I am not looking to be controversial by posting this blog. I have some thoughts and I want to share them.
Halloween is an interesting holiday. Once my parents became "religious" Halloween became a holiday we did not celebrate. I did not wear a costume and I did not go trick-or-treating. My parents did not decorate the house and Halloween usually meant staying at home, in the dark, watching movies and begrudgingly giving out candy if anyone was bold enough to ring our doorbell. In other words, Halloween sucked. Every year I had the "GREAT DEBATE" about Halloween in my head. Halloween is about candy! Halloween is a Pagan holiday! Halloween is about wearing a costume! Purim is a good holiday for wearing a costume. (And let's be serious, usually it's just the kids that dress up and the costumes are usually pretty lame.) Halloween is celebrated by all my friends - it's just a great excuse to P A R T Y!!! They are celebrating the dead... ewww. As a woman in my 20's I treated Halloween as any other day of the week and a couple of times I went to clubs/parties and joined the fun. I dressed up because it was the theme of the party, not because it was Halloween. When Sadie was born I bought her a bunch of costumes on ebay. Partially it was fun to troll the internet all night long as I nursed Sadie and partially I wanted to put her in as many cute costumes as possible and take photos of her before she got too big to be a green bean/ladybug/teddy bear/cow. I remember when Halloween rolled around everyone told me how they couldn't wait to see Sadie's costume - how she would be so cute in whatever costume I picked out for her. I didn't know how to tell people that *gasp* Sadie was not going to wear a costume. I don't celebrate Halloween. Now, Sadie was too young to argue with me and Halloween came and went without a peep of argument from her. This year I had the great debate and realized I didn't want Sadie celebrating Halloween. I know it makes me a horrible parent. The worst really. I mean, how can I not let my child dress up and collect candy and have fun with all her friends? At this point in time I don't want her doing it. I want her to celebrate "our" holidays: Rosh Hashana, Purim, etc. This isn't set in stone and I am not going to forbid Sadie from participating in the fun when she's old enough to have a discussion with me about it. I strongly feel she needs to know she is a Jew and what her holidays are about before she participates in celebrating a holiday we don't believe in. Honestly, I don't know what is the right answer. A majority of people dressing up are not worshiping idols or participating in a pagan celebration. They are dressed up to have fun. That's the whole point. I get that. Still, I'm not sure if it's really appropriate to participate. Thoughts?
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I completely feel you on this one!
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Meet the Blogger!
I'm a mom. A writer. A lover of good fantasy. A proponent of nursing when possible. A birth advocate. I am absolutely horrible at keeping my house clean or the dishes washed or the laundry done. I strongly believe in women having a positive birth. When we start to respect women's rights to birth the way they want, we can start to treat women as equal people in this world. Archives
February 2016
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