Thursday, October 21, 2004
BAH HUMBUG
Halloween can be fun, especially if you have little kids in your life. The costumes are a lot better than they were when I was young (plastic mask from K-mart anyone?) , the incidence of nasty cranks handing out apples instead of candy seems lower (there's-a-razor-in-the-apple! rumors may have helped out on that front). Pumpkin carving hasn't changed much; it's still a delightfully gooey mess.
That said, I'm curmudgeonly enough to think that schools shouldn't be in the business of putting on Halloween parties. I like to maintain some excitement for the home sphere and there are enough parties and treats at school anyway. The kids earn pizza parties for fundraising efforts, "marble" parties for amassing 100 marbles (I think the marble-awarding has something to do with good behavior but I've never gotten a straight answer on this one) and often birthday parties to boot. I simply have an aversion to the trend of bleeding family life into school life.
But banning the practice because it might offend members of the Wiccan religion? Eeek! (Credit Joanne Jacobs).
That said, I'm curmudgeonly enough to think that schools shouldn't be in the business of putting on Halloween parties. I like to maintain some excitement for the home sphere and there are enough parties and treats at school anyway. The kids earn pizza parties for fundraising efforts, "marble" parties for amassing 100 marbles (I think the marble-awarding has something to do with good behavior but I've never gotten a straight answer on this one) and often birthday parties to boot. I simply have an aversion to the trend of bleeding family life into school life.
But banning the practice because it might offend members of the Wiccan religion? Eeek! (Credit Joanne Jacobs).
