get this) FREE cider and donuts. :D
Now, we live out in no mans land and we have yet to see anyone trick or treating. I miss giving out all that candy, but, it does leave me a lot to eat. Don't want it to go bad. :D

[Heidi]

We have no children and live on a country road. No neighbors have young children, either. Fast road. No streetlights. No sidewalks. No Trick or Treaters.

Since 1976 I have only twice (2 seperate years) lived where Trick or Treaters could come to the house in any sort of 'numbers'. Growing up in the country at Mom's house (since 1976) I bet we have not even reached 25 TorT's yet. One year, we were excited we got 5 TorT's! ...and they all arrived in the same car. Most years we received none.

For the past 5 years we have gone to Hubby's boss' house. They take their children around the neighborhood and we man the house, handing out candies to the trick or treaters. I love seeing the costumes.

[Ginger]

Jesus is as much the reason for the Halloween season as he is for Christmas, so you might as well just shut up and eat the candy, LOL.

[ErinC]

Jesus is as much the reason for the Halloween season as he is for Christmas, so you might as well just shut up and eat the candy, LOL.



OK great.....
I said I hate HOLIDAYS.

ALL OF THEM

[CarolU]

I love Halloween too...it's your chance to get even with kids for Christmas. We used to decorate the yard, pipe out Halloween sounds, put headstones up, and dress as goblins...then scare the kids when they'd come for candy. It was GREAT FUN!!!

But now our 'ward' has a controlled party at the Drive-In, so there are no trick or treaters to terrorize. :(

I did have fun at the show in the Halloween Costume Class...but no, I don't have any pictures until the photographer sends them to me. Maybe Helene took some???

[Abejita]

Halloween was great when I was a kid.We were kinda out in the boonies but there were about 8-10 kids and we were all within 5 years of each other .The neighborhood had about 10 houses and my Dad would always dress up and take all of us out as a group.My uncle would come over and make dad up as Wolfman..Dracula ..mummy and I mean take hours doing the makeup..So the kids would come to our house first and from there the parents would go back to their houses and wait for us..One year when dad was done up as the wolfman ..one of the kids saw dad and REFUSED to go with us -he went back to his grandma's and stayed there!! Even when dad dropped the scary voice and said ;"Hey Sammy its just me ,Joe" he still wouldnt go!
Being a small neighborhood everyone knew who was who and the people would guess who we were..and were very generous with the candy..We made a HAUL those nights!!

[Ginger]

Looks like we aren't going to do much of anything but go drill locksteps and reverse box-turns into oversway. Close it off with a Subway footlong.

J's tracker broke one of it's timing chains. It will either cost $1,000 or $3,000 to fix. Since I have a uterus, my thoughts on the matter regarding shopping around for the best estimate are pretty null and void. But hey- for once, it's his money not mine, so whatever. So long as I get to "church" on time, eh?

Every holiday at my house was pretty much eeeevil growing up, so I don't care one way or the other about them. I like the seasonal snackies that come out, and I'm always appreciative of an opportunity to dress in something rhinestoned, get a little tipsy, and feel up the cute young teacher during the foxtrot mixer though, so I'm all for Hallmark dominating our calendars.

[Jane Hurl]

I'm one of the Hallowe'en lovers, but out here in the boonies, we don't get any. It's the ONLY time of the year I miss being a "townie".

When my son was still young enough to go trick or treating, but old enough to appreciate the fun I had scaring the bejabbers out of little kids, he and his buddies would stay home with me. We had a hoot!

Aside: did you know that if you have red hair and you paint your face silver, said red hair suddenly looks as orange as a pumpkin? Dunno why, but it happened ... every year ... to both me and my son! *grin*

[TrueStepPaso]

Ha!

find the candy I hid from myself :lol:


Well, I'm going to clean some stalls, and then watch Juan whip my little brat of a Morgan into shape tonight...should be good. :twisted:

[ErinC]

o Abster, that I would like to watch!

[PASOFAN]

I do enjoy holloween!! We dress up at work, but not of goolish beings, but of fun fair weather characters. This year I am E-Or, from whinny the pooh, and my boss and coworkers are the other charachters... Last yr I was the horse whispherer and won the costume and office contest!!

Does someone have a link to the history of holloween?

[Ginger]

Of course! Hold on, let me restart and find it (unless someone else is a faster googler, LOL)

A quick one is it of course dates back to the pagan Sabbat of Samhain (Sow-inn, Sam-ayne, Saw-Vahn, etc.). The veil between the living and dead was thinnest during this time of year, and you could communicate with long-lost-loved-or-hated-ones. It was also a time of year when they put the earth to sleep, or it died, and everyone harvested, stored-up, feasted, etc.

