halloween

Happy Halloween!

Ok, that’s out of the way. I mean, I feel so obliged to say that but it also feels like I moved to a new country as an adult and Halloween is one of their customs so I do Halloween now. I am definitely, decidedly and firmly on the side of cute Halloween tempered with historical Halloween.

So. My kids can dress up for daycare, or if C comes up with an idea that is achievable (NOT a werewolf which is what her heart desired this year), she can wear that. This year, E and S were both ghosts for daycare’s dress-up day on Thursday. Thank you, old white sheets and good scissors and the makeup I rarely use and Glenn’s makeup artistry skills.

They were all sore at me for not taking them trick or treating. I’m not sure how they actually think trick or treating works, but in our street with [doing a mental walk along our street] I think only two actual houses and all the rest apartment buildings and no-one visibly decorated for Halloween, I can’t see this as a successful venture. Not to mention the discomfort I feel about strangers getting to know my chatty, friendly, open children. No. Thank. You.

This is how Halloween happened for us this year instead.

I made a barm brack, an Irish Halloween bread. I was hoping it would be a lovely success and I could share a recipe here but it did not go brilliantly and I will be hunting for a different recipe for next time. E and S were allowed to watch Wicked on daddy’s computer while C was at school. I filled themed candy moulds with white chocolate and mango bits and Biscoff biscuits. I prepped some boo-nanas. Afternoon tea ended up being Oreos (original as well as mint) and Milo for the girls, tea and brack for me. We watched Hocus Pocus over afternoon tea and dinner. This was my first time watching it and all the girls seemed to enjoy it. C did one of her pretending to like something because she thought I wanted her to like it but actually it was too scary so there went my night.

Dinner was mummies and bread cut out into pumpkin and ghost shapes. Girls were so tired though that not all that much was eaten but apparently it was DELICIOUS because there were dots of honey holding the mummy eyes onto the pastry.

After baths, and when S was asleep already, I showed E and C how to make paper strip lanterns and we made a line of them up the hallway. Halloween craft done, plus it meant we had lovely flickering LED tea lights making the place cosy.

Girls had some of the chocolate on Saturday at morning tea, but honestly were more excited about having bonus frozen mango alongside it. Boo-nanas were a hit, as per usual, and I have been informed by C that this is our Halloween tradition. Must not skip it ever.

Admission: I’m not a huge fan of Halloween. I’m not a huge fan of dressing up, or seeing loads of ghosts and witches and zombies and ghouls. Or worse, oodles of princesses and fairies and mermaids and just any costume. I’m not a huge fan of being scared, or tricks that give a thrill, or scary movies that frighten me silly.

I am, though, very much a fan of observing the things that make up the rhythm of a year. Doing certain things only at certain times of the year. And, although my family didn’t do Halloween when I was growing up because it was ‘too American’ I am married to an Irishman and Halloween is, actually, Irish.

Hello, Halloween.

This year, as well as doing daycare dress-up, we’ve done some craft and some food and talked a little bit about some of the Irish and Scottish traditions of Halloween. Including the origin of the jack-o-lantern which was enough spookiness for me for this year thank you very much.

Dressing up:

C chose to be a ghost this year. The last two years she opted for black cat (yay for reusing props!) but this year when I asked what she wanted to be, and told her she could be a black cat, or a pumpkin (please no) or a witch or a ghost, she was very excited about the ghost option. Easy. One white sheet I was wanting to repurpose anyway, folded, cut into a circle, head hole cut out a little too big so pleats sewn in, tassels cut in so she could be extra spooky when she ran, eyeliner to make ghostly eyes (Glenn is great at applying makeup). I had to laugh to myself when we got to daycare and the teacher who greeted her asked if she was a ghoul or a friendly ghost and C really didn’t look enthusiastic about being a friendly ghost. She wanted to be a scary ghost. Gold.

Craft:

We made paper jack-o-lanterns, and bought some battery-operated candles to put inside. (I’m very happy that $3 for 6 candles was actually the only purchase for the whole Halloween.) C was quite happy cutting along the lines to make the lanterns, and then insisted on cutting her tape to tape them together.

Food:

On Saturday we made chocolate cupcakes, and decorated them on Sunday. Icing dunked in ground pistachios then adorned with candy eyeballs and fondant tongues = monsters. We tried to make pumpkins with fondant and icing but they looked more like sad St Patrick’s Day flowers or something (very Cake Wrecks) so we turned them into orange monsters instead. And, thanks to Pinterest, I found Barmbrack bread. An Irish bread baked around the time of Halloween, that Glenn remembers having as a child. The enjoyment I found in baking it told me it will be a staple of our future Halloweens. Not just the act of soaking fruit then mixing dry and wet ingredients and baking in a loaf then slicing and toasting and eating with butter while drinking tea. It’s more than that. It is the making of something only at a particular time of the year, part of the rhythm of the year and the rhythm of our life.

The Stuff of Our Life

Halloween 2025

Halloween 2021