Today I had a fairly heated discussion with someone quite dear to me and whom, perhaps until this disagreement today, I respected greatly. The topic is a very seasonal one: Halloween, or more specifically, a party which the mums in the Girl’s class have decided to organise for our daughters. The way we see it, it will be an occasion for the girls to be together, get dressed up (what little girl doesn’t like to dress up?!?), have a little bit of party food, run around, and generally get themselves nicely tired so that we can all enjoy a peaceful evening afterwards. Halloween is only a pretext, and given that this is a dress-up holiday par excellence, and that it falls during the half term, it seemed a no brainer to us. After all, this is just a bunch of four year-olds who deserve to have a bit of fun, given how many hours they now spend in school each day, and how much they are made to work during term time.
Unfortunately, some people in our church take a very radical view to Halloween, associating it with all manner of things evil, darkness, witchcraft and danger, and vociferate against it as if this were one of the most pernicious ills of our world. Our innocent children’s party is tarred with the same brush and seen to fall in the same category. I find an accusation like this almost too outrageous to deserve a response, and yet, because I am a Christian, and because I find this radical form of belief hugely off-putting, and precisely the kind of hard-headedness that I used to loathe about Christianity before I turned to it, I feel I need to address it openly. Continue reading “Why I will let my daughter go to a Halloween party”
of weaning the Girl four years ago was a NIGHTMARE. After starting her on solids too early because I was so keen to start, then stopping and starting again when she was six months old, things did not improve much the second time around. She gained very little weight, was fussy and often unhappy, and I quickly grew despondent and defeated, and hated pretty much every mealtime. In contrast, weaning the Boy has been an ABSOLUTE DREAM: he devours anything I give him, a whole 2 oz of puree at each meal (I was actually worried I was overfeeding him at first, since the books say that babies should only take about 1 oz at the beginning), and if anything, I can shovel food into his mouth fast enough for his liking! Of course, you could tell me that this is the typical difference between a girl and a boy, and my kids do seem to fit the stereotype. The Girl has always been dainty and diddy, on the 25th centile of development, and she has always worn clothes for a younger age than her own because she is so skinny; in contrast, the Boy is chubby, chunky, sturdy, and he has been on the 75th centile since birth. However, I am sure that there is more to it than just stereotypes, particularly when it comes to something so delicate and complex as the weaning process… Here is what I have learned: 
woodsofwhite 
