In my family Halloween received almost more attention that Christmas! My mom loved to help us put together costumes, always homemade, we carved lots of big pumpkins, roasted the seeds (which I never ate) and ran around our neighborhood mingling, scaring and collecting candy. Now that I have a child I found I was almost as excited as my mother used to be. This year though, because of demanding school assignments, Dave was in charge of putting Corrina's costume together. He was inspired by the flashy light on the side of her head and decided to go with a Borg (star trek) themed costume. She ended up looking more like a generic robot, but, she was among the few children we saw who actually had homemade costumes plus she sported real working lights!
Dare to Compare!


We took Corrina to one of the large city malls where they were hosting a trick or treat event. Basically the kids went up to stores that were handing out candy and were given treats! It was warm, safe, quick and fun! Corrina did not understand why people were giving her candy, and would look at people with a "are you sure you were suppose to do that" sorta face when something was plopped into her bag. She would stop in the middle of the mall halls and start sifting through her back trying to figure out what was in there. She didn't know that she was carry around every child's dream, she thought they were little toys! That is, until mommy unwrapped a lollipop and enlightened her!

Now, although the mall was alot of fun, I just can't pass up going door to door because I think it is such a community bonding event. I think it is a neat time to meet new adults and kids and really feel a sense of living together. Yes, I know it revolves around death and candy, but I always find that people are excited to see their neighborhood kids out doing something safe with their time. I think it is a shame that people get down on teenagers for trick or treating because the things some teens end up doing on that night are less than safe and really don't build community. (of course, I do expect teens to dress up if they are going out and about!).

Anyway, enough with my rant, let me tell you about Dave's rant: "janie, i think most of these costumes were bought at Walmart, that sucks" Dave could not stand all the mass produced factory costumes. He was really upset that people don't make costumes anymore, but we can understand why: life is busy and people don't necessarily learn certain skills anymore because they have become obsolete. Dave took the challenge though and learned a few sewing skills to put this costume together. I am proud of him. I felt his rant too, in a different way. Now there are certain stores that we don't shop at because I don't believe it is right to dress my child in clothes made by exploited children in other countries. Children making clothes for children is not my idea of Christian living. I kinda felt this way about halloween this year too. I doubt that the majority of these store bought costumes were ethically produced by fairly paid workers. I feel this way when Christmas rolls around too. It would be impossible and expensive to everything ethically produced, but I challenge you to consider the harm our holidays and celebrations do to our fellow humans around the globe (as I write this I am realizing that the little lights on Corrina's costume were probably not made in decent working conditions. Does anyone know where you can buy Christmas lights that are made ethically?). We may be having fun but at what cost? In the spirit of halloween, I guess that's my scary message.