Plastic Halloween - in which I go on a rant.
Well, I survived the 3rd Grade Gauntlet. Actually, it went really well, surprisingly well. I decided to talk about writing and had the kids list their favorite authors and books and tell why they were their favorites - classroom discussion eats up a lot of time! Then I talked briefly about the story writing process and helped them brainstorm half a dozen ideas for their own stories and we were done. They were interested and participated and there was a minimum of sidetalking. Even the so-called class troublemaker was involved. So, I’d say the experience was a success. . .whew! In other news, last week all I did was sew Halloween costumes. Because even though the girls had decided on their costumes in August and I’d had the fabric since September, it’s just not a Laylabean sewing project unless I’m finishing the hem as Mia is literally walking out the door. Yes, this is my life, welcome. But they’re finished and the girls have worn them to their dance parties and to a family Halloween party on Saturday. So far so good, no popped seams and they actually fit this year. I usually make them too big in anticipation that the girls will get a whole year’s worth of dress-up out of them. But, my girls have kind of grown out of the dress-up phase and I doubt these costumes will see much use after tomorrow. So, the shoulder seams are actually on their shoulders and the hems aren’t too long this year. Interesting concept, that. Speaking of which, when did Halloween parties become the norm? When I was a kid we wore our costumes trick-or-treating and maybe to school if we were lucky. My girls have umpteenmillion parties each this year and they’ve already given out and collected more candy than I’d see in a year and they haven’t even been trick-or-treating yet. There’s no way they’re eating all that. Most of the candy will either eventually get tossed in the trash or put in the freezer for six months then tossed in the trash. What a waste! And…did you notice that Christmas decorations were up in September this year? And last year they were stocking Valentine’s Day decor on December 15th. *sigh* The theory of course is that the sooner you start spending, the more you’ll spend. I find this both annoying and horrifying. There’s something fundamentally wrong with having to push past tinsel to find Halloween candy. Why can’t we enjoy the season we’re in while we’re in it? Why all this looking forward, never satisfied with where we are, always convinced the next great thing is just around the corner? If we spend enough, that is. All the neighbors in our cul-de-sac have put up Halloween lights and cobwebs and plastic cemeteries and those giant blow-up lawn ornaments. Whatever happened to the simple jack-o-lantern with the triangle eyes and crooked smile? You can’t even do that anymore. Now you have to do the fancy stencils and designs from special kits with special tools. We always just used the butcher knife and no one ever lost a finger. All this rampant commercialism and consumerism is truly terrifying at times. Oookay, that was fun.
One Response to “Plastic Halloween - in which I go on a rant.”
Leave a Reply
October 30th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
See, and I thought it was just here in Costa Rica, where there is no Halloween OR Thanksgiving to put the brakes on the whole premature Christmas thing. Two-story Christmas tree in the mall, anyone? Saw one last week.
I wish my kids were invited to a Halloween party. People know what Halloween is here, but they don’t actually celebrate it. Last year I just kind of let it slide by, and I actually got away with it. This year I talked the talk, saying we’d do an unspecified “something” for Halloween, but have we? Not so much. I’m thinking “something” is going to end up looking a lot like a big orange layer cake tomorrow afternoon….
Can’t wait for photos of the costumes