All Hallows Eve

Being on holiday last week meant that I didn't have to tolerate the banality of Halloween and trick-or-treating children. Theological objections aside the Americanisation that make this the second most commercially "holiday" after Christmas brings out the grumpy old man in me.

However, the break at Centerparcs made me realise what it is that really bothers me: it isn't the children, after all, but the adults that accompany them. Centerparcs got in on the act by putting on a Halloween treasure hunt - which we were happy to opt out of - but the spectacle of adults in fancy dress paying over the odds for pre-carved pumpkins seemed to be over-indulgent parenting at its worst.

Next day, the pumpkins were on a sale pile and the Christmas trees were up!

...But that was not exactly a surprise.

Last week we had 34 kids attend our church's Light Party. Not sure they didn't all get dragged into Halloween nonsense as well, but hopefully something we were able to share last week has stuck with them.