And one more thing...
About Halloween. I need to vent. Tonight I had to run out for candy because we have a school party tomorrow with the other homeschooling families in our area. It's that time of year again. The time when we teach our children that begging is its own reward. I'm no Halloween scrooge but I do believe that somebody needs to lay down some basic ground rules for this holiday.
1- No manners, no candy. One year I actually heard two little boys in my neighborhood planning to take the whole bowl off my porch while I was standing hidden from view just inside the doorway. The conspiratorial tones in eleven year old Billy and Austin's voices made it clear they knew they were about to do something wrong but they were going to do it anyway. So I stepped out from the shadow, scared the you-know-what out of them and gave them a lecture on honesty. Then I kicked their prepubescent butts off my porch without so much as a tootsie roll. (That's conservative parenting in action...)
2- There is an age limit. Very few people are cute in costumes after say 12 and while some teenagers can carry it off, no adults are able to. At our last duty station, we lived in officer housing and the off post community would flock to our neighborhood because they figured we were going to load them up on Hersheys. No problem. I don't care where the kids come from and I do give out the good stuff. But I have issues with a man older than I am walking up to my door with no costume and his $80 Reebok hoodie turned up for me to throw candy into. What the hell am I handing out here, checks and cheese? Give me a frigging break. My husband puts long hours in to earn his money and I'll be darned if I'm dropping 50-75 bucks on chocolate to give it to a man who clearly can afford to get all of his clothes at Foot Locker. If you're that desperate for candy, shop at Wal-Mart with the rest of America. No lie, this guy and several others showed up on my porch every year we were in New York. They usually said nothing - not even a comedic trick or treat, not thank you. Nothing. They usually just glared at me over the lollipops they were already sucking on with a smirk and a hand out. It was a candy raping - a goodwill violation.
3- If your baby is in the car sleeping, then he/she is clearly too young for Halloween. Nothing is more annoying than a parent coming up on my porch and asking for candy for a child that is usually too young to eat it anyway. That's not trick or treating, that's pimping your one year old. Get a job.
I'm hoping to have a better experience in my new neighborhood. Everyone here seems to have a grasp on what's appropriate and what's not. The last four years in New York definitely left me with a bad taste and even more loathing of the American welfare state. We can't even enjoy a children's holiday without people turning it into a moochfest. That's what entitlement has done for low income New Yorkers. And that's what socialist policies are doing to America generally - breeding lazy beggars who feel entitled to hand outs, not only to meet their needs but to fulfil their whims. Sick. Sick. Sick.
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When they come to my door over 14 with no costume - I tell them that's the scariest damn thing I ever saw and ask them if they're supposed to be Pumpkinhead.
Comment by Dugg— 2006/10/19 @ 08:14 PM — (Reply)
I liked Halloween when I was a kid. After I had children though I wanted them to know they were different. First let me clarify that I am not a Halloween nazi. I am not one of those Christians that think Halloween is in and of itself spiritually dangerous. But my wife and I got to thinkin' how can we remind our kids that their home is not of this world? Halloween and Santa Claus was how we chose to teach them this. (again I have nothing against these two things). We just thought it would be a lesson to our children...to try and give them guts about who they are in the Lord.
and no I don't think anyone who celebrates Halloween or has Santa over on Christmas is a bad parent.
Comment by elmers brother— 2006/10/19 @ 09:04 PM — (Reply)
I figured these were opportunities to teach my little ones how easily trugh gets perverted by both the well intentioned faithful and the willfully deceptive. Any holiday that has a basis in Christianity or a relationship to it, we discuss it's history, the doctrinal truths that may have spawned it, etc. And then we acknowledge that the current practice is largely secular and has become a cultural tradition rather than a religious one.
My oldest at 7 is already demystified about almost every holiday. I haven't been blunt about Santa but I did have him read the "Yes Virginia" letter last year as a school assignment and we discussed the joy that comes from giving and how, with or without Santa, the spirit of selfless giving is a Christlike attribute (in fact, the primary characteristic) and well worth celebrating.
It's hard helping them see past the candy and presents, sometimes, but well worth the effort.
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/20 @ 10:31 AM — (Reply)
you're right Cate....we haven't left those historical or spiritual bits out either. It's given them opportunities to share the Lord with others and given them the stomach for what's to come.
