Boo Humbug

When I was a kid it was always the same. A few hours after the smoke cleared from the Fourth of July fireworks, we'd immediately start brainstorming Halloween costumes.

My costume choices as a boy weren't too different from most kids my age. You can see me in the picture in my cowboy outfit in preschool (note the empty holsters -- my peace-loving mother wouldn't hear of it), and later I was the Six Million Dolar Man, Darth Vader, Ron Guidry (seriously), and a bum at least two or three times. And like every teenage boy ever, I went in drag one year.

One of the best Halloween traditions, though, has gone the way of the rotary phone. Remember when you used to wear your costume to school on Halloween and the whole class would parade around the neighborhood for no apparent reason? My kids will never get that, because their school does not acknowledge Halloween.

Why not? Simple, really. The Constitution of the United States might declare the need for a separation of church and state, but far too often the religious right controls what happens in pbulic schools. In this case, of course, it's the erasing of Halloween, a holiday that some small minds have connected with devil worship.

And so Alison couldn't wear her snow princess costume to school, and Henry had to leave his pirate outfit at home. Such a shame.