From kindergarten to grade six, excitement pervaded our school on Friday. I saw everything from pirates to cheerleaders, superheroes to unicorns. But it seemed in every class, there were two or three Elsa’s! The Snow Queen from Frozen found her way into most classrooms – often as twins or triplets.
On this day, children have the opportunity to hide behind a mask, to take on a different persona, to ‘beg’ for candy: things that wouldn’t be acceptable any other day of the year. I spoke to one mom who said they love to ‘scare’ in their household. They go all out with costumes, decorations and pranks.
Some of my own treasured childhood memories involve Halloween traditions: using everything from boxes, paint and vacuum cleaner hoses to create costumes, watching “It’s the great pumpkin Charlie Brown”, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating and a traditional late night Halloween birthday party for a great aunt. Regardless of how much you and your family involve yourselves in Halloween, there is no doubt that this is a favourite day for most kids.
I leave the last words this week to the witches from Macbeth: “Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.”