A party

This Halloween brought a lot more than candy and late night stomach aches to our family. We enjoyed a chance this year to "treat" our South African friends to a holiday that is truly American. As a family we planned a party for the kids we'd met through the neighborhood and through church. We thought we'd plan a few traditional games (bob for apples, decorate sugar cookies, ghost in the graveyard and donut on a string) and then let the kids "trick or treat" through the house by knocking on all the bedroom and kitchen doors. I stressed to my children that the party would not be possible unless they were willing to run the games and pass out the treats. The party wasn't "for" my kids but was to be given "by" my kids. This was my secret purpose; to help my children feel they could contribute in some way (even in a Halloween way) to the culture they were experiencing here in South Africa.

My kids moaned right at first, complaining that they wanted to trick-or-treat and they'd miss out on the games they weren't in charge of. But as the weeks went on and we went out to find supplies for each of their assignments (Bryn; donuts and bob for apples, Madi; cookie decorating of course, Mason; ghost in the graveyard, Porter; assistant to whoever's game he was attending) they became more and more willing to work as I'd asked. The week of the party we shopped and decorated and planned and baked. 60 sugar cookies from scratch, and the nearest thing to a halloween cookie cutter was a star...(I don't think we are in Kansas any more Toto...)

Party day came and the kids were as excited for Halloween as ever. All the planning for costumes and parties; it was buzzing in our house. Rain poured down all day, making difficult our outside plans for Ghost in the Graveyard and bobbing for apples, but the kids thought fast; we used the empty garage for the running game and modified it to "dead man wake" that the kids play on the trampoline. Bob for apples had to happen on the rain as the bin we'd purchased was leaky and we couldn't leave it on the tiled covered porch...but other than that our plans went forward.

The fun of all of this was the attendance. We had expected when we started that we'd have lik 10 kids and maybe 5 moms. But word spread fast, and we ended up with around 50 kids and probably 15-20 moms; even some dads came-one of those dads being JOHN! We were so excited to hear about an hour before the festivities began that John was skipping out of work to witness the fun. He was our photographer and cheerleader, and the whole deal was a lot more fun with him around.

With only 45 minutes before "start time" I hadn't quite finished all my preparations. Fortunately, our friend Evie came to the rescue as usual, along with Trust's wife Gracious who had also made a surprise appearance. The two of them put out the food and helped to finish dressing the babies in their costumes while I dressed in my costume and dug out the camera for photos of the decorations and kids. Then the guests began to arrive

Party time was complete pandemonium, but in a good way. We split up the guests according to age and had them rotate through each activity in 15 minute shifts. Then everyone met on the covered porch to eat and last we did trick or treat. Parents chatted and kids begged to take home helium balloons and uncarved pumpkins. The chocolate fountain lent to me by a friend (thanks Jan!) was a huge hit at the food table, everything from strawberries to cookies to fingers were dipped in South Africa's finest flowing chocolate...

Trick or treat was the best; with kids banging on the doors of our house in packs yelling "trick or treat" and us loading down their goody bags with "sweets". Obviously this doesn't happen often in South Africa, the kids could hardly believe their eyes to have handfuls of candy at their disposal as they walked from our home into their cars. I'm sure parents were surprised as well; but maybe not in a good way.

As all the kids and parents left my heart was filled with pride in my own children. Never once did they ask to leave their "posts". No complaints about missing out on the other games. No resistance to giving the party instead of receiving it. They even helped clean up! I was a proud mom in those moments as I saw Bryn hollering "ready, set go" and Madi writing names on the plates of the "littles" so they'd remember which cookie to take home. Mason was stellar stuck in the garage and explaining complicated rules to foreigners. John was a terrific photographer, Porter and generous host (shared his own trick or treats with a friend) and Molly and Lucy didn't melt down at all but worked the party crowd with smiles and sweetness. For all the loathing I have of this holiday it was the best way we've ever spent a Halloween

Happy Haunting everyone!