I decided after my first Halloween in college that kid Halloween is the better Halloween.
Candy, costumes (the non-Playboy variety), and doing things just for fun. The kids got the better deal.
I figure other people about my age might feel that way too, and they might not have little kids of their own as a built in excuse for participating in kid Halloween.
Enter, the Catholic young adult Halloween party!
I theme it, decorate like mad, whip up a lot of food that is of the "looks cool but is secretly simple" variety, and invite ALL of the Catholic young adults I can find.
It's a hoot.
This year it's a Harry Potter party!
I've been reading aloud the first book to 3 year old John as a special mom and John only thing. I thought he wasn't listening too much, but some of the storylines have worked their way into his playing lately. (And the nerd time begins...)
He got to pick his costume yesterday (at the Dollar Tree). Behold Sir John!
I'm not sure if we're going to call him one of the enchanted suits of armor or make him into one of the ghosts.
Therese is going to be Dobby. As in the house elf. She is going to be a baby house elf! I'm saving that cuteness for the post-Halloween version of this post.
The extra creative fun part comes in for all of the days post-Halloween: All Saints and All Souls.
And John is finally old enough for my awesome ideas to go into effect!
On All Saints, you get to keep wearing your costume, but now you have been transformed into a saint!
John will probably be St. George, but we might find someone more obscure for funsies. Therese will probably be a beggar girl of some sort.
The highlight of All Saints is All Saints Dinner. I try to make a dish that reflects each of the individual saints. The fun part is the kids get to wear their costumes to dinner but (as much as age possible) they have to be in character. So if you are Roman, prepare for the pig Latin!
On All Souls the costumes get put into their "grave" (aka. the box I will hide at the top of the closet until the next rainy day) and we get ready to remember our dead.
I try to go to the local Catholic cemetery, even though we don't personally know anyone there. I make a red construction paper heart and we write down the names of everyone we know who has died. Our family altar will morph into a memorial altar with the paper hearts, I buy extra large white votive candles to try and keep burning whenever we are home during the month of November.
This year, there is a neighborhood Dia de los Muertos celebration just down the street from us, so we might participate in that. That involves a candle light procession and collaborative memorial altar. That obviously won't be distinctly Catholic, but it's about a pseudo-Catholic of a celebration that I can ever hope to happen in Berkeley.
So what are you doing to celebrate the trifecta of mid-fall holidays?
Kirby, I think it's great that you host young adult parties-I was totally thinking about this kind of thing the other day. I like dressing up in a cool costume, eating candy, and playing games-but all of the events seem to be directed towards families with kids or just for the kids themselves! Ugh! I'm still new to this diocese, so there might be young adult stuff happening, I'm going to search around and talk with people :)
ReplyDeleteIn college, we always had a Fall break over Halloween weekend, so usually a couple of us would get together, watch "Van Helsing," eat candy, maybe wear last-minute costumes, and then go to Mass for All Saints Day. One year, a campus friar celebrated the 3 consecutive Requiem Masses on All Souls Day, which were pretty cool!
Usually, though, my husband and I both take this Saintly Triduum in a pretty low-key way.Maybe a movie and bowl of candy on Halloween, Mass and candy shopping on All Saints Day (Walgreens always has their candy 50% off then), and going to Mass and a cemetery on All Souls Day! There are other little things I've done before-or want to do this year-and I've been trying to find the time and organize my thoughts into a cohesive blog about it, but who knows if that'll happen? :)