The early christians of the time wanted to get everyone converted over to the new Jesus system, though, and didn't like the pagans still doing their thang. They said "But... but WAIT! We have a holiday for that, TOO, and it's like on the same day and everything! We call it All Souls' Day" and so began the careful, deliberate assimilation of pagan culture and mythology into christian gospel. Pagan deities became saints, Sabbats/Esbats became holidays like Halloween, Easter, xmas, Thanksgiving, even.

That's why in early American times, the Protestants DIDN'T celebrate Halloween or christmas- they thought it was wrong. It slowly came back around because, to be honest, everyone loves a good holiday. It's an excuse to have FUN, and who DOESN'T need that? Gradually, the "can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing happened, so now we have christians denouncing Samhain and Halloween as "EEEEVIL"... but on the same night, to discourage debauchery and trick or treating, they have "Fall Harvest Celebrations"... which, DUH, is THE SAME FREAKIN THING THE PAGANS CELEBRATED...

Same thing happens with most holidays. To truly denounce something means to NOT DO ANYTHING LIKE IT.. if they really wanted to axe Halloween, they wouldn't even acknowledge it as a day different from others. Instead of their little "fall celebrations", they'd have nothing at all but a Tuesday. Selective vision is truly an amazing and common phenomenon. :D

[Ginger]

Witch's perspective:
http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=2204

From our favorite fundie-fun-forking fiends at Landover Baptist, a bit of satire:
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/subjectarchive/halloween.html

From Oxymoron- I mean, oops Religious Tolerance. Org:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hallo_ev.htm

Christian Answers. I'm wondering how firemen, Darth Vader, military, and princess costumes are "depraved and gory":
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/halloween.html

From the Catholic POV- it doesn't get much more original than that...unless you're a PAGAN, ROFL:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Oct2001/Family.asp

I smell a copyright infringement lawsuit on graphics and content usage:
http://theopedia.com/Halloween

And from the grand pater familius itself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Cautionary note: If your religion prevents you from or advises you against reading material that might undermine or otherwise derail it's teachings, I suggest you stick with what's comfortable for you. Sometimes organized religion finds proven, documented FACT to be contradictory to their teachings, and puts them in an awkward predicament of having to prove things with answers other than "You just don't know... it's ... it's FAITH, man!"

[Mellifluous]

Thanks for that Poni, good lunchtime reading!

[PASOFAN]

Thanks Ginger for the links!!

I found the following very interesting from the Catholic perspective...

[quote]The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1 marked the beginning of a new year and the coming of winter. The night before the new year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead—including ghosts, goblins and witches—returned to mingle with the living. In order to scare away the evil spirits, people would wear masks and light bonfires. When the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own touches to the Samhain festival, such as making centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards. The Romans also bobbed for apples and drank cider—traditions which may sound familiar to you. But where does the Christian aspect of the holiday come into play? In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration for all the martyrs (later all saints) from May 13 to November 1. The night before became known as All Hallow’s Even or “holy evening.” Eventually the name was shortened to the current Halloween. On November 2, the Church celebrates All Souls Day.

The purpose of these feasts is to remember those who have died, whether they are officially recognized by the Church as saints or not. It is a celebration of the “communion of saints,” which reminds us that the Church is not bound by space or time. [quote]

So I see it as a day to remember those who have past on, as in all saints day ect...

However as a christian I believe it shouldnt be on the dark side such as evil things and costumes. That to me would be honoring the dark one of the world, I guess that is why I have never dressed as a evil thing but fun happy things. Like E-Or today!!

Pretty interesting reads on those links, thanks for posting them!!

[Barbwire]

I loved Halloween! I used to ride my horse around town trick or treating. One year I even brought my goat along too. Got triple the treats that year. OH YEAH! The year I was 15, I was really sick on Halloween and spent the day in bed, I even missed school. About half way through the day I was dying knowing I would miss out on the loot. It tore me up, I tell ya. Finally, I couldn't take it any more and I put toegether a lame costume for my horse, and down the road we went. I was sure to hurry home before the school bus came by and I was busted!



http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/65061Halloween_1981.jpg

[Ginger]

If people "over-analyze" halloween to me, I throw it right back at them, but good stuff like this, just chatting about it and comparing notes from one faith to another is really interesting.

I personally don't tack on any symbolism to the holidays anymore at all, for various reasons, some depressing, some, I"m just too lazy about it. I just like the "marked change of seasonal scenery" and food varieties. Like right now, it's Turkey and Dressing time at Cracker Barrel. They have that awesome cranberry relish with just a TAD too much citrus zest- when you smear it over your dressing, it's really good.