As a child, growing up in a part of South London which was, at the time (early 90’s) rather under-represented, Halloween was a given. Halloween seemed to be everywhere, and everyone celebrated it. Or at least that’s how it felt when I was 7 years old. I had a couple of very makeshift outfits, remember getting lucky with sweets for a few years in a row. I have experienced it, shared it with friends and also understood that as a Muslim family, we don’t really go in for it. My parents had humoured my brothers and I in the hope that once we had tried it a couple of times, we would grow out of it.
They were right. We did. And now, with my own children I am at a crossroads as to how to approach it. I can see the perspective of it as harmless fun, as a joyful way to bring in the dark days and colder months. A way to connect with other children in the neighbourhood and much of the ‘frightening’ aspects have definitely been watered-down. However, as a family we are intentional about deciding that it’s not something we want to encourage, especially as we are trying to make much effort to nurture our own traditions and heritage. To water the seeds of pride in our background, practice storytelling and bond ourselves to our own chains of ancestry and belief.
As a celebration to witness, we are happy to do this. To learn about the family fun that others do, we think is great. But choosing our own is also very important to us.
We took a rather ‘halloweeny’ trip to a pumpkin farm this week during the school holidays, and had a lot of fun, choosing our own and having a good laugh at all the decorations. But deeper than that, marvelled at mother nature’s ability to create such beautiful and bounteous produce, we stroked the ridges and bumps in pumpkins of all sizes and shapes. We learnt that pumpkin vines have tiny white flowers and counted the seeds which had exploded out of an unfortunate specimen.
Here is a peek at our first ever pumpkin picking experience:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Searching for the right sized pumpkin
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Some turban pumpkins in here too!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Feeling the ridges and textures of the pumpkins
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
We think these are Carnival pumpkins
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
We loved pumpkin bowling!
It was a really beautiful, wet and misty day. Witnessing without committing to Halloween. It feels comfortable, kind, and rooted in our truth.
How do you manage Halloween, if it is not your family tradition or religious practice to celebrate it? How do you feel about it and how do your children feel? I would love to hear.
Of course, if you do love Halloween you can read up lots more from the Babyccino Kids archive here.
Love and light
Zainab x
The post How we do Halloween, when we don’t do Halloween. appeared first on Babyccino Kids: Daily tips, Children's products, Craft ideas, Recipes & More.