Comment by elmers borother— 2006/10/20 @ 07:10 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/20 @ 07:20 PM — (Reply)
Cate, don't take it personally some evangelical Christians take Halloween very seriously. Some churches that I have attended have also felt the same way. Ask them if they ever celebrated Easter with the Easter bunny or Santa at Christmas to see if their views are consistent. Otherwise I feel it's majoring on a minor.
Comment by elmers brother— 2006/10/21 @ 12:50 AM — (Reply)
I'll grab the virtual PBR and be right over!
Say...I'm learning about trackback pings and will try one out on you this morning, but Im not sure how to know I did it right. Check my site for your shameless plug if the ping itself fails.
Comment by seejanemom— 2006/10/21 @ 07:33 AM — (Reply)
A man was walking home alone late one foggy night,
when behind him he hears:
BUMP.................
BUMP.........
BUMP....
Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.
BUMP.........
BUMP.....
BUMP...
Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.
FASTER.......
FASTER.....
BUMP.....
BUMP....
BUMP...
He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.
However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping
Clappity-BUMP........
clappity-BUMP......
clappity-BUMP...
on his heels, the terrified man runs.
Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding;
his head is reeling;
his breath is coming in sobbing gasps.......
With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.
Bumping and clapping toward him......
The man SCREAMS and reaches for something, anything,
but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!
Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...
and...
.....
(hopefully you're ready for this!!!)
...
The coffin stops!
Comment by elmers brother— 2006/10/19 @ 09:27 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Dugg— 2006/10/20 @ 05:28 AM — (Reply)
You are FABULOUS! Thank you for the comment ! I am a UGA grad, a Marine Officer's wife, Conservative backslid Baptist with filthy mouth(who sends her kids to Christian school and IS a Halloween scrooge) and I cut the sh*t down the middle. I adore your style. I'm adding you to my tiny blogroll right away!! I'm going to focus on parenting and the rot of society and its impact on our children. I'll be back here tomorrow!
Comment by seejanemom— 2006/10/20 @ 03:12 PM — (Reply)
We can form our own southern conservative mommy club ;-) I'm an NC native glad to finally be home after a long absence and also an Army officer's wife(ret). Sounds like we have a lot in common. You can hang out on my virtual stoop anytime.
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/20 @ 06:53 PM — (Reply)
Obviously I suck at this whole threaded comment thing. I do apologize. See 4-7 above for comment meant to be here. Dufus. Sorry.
Comment by seejanemom— 2006/10/21 @ 07:43 AM — (Reply)
It takes a little bit of getting used to. My blog was born during a stifling 6 month TDY at the Pentagon when my husband was gone long hours and I was in a cramped apartment with 4 children and not even a television to distract me. Didn't take long to get hooked on the blogs, let me tell you
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/21 @ 08:42 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/10/21 @ 08:44 AM — (Reply)
Hardly ever an another adult voice. It was rough - very isolating. What I would have given for a news channel!
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/21 @ 08:53 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/10/21 @ 09:17 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/21 @ 09:22 AM — (Reply)
Sorry I am not responsible for accessories or their return.
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/10/21 @ 09:32 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/21 @ 09:40 AM — (Reply)
So it wasn't really about the money...it was about the hard work we had put into this.
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/10/21 @ 09:46 AM — (Reply)
We live in a McWorld where most people don't value their money and so businesses don't feel compelled to value it either. Relatively few people return items (except right after Christmas) or battle companies with whom they have a complaint unless there is a big ticket item involved. Gone are the days when people stand in front of a store with a sandwich sign proclaiming how they were wronged or sold a lemon.
Our affluence is causing us to shoot ourselves in the foot and letting businesses off the hook.
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/21 @ 10:05 AM — (Reply)
You're right. There are times when I have just said what's the point and taken a loss. I am probably going to write the BBB or the consumer affairs. What was an even greater frustration was the rudenes (hanging up). They know they have you over a barrel. If this one goes out, I'm going to ask for my money back.
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/10/21 @ 10:12 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/10/21 @ 01:32 PM — (Reply)
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Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/10/21 @ 12:49 PM — (Reply)
Barry if you would switch from your libertarian/independent ways you could be a rich Republican and afford a plasma tv
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