In the past Halloween seasons, our family sees to it that we spend time together doing activities that we can only do during vacations and holidays because my wife and I were then starting our respective careers in the industry.  ‘Tis the time for movie/tv series marathons, beach frolics and park/mall hangouts.  The most Halloween participation we had was to prepare goodies for neighbor trick-or-treaters.

Because of many invitations from their classmates this season, the whole family (except for the baby) got a taste of this popular western tradition.  It’s our kids’ first time to have fun with scary creatures and another chance to confront issues about death and afterlife in not so serious way.  My two eldest kids had known the concept of death when their puppy died in a road accident a few years ago, followed by the death of their grandmother about a month later.

For most of the younger trick-or-treaters, it was just a costume party involving many houses with scary decors, and then getting candies just for showing up.  Sweating it out at the village’s playground with friends afterwards seemed to erase the creepiness of the whole ritual.

The movies my older kids watched in separate occasions had more impact than the scary decors they saw.  My daughter and her friends specifically asked not to have a bad dream in their prayers before hitting the sack during their sleepover.  My son was not satisfied with a prayer, and insisted on sleeping in our bed last night.  Twice I attempted to transfer him to his room and twice he came back.

In my time, my family did not have this Halloween tradition and I grew up eventually liking horror flicks regardless of the season.  What’s my take on this tradition?  Making the idea of death fun might help children deal with it better when it occurs in the family.  Uhmm…maybe.  But at the very least, for me it’s a social event that promotes community spirit and interaction among neighbors and friends, which should be encouraged as many now prefers to spend more time online to the detriment of the good ‘ol days of good-neighborliness.

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The semester had just ended with the school’s Foundation Day show.  I’ve started thinking about what the kids can do during the break as early as last month.  Careful planning is needed as budget is tight, and we’ve also been itching to go on a road trip (once the baby is easier to handle). 

Pressure built on me as classes was increasingly devoted to rehearsals for the show.  Nothing concrete happened until the last day when we saw parents of other kids and invites for parties started turning out.

So it won’t be boring after all.  Here’s the list so far:

1. The semestral breakers hit off with two birthday parties in separate days but coincidentally in the same restaurant of a global fast food chain.
2. A sleepover for my eldest together with her small group of friends.
3. Halloween trick-or-treating for everyone.  It will be our kids’ first to actually roam about house to house, as we were contented with preparing candies and handing out treats to neighborhood kids in the past.  So with an old dress and crown for our eldest, a hand-me-down superhero costume for our toddler, and a cheap mask, paraphernalia and costume used in the show for our son, my wife and I came up with an activity that our kids could look forward to in the next few days.
4. A get-together with some friends and their kids that we’ve been putting off is finally going to happen on Sunday.  It’s also an opportunity to try a barbecue recipe my wife got from an online friend across the globe.
5. A family gathering to celebrate my brother’s birthday and a visit to my mom’s grave are scheduled for tomorrow.

So what I feared to be a long and expensive semester break might not be too bad after all.  I still have a few more days to fill before school is back again, so some more ideas not involving travel and a lot of spending would be greatly appreciated.  Would you be so kind to let me know?

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