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.
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Posted by: Jeff | November 15, 2007 at 03:50 PM
I was remembering those days of you at Magnolia parading through the neighborhood. Holloween has not been hi-jacked in Pleasanton. Both Rett at his church preschool and Emma at her public elementary paraded through the parking lot. Emma's principal was the top banana and her teacher was the Good Witch of the West.
Posted by: Joann Ludwig | November 23, 2007 at 07:10 PM
I've been reading for a while and always enjoy your post. The children are simply beautiful. I'm from Texas and, as you can imagine, Texans tend to side on the right of "left and right". This too is serious Bible belt country. Both my husband and I are educators in public schools. Every district around our area recognizes Halloween as a "Fall Festival." The children have Halloween themed parties and are allowed to dress in their costumes, albeit, they try to encourage them to dress as literary or storybook characters. Nonetheless, the kids come as they would on Halloween night and everyone has a delightful time including the parade around the school. I seem to recall that you are from California. From this "side of the pond" it seems to me that in our efforts to be PC, we've lost a lot of the innocence of our own childhoods. In your neck of the woods, the religious right might wield a large stick. My perception is that California, as a whole, is much more liberal and therefore, I think it is more a product of political correctness run amok. God forbid a brave pirate or lovely snow princess offend someone’s sensibilities. Thanks for the discourse.
Posted by: Mary | November 27, 2007 at 09:07 PM
I happened to be on my annual business trip to LA on the night of Halloween. We had a dinner in a very nice restaurant in Venice and the whole staff were dressed up as various ghouls and weirdos. Coming from Munich, we were surprised to see one of the girls had chosen to wear a Bavarian 'dirndl' dress. OK, so 'Old Europe' is now on the same level as the Munsters. That's fine, really, no problem. We drink blood for breakfast...
Posted by: David | November 27, 2007 at 11:54 PM