Just Little Ol' Me

So, as I said, we don't celebrate Halloween, but this year we went to a harvest party that our dance studio put on. They really played up attendance at all of the classes and I didn't have the heart to say no...but I did make it clear it was a Har.Vest. Par.Ty. NOT a Halloween party. I don't think we will go next year because there were a lot of kids dressed up as vampires, zombies, etc...which kind of takes away the point of it being a Harvest Party (not to mention they came home with bags FULL of candy--we're never going to get rid of it all!!!) ...but I digress...

The point of this blog was not about Halloween, but about costumes.

You see, Honor was super excited to go to the Harvest Party because all of her little friends kept saying what they were going to dress up as (it turns out that they meant for Halloween since none of her little friends came...but there I go digressing again...) For the last three weeks, Honor has been begging me to go to this Harvest Party and when I finally said, "yes" all she could talk about was her costume.

So, last night came around and I pulled out all the costumes that I had banished to the Mommy closet for lack of removal from dirty floors. I gave them a reprieve from the Mommy store and laid them on the ground for the kids to choose from. Ariana immediately decided on princess. Samuel went for firefighter. Connor went for Power Ranger--until he started practicing his ninja skills on his brother and I determined that Power Ranger would be...unwise--so he chose a knight instead (without a sword...).

Honor originally chose the doctor's coat, but it has been a while since we got that costume out and it was now more like a doctor's shawl on her so she had to change it up. Next she went for the fairy wings. She got quite excited about that because I promised glitter make up and jewels in the hair if she went as a fairy. We were all set with the fairy until she was informed that she would be required to wear tights. The child wears tights to dance class every week. She fights to wear tights every Sunday (even in the summer when I refuse because it is way too hot!). But when we told she would have to wear it with her fairy costume, she immediately decided that she didn't want to be a fairy. Ariana wanted the jewels and the sparkles, so she enthusiastically switched over--tights and all (actually I think the tights were the cherry on top for her).

Mommy: "Okay, how about a girl pirate?"

Honor: "I don't have any piratey shirts."

Mommy: "Sure you do...what about this one."

Honor: "It has a neck. I don't want to be a pirate."

Mommy: "Okay, how about a princess, like for your birthday."

Honor: "No."

Mommy: "A chicken? A lizard? A unicorn?"

Honor: "No. I don't really want to be anybody."

Mommy: "You don't want to wear a costume?"

Honor: "No, I just want to be me."

Mommy: "Are you sure?"

Honor: "Why can't I just be me?"


Well...when you put it that way...

Tin Soldiers and Happy Endings

Today for story time I read, "The Tin Soldier" by Hans Christian Anderson. The children listened attentively as I described the steadfast tin soldier with only one leg who bravely fought through the perils of the evil snuff goblin, falling three stories out of a window, floating down the raging rapids of the gutter into the dark drain, being chased by a rat, washing out into a canal only to be swallowed by a fish--all while standing erect, shouldering his rifle. The tin soldier had but one love: the little paper dancer, who gracefully balanced on one leg outside her paper castle, her only adornment was a large, blue sequin that was nearly the size of her head. However, the evil snuff goblin would not allow him to be with her and on the night of tin soldier's victorious return from the fish's belly, the goblin caused a little boy to throw the soldier into the fire. He immediately began to melt, all the while watching his beloved little dancer. But as he was melting someone opened the draft to the stove and in flew the little ballerina who immediately burned to a crisp. In the morning all that was left to be found by the cook was a little tin heart with a black sequin coal embedded in the center.

Honor: "Well, go on."

Mommy: "That's it. The story's over."

Honor: "No it's not. That wasn't a  happy ending. Finish the story."

Mommy: "No, Honey, the story's over. That was the ending."

Honor: "Moooommm. That. Was. NOT. A. Happy. Ending."

And thus Honor learned a hard truth: not all stories have a happy ending.

But all of my favorites do.

To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate...That is the Question

We don't celebrate Halloween as a family for a number of reasons. Before I list off those reasons, I want to clarify that we do not think other Christians are less godly if they do observe the holiday--I used to celebrate it as well. This is a personal conviction that we decided upon as a family.  You feel free to choose for your own family.

And now for the reasons...

1. We don't live in a neighborhood where homes are close together so it is inconvenient (this also saves us from having to purchase overpriced goodies since no one comes to our door.)
2. We only allow the kids a few candy treats at a time so a whole bag would last six months...multiply that by four. I just don't want to store candy for two years. And Daddy and I really don't need to help them out...
3. I don't want to pay for overpriced costumes for one night of fun. I'd rather wait a week or two and buy costumes for 75% off to be worn all year long.
4. If we absolutely feel the need to get dressed up, there are several harvest festivals we can go to in order to celebrate God's many blessings.
5. I don't want to encourage my children to make light of demons, witches, vampires, ghosts, the devil and other wickedness. Yes, I know they don't have to dress up as these things, but it is everywhere you look as part of the holiday. I find it difficult to tell them these things are bad 11 months out of the year, but perfectly okay for October. 
6. My kids don't care. Really.

But Connor summed it up best when were visiting Rieman Gardens last month at Iowa State University.  He surprised me actually because his chosen reason was not one that I had given him for why we do not celebrate Halloween. It was nice to see him making the connections on his own...

The gift shop was all geared up for the holiday, complete with a creepy-looking skeleton with blue flashing eyes. Connor is fascinated by all things skeleton...add blue flashing eyes and try to get him not to stare at it open-mouthed.

The welcome attendant noticed his curiosity and asked, "Oh, are you excited about Halloween?"

Connor answered, without missing a beat:

"We don't celebrate Halloween because it doesn't glorify God. I'm a Christian."

Great Explorers

Speaking of too much fiction...

The children were quick to notice that Christopher Columbus' voyage was a lot like the Voyage of the Dawn Treader...both were sailing somewhere that no one had been before. Both thought there would be sea monsters (well, there were Sea Monsters in Dawn Treader). And both landed on islands with strange natives.

So, if you ever want to read a more interesting account of Christopher Columbus' journey, check out Voyage of the Dawn Treader...

Ye Ol' Columbus Day

In honor of Christopher Columbus Day, I sat the children down on the couch and read a children's mini-biography of him to them (Cornerstones of Freedom, Christopher Columbus by R. Conrad Stein in case you were curious). We had already learned the poem, "In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." We had already talked about how he was a great explorer who discovered America for the Europeans. We already talked about how he had lived over 500 years ago.

On page 6 of the 31 page book, it says:

When he was twenty-five, he worked on a Flemish merchant ship that was attacked and sunk by pirates. Wounded and hanging desperately onto an oar, Columbus swam six miles through treacherous waters to the shore.

This was immediately followed by, "Arr!" and "Avast, ye mateys!" from Connor and Samuel, complete with scrunched eye and curled lip. Honor and Ariana both asked where the pirate ship was in the picture (it was a picture of Lisbon harbor during Columbus' time...the shore he landed on) For the next three pages, I had to explain that this is NOT a story about pirates.

Perhaps we read too much fiction...

Pertinacious Pupil

Mommy: "What is 54 plus 2?"

Ariana writes down 55.

Mommy: "54 +2 is 55?  I always thought it was 56."

Ariana (in all seriousness): "Well, you were wrong."