All Hallow's Eve & All Saint's Day

I think this year was the first one I remember when there was not a single message about Halloween posted on the server for our Catholic mom's prayer group.   There was one article posted on the Facebook group page, but no arguments ensued on the main e-mail server.   That was nice.   We'll see how we get through girl scout cookie season.   And no new Harry Potter novels or movies, so that shouldn't come up, either.

My memories of Halloween contain no gore, no horror movies.   I looked forward to the huge hot dog and marshmallow roast at our friends' house.   Dressing up was fun and it was the only time I got to wear make-up during my elementary school years.    That was back in my pre-Catholic days.   Pre-baptism of any kind days.   The only people I knew who didn't celebrate Halloween were Protestants who thought the holiday evil because of its Catholic origins/connections.   I was surprised when I moved here and found Catholics who didn't participate in Halloween activities of any kind.    I respect their freedom to do so.   I also appreciate that I have never been reproached personally by any of my wonderful friends who choose to mark the end of October in a manner different from ours.   Our children have once been reproached by non-Catholic Christians.   They were criticized and told by children, "We don't celebrate Halloween because Jesus didn't make it."   My reply: "Go ask them what they do on the Fourth of July."   I mean, seriously, the Founding Fathers were pretty influenced by the Enlightenment.   Have you ever read that stuff?!   (and... dripping sarcasm font here.)

This topic has been written about so much that I'm not going to devote much time to it now.   I personally feel that the celebration of a traditional Halloween is something about which good Catholics may disagree.   Some agreement seems possible when it comes to "Halloween for Catholics: yes or no".   We all seem to enjoy providing our children with the fun of dressing up in costume and attending parties with candy, games and foods, whether that day be Halloween or All Saints Day.   My children have enjoyed both greatly.   This was the first year they did not dress up as saints on All Saints as one of them was ill and I was gone for the evening.


Clare as the princess from The Princess and The Pea for Book Character Day at school



Emmeline as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland for Book Character Day at School

Thomas, waiting for big sister to walk by at the Book Character parade.



Hawkeye moves!


We saw a crawfish mailbox!   And a singing head of Frankenstein's creature.   Frankenstein was the DOCTOR, not the creature.   Even literature teaching moments abound on Halloween night!

Halloween viewing: Doctor Who's BLINK episode:)



All Saints Day, I attended mass in the afternoon and saw a wonderful production of Pride and Prejudice by L.A. Theater Works.   We even got to meet Lizzie Bennett!


That's me on the far left.   I'm not really in many pictures on my blog.   That's not a seat belt; it's my purse strap.


Comments

  1. Julia7 November 2012 at 20:06

    The kids look great! Dressing up is so much fun. We finally made a dress up box for Milo. Dominic never particularly cared about it, but Milo emerges from his room every-single-day as a knight, or fireman, or wall-E. Finally I gathered everything and made a box. I was proud of myself! I am so excited about our spring book character day! We haven't had one since Kindergarten.

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