We'd debated not going out at all, but the kids want their candy. Heaven forbid they should go trick-or-treating as Saints or Angels. They said, "nobody will know who we're supposed to be." Well, wouldn't it be a great way to bring the story of a couple of Saints to folks in the neighborhood? But my children are far too embarrassed to speak of saints to the general public. That is sad on just too many levels.
As converts to Catholicism, we now bear the burden of having to undo things, and some things we simply cannot seem to. After years of being part of the secular culture, it is very difficult to give some of it up. Halloween was all about ghosts and goblins, pumpkins and candy. And that's pretty much what we transmitted to our children. When they were little, they dressed as cars or cats or tigers or mad scientists. That's all fine and good, but we missed the boat on something far deeper and spiritual. I can only thank God that Nov. 1st is the Feast of All Saints!
This year, my son wants to be Mitt Romney. We have some great oven mitts for him, and the political jokes are flying ... I suspect my son has been reading a bit too much Mark Steyn. My daughter wants to be a witch. A good one, I presume. I remember the longing to have powers ... Shh, I still do! And I'll probably don my cat ears. Meow.
My children may never dress up as a Saint, but I pray they become saints.
Do click on the links if your girls or boys are interested in dressing up as a saint.
Good luck and God bless!
6 comments:
We don't "do Halloween" here, but my no-longer kid (DS is eighteen now) is going to class looking rather Vampirish... Maybe this is what happens when you deprive them of this gobliny night.
For the last few Halloweens my (grown) daughters and I have decorated our car trunks for our church's Trunk or Treat celebration. It's a huge event that draws hundreds from the community. Kind of a nice way for people to get acquainted with our church.
When our girls were small, we used the night of people coming to our doorstep as an outreach opportunity. We'd always make something to go along with the candy treats that incorporated the gospel message. My favorite was the year we made gospel bracelets.
I can remember only two costumes I wore--cowgirl one year, hobo another. What I remember most is dumping out that bag of candy and *sorting* it. That was the most fun, lol!
Mirka, I wonder about that too ... we deprive our kids of all sorts of things -- video, TV, internet, candy -- oy!
Ruth, I just love your outreach idea, and the Gospel bracelets sound lovely. What a gift!
Ann, great costumes! My daughter was a Bengal tiger for close to 4 years in a row! And yes, sorting through the candy is what they live for. I'm going to have some seriously sugared-up kids on my hands tonight.
I like the idea of dressing up as a saint. If I were a kid I'd probably do it!
We never did Halloween with the kids, but we did buy candy for them, and sometimes did other special outings instead.
Mitt Romney with oven mitts? LOL!!!
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