What was Halloween like when you were growing up? Did your family participate? If not, was there a substitute activity? Did your school or church have a fall festival or carnival? Were there stipulations regarding costumes? What sorts of activities did they have? What about Halloween parties? Have you ever bobbed for apples or been on a hayride? What are your memories of "haunted houses"? (I'm not referring to the ultra-scary, secular ones, just the fun kid ones, with bowls of grapes and cold spaghetti!) If you went trick-or-treating, what were the rules, both for trick-or-treating and for candy consumption? What types of costumes did you wear? Were they store-bought or homemade? Did you carve a jack-o-lantern? How are your children's experiences similar or different to yours? And the most important question: Do you like candy corn? What is your favorite (and least favorite!) Halloween candy?
Ok...so I thought long and hard and this is what I came up with to respond to her prompts on Halloween.
Halloween was a good, clean, fun thing when I was a child. I lived and breathed for the day and planned my costume from Sept 1st on. Belvedere Elementary (my primary school) would host a Carnival and the kids would all dress up in their costumes, line up by classes and have a fashion show for all the parents. There would be games, prizes, and food. I think it was there that I fell in love with cotton candy, popcorn balls, and caramel apples. One lady in our neighborhood would make homemade shaped sugar cookies with sprinkles on them. Kids just don't know what they are missing now. One year my best friends Carol, Kathy, Donna and I dressed up like the Beatles. We were precious in our white shirts, black pants, homemade guitars and Beatle hair dos. Parents would go around with us while we trick-or-treated in the neighborhood. Two blocks over on the hill (if you can imagine a hill in South Florida) was a house that made homemade snow-cones. Dobby always gave us pennies. It was not unusual to get homemade foods and apples and stuff….but then that was back before the day that meanness entered into the world. When I was a youth we would have a Fall Festival and bob for apples (I hated this) and have a hay-ride. I am not to fond of those either….I am allergic to hay. I really am not a fan of Halloween. Frank and our daughter, Amy have taken me to a couple of haunted houses and I was terrified before the end….but then that is the whole purpose behind the things. I have worn costumes varying from hobos to princesses as a child and they were always homemade. My mom was an excellent seamstress. My children’s experiences have been a wee bit different. We lived in the country and did not have a lot of neighbors so they went to church Fall Festivals, trick-or-treated the few neighbors we had, and/or went with friends. I love candy corn…plain old candy corn….not the new and improved ones with weird flavors. I love the bag that has the pumpkins shaped ones in it. I also loved the caramel candies and the caramel ones with the white stuff in the middle. I don’t like licorice flavored candy in any variety. My mom always collected the candy and then doled it out to me a small amount at the time. I did the same with my kids because my kids were chocoholics….all but Eric…he was never a big chocolate fan…unless it was Reese’s. My dad usually carved a pumpkin….I got to draw the face he carved. I have carved pumpkins with my kids. I think it is one of the grossest things you can do and actually like pumpkins as they are intended to be….pumpkins. I do a fall yard arrangement every year and have a ceramic jack-o-lantern I set out at Halloween. I teach Dia de los Muertos in my Spanish classes and they think the fact that the people honor the dead is weird…..how much weirder can it be than what we do? If I had my druthers….I would not celebrate this holiday at all….but that is not going to happen…..my church is doing a hayride for the kids this year and trunk or treat in the parking lot. That will be a first for me and I am looking forward to it. Have a Happy Halloween. Enjoy my musical tribute to Halloween.
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