Happy Halloween!!!
Hope you all had an OOky, spOOky night last week for Halloween!
Halloween is one of the many “holidays” that I look forward to spending with my children. (“” for is it really a holiday when we all have to work?)
Like Thanksgiving, Halloween as an “occasion” (perhaps, rather than a holiday!) is one that is relatively new to me as a former Australian.
The only thing we knew of Halloween when I was growing up was the scary movies with Jamie Lee Curtis (still angry at my friend’s mom for letting us watch the first two of these along with a delightful movie called “worm eater” on her 10th birthday… I had nightmares well into my 20’s). It was not something we celebrated and I never got to go door to door dressed in colourful costumes with a bag in hand and exclaim “Trick or Treat!?!”.
My very first Halloween experience was in Toronto in 2003, my first year in Canada, and it was WILD!
Halloween was not just for children I discovered…
Grown adults with their briefcases walking down Queen St. on their way to work dressed as spooky ghouls in full make up – men and women alike. It was a sight to behold and one that spoke to my inner child.
I was living in a hostel at the time, as a weekly tenant, and for days prior people had been asking what I was going to dress as for the big day. I had thought they were joking after all I’d just turned 30! But when I took a walk that morning to the local internet café, and saw people in full costume at 8am Halloween morning making their way to work, I was hooked.
I spent the rest of the day (Halloween day) scrambling for any semblance of a costume. The best I could come up with was a dollar store set of cat ears, tail and very dry make up. I made it work though and hit the clubs that night dressed as a kitty on my first All Hallows Eve experience. I remember taking photos from inside one two-story club looking down on all of the elaborate and well thought out, some super expensive, costumes. I was hit on by a big pumpkin, a GI Joe (very nice!), an enormous mouse, and a naughty nurse (which was a guy in the “naughty nurse” costume). So fun. The night was a blur of cartoon characters, assorted giant fruits and vegetables, and a multitude of professions “slutted-up” or “zombified”, I had a blast.
It was the wildest of my Halloweens to date. Sadly I do not know where those photos ended up…
Since that time I have had many memorable Halloween “first” experiences. One pumpkin-patch experience that was hilarious and if I ever find that email (which was my blog before blogging) I will post it here! I have dressed as a witch, a naughty schoolgirl (it had to be done at least once), a wish-granting fairy, and a two-faced monster (this was really a mask I wore backwards like a hat – another last minute idea).
In more recent years, I have played the role of candy distributor at the door of my own home and friend’s homes, and chaperoned my friend’s kids as they excitedly ran door to door, sometimes in arctic cold temperatures, as I did last night.
This brings me to the reason for my post.
Watching my friend get her kids ready, I smiled as they wiggled in their seats impatiently wanting to be out pounding the pavement. I helped tie on the vampire capes and laughed my heart out when the youngest wailed at the discovery that daddy had just put her in a big fluffy monkey costume! The look of “what have you DONE to me” on her face as she patted her padded belly and fluffy ears was priceless. I felt proud that she managed to stay in that costume for a few hours!
My heart burst several times as I watched the excitement on their faces at the booty they’d scored from the house they’d just visited. The cold did not register, even as breath became mist, noses ran, and cheeks turned red.
In reflection, later that night and this week, I started to wonder about my own future kids.
How did they spend their Halloween?
Did someone fuss over them? Paint their faces? Dress them in cute costumes and parade them around the streets collecting candy and other treats?
Then, when they were bone cold, tired, a little grumpy, and laden with loot, did anyone pick them up and carry them the last block home? Did anyone lovingly wash their faces, put them in warm pyjamas, and give them warm milk before bed?
I hope so.
It’s hard to imagine what the lives of my children are like right now before I get to be their mom.
In a way, I’m dreading Christmas this year knowing they may be out there in a scary environment while I sit at home alone in the comfort of my safe, warm, Christmas-filled apartment. I really hope they get to experience the joys of the holidays, all of the holidays, with someone safe, caring, responsible, and fun.
Maybe next year we will get to spend Halloween together…
Warm smiles and Love,
Ali Jayne 🙂