Purple People Eater Was Here

In February when I was diagnosed with ocular melanoma and told I might loose the vision in one eye I asked the people in my church to pray that I wouldn't worry. (I tend to be a worry wart.)

The next day while I was walking the dog a tune kept running through my head and eventually I realized it was the One Eyed, One Horned Flying Purple People Eater. That song had been popular when I was in high school. Thinking of it made me laugh and every time I started to worry I'd remember the song and laugh again. That was an interesting answer to prayer so I decided to "be" a purple people eater in the Fall for Halloween.

So last night I wore purple with an eye patch and a shawl for wings. I couldn't get the paper party horn to stay on my cap, so I used a toy, plastic trumpet. Every time trick or treaters came to the door I'd blow the trumpet and tell them I was one eyed, one horned, flying, purple people eater and that was my horn.

I figured today's children wouldn't know that song, so I posted the words next to the front door. To my surprise, most of the kids said they remembered it from preschool or Kindergarten and walked away singing it. How times have changed!

By the way, because my tumor was down in the corner of my eye the proton beam radiation used to treat it didn't damage my vision at all so I'm not one-eyed, but I had fun last night.

Ten Little Tricksters

It's only August, but I want to tell you about a book for kids about Halloween. It never hurts to plan ahead.

Ten Little Tricksters is a standard counting story with a different number of kids - or spooks - in costumes on each page. It's not really scary, but captures the fun of trick or treating so kids will love this book.

If I were rich I'd buy enough copies to give all the children who come trick or treating to my house, but I can't afford to buy that many. However every family that buys a copy will find it's a great way to get kids excited about the holiday. Preschool and Kindergarten teachers will enjoy sharing it with their classes, too.

As you can see from the cover, Kevin Collier created illustrations that show the feeling of the book perfectly.

Now you've got plenty of time to go out and get this book before Halloween.

Just Curious

When I was a kid public schools in California could celebrate Christmas as long as they only talked about Santa Claus and not the birth of Jesus. My Jewish classmates were often sad because Santa never brought them presents even though they tried to be good. That wasn't okay.

In many public schools today Christmas and other religious holidays are no longer celebrated, partly because of the Separation of Church and State, and partly to avoid offending people.

But one religious holiday is usually celebrated: Halloween.

What? How can that be a religious holiday? Well, it is in the religion called Wicca. While only a small percentage of people in the US belong to that religion, schools stopped sharing "fairy tales" that refer to a "wicked witch" to avoid offending people who believe in that religion. So, why is Halloween still celebrated in the public schools?

Probably because nobody has complained about it yet. If even one parent complains a religious celebration can't be observed in the California schools.

But if we eliminate all religious celebrations we'll be eliminating a lot of fun.

I wish our public schools would allow kids to learn about various religions and cultures without encouraging them to change or question their own families' beliefs. And the kids should have fun doing that.

Halloween

Halloween was a lot different when I was a kid in the 1940s and 50s.

Back then it was a holiday all kids could enjoy. Since Wicca and New Age religions weren’t around yet it had no religious connotations and only little kids really believed in witches and ghosts.

Most children either wore costumes made by their mothers, or cut holes in old bedsheets and pretended to be ghosts. All sheets were white back then, and it was usually easy to find an old one that could be spared. Store bought costumes were thin plastic and so cheaply made they would usually get torn before the evening was over, so nobody wore them if they could help it.

Trick or treating was perfectly safe. Only the tiniest kids without older siblings needed adults to go with them, and we ate the homemade treats people gave us without hesitation, often before we got home. We usually had enough candy left in our bags to last for weeks.

At the end of the evening we'd snuggle into bed with full tummies and happy memories of our adventures.

Halloween

Halloween used to be just a fun holiday. Kids could safely trick or treat without adult supervision and almost nobody except little ones believed that witches or ghosts were real.

When Wicca became known as a religion members complained that traditional fairy tales portraying witches as wicked were discriminatory, so public schools stopped sharing them. Does that mean Halloween is a religious holiday? Should public schools stop letting kids celebrate it? If so, what holidays will be left for children to enjoy in school?