Halloween Parade

Today was the Halloween parade and party at my son's school.

There seems to be growing controversy about Halloween every year.

It's satanic, it's pagan, it glorifies death. Young girls wear costumes that are too sexy. The coersion involved in saying "trick or treat". Sugar is bad for you.

Yeah, okay, I'm sure that depending on how people celebrate Halloween you can find all of those aspects. In fact, depending on people live their lives, you can find all of those aspects. You don't have to wait for a specfic day.

You know what I see in Halloween around here? I see kids who have fun getting dressed up in costumes (and yeah, some of them are kind of ghoulish - but not most, and some may be skimpy- most aren't - and let's face it, it's October in NJ, how much skin is a kid going to show?)

They get to dress up for part of the school day and act silly with their friends. They get to go door-to-door (and let me just say, I very seldom see groups of kids without one or more parents with them) and get candy. And lets face it, for most of these kids - the candy is the thing.

Today in one of our local papers there was an opinion piece about how adults are contributing to the ill health of children by distributing candy on Halloween. Give me a break. It's one day a year. I'm sure that some kids gorge themselves to the point of making themselves sick. But kids aren't going to become obese based on one day a year. That has to do with a whole life-style that involves not enough activity and too many empty calories.

For the kids, Halloween isn't about pagans or the occult or spirits rising from the grave.

It's about the candy.

And I'm okay with that.

Tuesday's Proverb

For lack of guidance a people falls; security lies in many counselors. (Proverbs 11:14)

Blogtoberfest over at Jeri's Place

This month Jeri Smith-Ready is celebrating her blog birthday with Halloween themed guest posts and book give-aways all month.

Today is my day. So go over and see what I had to offer in the way of a ghost story and comment for a chance to win a signed copy of When Mike Kissed Emma.

Points for Honesty

Harry: My goal in life is to make people happy.

Me: Does that include your sister?

Harry (without missing a beat): No. Not usually.



Side note: this is post number one thousand. I should have thought of something fun and exciting to commemorate the event!

National Walk Your Child to School Day

Walking to school. It's something I did from fourth grade on. If the weather was particularly nasty there were rides involved, but otherwise I walked. Sometimes I walked alone, sometimes I walked with friends. Sometimes it was really cold and sometimes I needed an umbrella. But I understood that, in general, to get to school meant using foot power to get there.

Now my kids walk to school. It's not a hardship. The elementary school is roughly half a mile a way and the middle school about 3/4 of a mile. We've been walking since my daughter was in pre-school. It's a pleasant walk alongside a creek that is filled with geese and ducks and now even has fountains. We've seen turtles and egrets and hawks there as well. We go over a wooden bridge, and when it has rained recently the creek under the bridge rushes over the rocks likes waterfalls. We encounter two crossing guards on the way who always have a nice word. Walking isn't so bad.

I think it's important for the kids to walk to school. First, I want them to know that leaving the house does not automatically mean getting in the car. Second, the exercise is a good thing and when they then have to sit in school for six hours, I at least know there was some activity and exercise before they got there and will be some on the way home. Also, on days when it is blustery and not good days to play outside, once they've made the 15 minute walk home, I figure they've at least gotten some exercise and fresh air for the day and I don't mind if they stay in. Third, it's teaching them good safety rules. This is not my primary reason for walking, but whenever "Walk Your Child to School Day" comes around and people who don't usually walk hit the sidewalks the crossing guards always tell me how my kids understand about safely crossing the street and staying on the sidewalks, something she doesn't think a lot of those other kids quite get.

So, today is Walk Your Child to School Day. And it's raining. And my son is getting over a bronchial infection and guess what: I think we're driving today. But that's okay, because to us, almost every day is "Walk Your Child to School Day."

This was Pippi's last day of kindergarten, with our friendly local crossing guard.