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Halloween Show ‘n Tell 2014 {Spin Cycle}

I knew it was going to be cold on Halloween this year. But I didn’t expect to wake up to snow!

snowy Halloween

Earlier in the week it had been quite a bit warmer, which was wonderful for the annual Pumpkin Patch at Lily and Emmy’s school. Kids can decorate pumpkins (but not carve them) and bring them to school for a contest. Well, it used to be a contest, but this year it was just a pumpkin show. As we were bringing our pumpkins to school, one of the moms we ran into told me she was glad she only had a couple more years of decorating pumpkins. She and her husband had stayed up late painting her daughter’s pumpkin!

I just give each kid a pumpkin and some paint, and tell them they’re on their own. It works for them.

Lily and her vampire bat pumpkin
Lily and her vampire bat pumpkin
Emmy and her witch
Emmy and her witch

On Halloween, I sent them to school in their costumes, another new policy at our school. Everything I did that day was Halloween-y. First was the Halloween party at my preschool, which was a huge success thanks to our awesome parent volunteers. After work, I went to Lily and Emmy’s school for their Halloween parade. It was so cold outside that the parade had to be in the gym. The kids went to their classrooms for their Halloween parties, and then had an early dismissal. Finally, it was time for the main event of the day; trick-or-treating!

pinkie pie and bat

Oh. my. word. So. much. candy!

I’m still helping my kids eat their Milky Ways and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups! How was your Halloween? Link up your Halloween recaps here!

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Masks {Spin Cycle}

As a preschool teacher, I have to dress up in a costume on Halloween. As a preschool teacher, I don’t wear a mask with my costume on Halloween. Why not? Because the little ones I teach would freak out if their teacher appeared as someone different! A mask would hide my familiar face, and preschoolers need to see a familiar face when they come to school. Not wearing a mask is fine with me; it’s hard to breathe or see with a mask on. Wearing a mask makes me all claustrophobic.

Emmy Bunny Hat

Masks can also give you a sense of freedom, however. I’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade ball. The movies always make it look so romantic. To dance with a partner who wears a mask, have him fall in love with you, and then he turns out to be the prince. *sigh*

A figurative mask can be also freeing. Take a mask like this blog, for instance. When I began it, I thought I was invisible behind my blog and my fake name. I could write whatever I wanted and no one would know it was me. I once wrote a post about someone who wasn’t playing nice. I told the story in my favor, of course. I was in the right and she was in the wrong.

This mask of mine, however, proved to be weak. Too many people knew that I wrote this blog. Terrified that this person would somehow stumble onto my blog, I deleted the post. As far as I know, she never read my words, but I became scared of hurting someone if I wrote my feelings publicly. Sometimes I write whole blog posts in my head but never write them down just for that reason. And that, my friends, can make my blog quite safe and boring when I hide my true opinions. That’s a mask of a different kind, isn’t it?

Masks are complicated, more complicated than they seem at first. Do you wear a mask?

Take a look at some of the great posts about masks that these wonderful bloggers have written!



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