Pumpkins from a couple Halloweens ago. No way are we paying $3.99/kilo for a jack-o-lantern here.
Halloween is fast becoming a hot topic in Australia. Alright, who knows - maybe it's been a hot topic for years, but it is still a big debate: to Halloween or to not? I spent a lot of time in the car yesterday running various errands, so I got to hear a lot of talk radio. Every single show featured the host asking people to call in and give their opinions about Halloween. Some of the hosts were for it, but by and large, they were vocally and adamantly opposed. Now, not having grown up in a culture where it's perfectly normal this one night per year for little children to dress up in costumes and go knock on complete strangers' doors and beg for candy, I could see the reasoning in some of their arguments. But then there were the folks who were angry about yet another American import hitting Australian soils, seeing it as a money-grubbing opportunity for stores (which is ironic considering that the Christmas merchandise has been completely set up and in full swing for over a week now) and a certain loss of identity for Australian children.
I've always been one who's been bothered by Americans' tendencies to see an opportunity to adopt yet another holiday from another country for which Hallmark can sell cards and everyone has another excuse to party and get sloshed for a night (Cinco de Mayo, anyone?), but I gotta say, I'm glad for Australian children that Halloween is gaining popularity. First of all, with all the British traditions that Australia has - SO many - Halloween should just be considered another one of those. It's not an American holiday, after all. And second, it's just a fabulous holiday, full stop. I mean, too much candy and crap aside, is there any child or parent that really, REALLY hates Halloween? Okay, I'm sure there is the odd Scrooge out there, but by and large, it's just so fun!
Well, as one pro-Halloween caller on the radio said yesterday, it seems Halloween is here to stay. We had ONE trick-or-treater last year and didn't even bother making the boys costumes. I saw no merchandise in the stores. This year was a total turnaround - I noticed a huge increase in availability of Halloween decorations and costumes, and we had tons of kids come to our door last night. So many that I committed the unpardonable sin of running out of candy, which meant I had to dig into our stash of Tim Tams and hand those out. Our ward held a Boot 'n Loot activity ("trunks" are called "boots" here, after all) which was not only well attended, but showed some of the most impressively-decorated car trunks I've ever seen. Every parent and child there and every parent and child that came to our door to trick-or-treat was so happy, having so much fun. In the end, isn't that what Halloween is all about? So I say to Australia if you're going to reject American imports, get rid of the Justin Biebers, the McDonald's, and crappy American television shows. But please, please - accept Halloween with open arms.
As for Abe and Hank, we've had a sick week (which is why I'm blogging at this insane hour - too much congestion and coughing to be able to sleep), so Halloween was sort of a rush preparation. But I think we did well, all things considered.
(AKA Danny and the Chicken or Hank and the Dinosaur)
3 comments:
Awesome photos. Did the boys pick their costumes? I love Halloween. Not for the candy, but for the fall feel and the excuse to dress up.
No, we sort of commandeered the costume picking this year as we didn't decide to actually do costumes until about an hour before we left for the trunk-or-treat. Abe had been really sick for a couple days, so we weren't even sure we'd be able to go. Amazingly enough, we had a window of about six hours where everyone was feeling great, and the trunk-or-treat happened during that. Hence the hasty costumes.
Boot n' Loot. I like that. We should adopt that here in the States.
I think I could be considered a Halloween Scrooge. I stress too much over costumes, so that makes me not like Halloween.
Post a Comment