Tricks and Treats and Jesus

I guess I needed a little time off from the blog. This loooong post indicates that maybe I shouldn't go so long without writing.

I spent the weekend taking care of three boys, and I'm sure that all of my boy-mom readers out there can attest to the fact that raising.boys.is.exhausting. Especially raising other people's boys. Here are a few quotes from the weekend:
“Stop choking your brother.”
“Yes, it is your turn to walk the dog.”
“Stop hitting your brother.”
“Do not put your brother in a chokehold.”

And, a personal favorite:
“We are about to go in a nice restaurant. Look through the window. Do you see the white tablecloths? You WILL behave in here. Do you understand me? You will be nice to each other and you WILL use your manners.”

I almost used a Pushing Daisies quote about there being vodka in the freezer because at this house, there was vodka in the freezer and I almost had a nip or two or twelve. And I know for certain their mother would not have blamed me.

Tonight is Halloween, and it is not without its issues. Tomorrow is The Sister's birthday, but we'll talk about that tomorrow. My mother saw me at 2:00 today and got all huffy that I couldn't come over tonight to celebrate with my sister, but I had plans that had been made more than two hours in advance, and had already left the house with the vodka in the freezer and didn't want to have to go to the store. So I ran out to get her a gift, since I totally thought I had until her actual birthday tomorrow to purchase said gift, and dropped off at The Parents' place with apologies for the lack of a card and um, you know,wrapping paper. We'll talk about the whole gift thing tomorrow because it is an ordeal in and of itself.

Every year, Halloween cracks me up. Some years, it falls on a school night, or even worse, a school night with a full moon. Those are the years we color and draw all day November 1st. This year, because Jesus loves me, He made it fall on a Sunday night.

There are two things about Halloween and Christians that crack me up. The first is the Community Events that all the churches put on in so that the community will come to them and not go to the local satan-worshipping activities that they would go to if not for the various Trunk or Treats. The funny part is that everyone has now started having them, especially since it's a Sunday night this year. The local community can go from the Baptists to the Methodists to the Lutherans to the Church of Christ's, and with multiple churches in each denomination, they can hit up about 10 - 15 candy bonanzas if timed right. And they do.

The other thing about Christians and Halloween is the debate about whether or not to even acknowledge the holiday itself, or simply black out the entire church and parking lot in a rather ominous protest against Satan and ghosts and goblins. I think it's ridiculous.

One of my sudents' parents apparently don't want him to celebrate Halloween. I would not have known this if not for his little sister, who happens to be one of our kindergarten reading buddies. When I was doing a Halloween hidden picture, she said they weren't allowed to do anything Halloween. Hmmm. I knew his parents didn't want him watching the Harry Potter movies in class (which I don't show anyways), but based on some of the words that have come out of his mouth (like "freaking" which is strickly forbidden in my class), I wouldn't have guessed them to be the type to forbid the Halloween. Luckily, they didn't forbid "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" because that would have thrown a serious kink in my plans.

Jesus, however, would have loved Halloween, I think. He loved kids, and I have to think He would have gotten a kick out of dressing up and making children happy by giving them candy (if they'd had it in His time on Earth). Just my thoughts.

And the trick? Well done. I went to get some hot and ready pizza for the evening, because after three boys for over a weekend I could not be bothered to cook. I had to squeeze between two cars, and as I passed by one the window rolled down and the driver said "Hello there..." and it.freaked.me.out. I don't live in the kind of neighborhood where this happening is considered a good thing. It's considered a 'beat whatever just did that with your purse' thing. I basically ducked like someone was swinging at me, and found a church member laughing at me hysterically. It was not someone I conversed with often, which made it funnier. Well played.