Posts Tagged ‘halloween’

by  Michael Marinus, an early thirties  dad of Megan(3) and James(1) who also works as a Chiropractor in Joburg You’ll find him on twitter @mikemarinus or visit his blog

We, like many South African families, live nestled away from the main roads and hub-bub of the city in a secure complex in the suburbs. This can, at times, be the cause of much frustration what with having to deal with body corporates and nosy neighbours, but it also allows for a safe environment in which our children can play, ride bikes and come 31st October, go trick or treating in the evenings without fear.

My wife and I found ourselves completely unprepared for this when the knock came on the door the year we moved in. “Trick or Treat” cried the ragtag bunch of miniature Batman’s, Princesses and Ben 10 lookalikes crowded around our front door shoving and jostling for position. We looked at each other in dismay and sheepishly ended up fishing in our wallets for coins and raiding the pantry for Safari dried fruit sticks.  That was, in our ignorance, all we had to offer.

This resulted in groans and half-hearted thank-you’s as they bustled out of our driveway shaking their heads in disbelief and comparing the contents of each other’s Pick ‘n Pay packets.  It has taken a hearty sweet collection and much convincing in the following years to entice them back to our door at Halloween and not have them scowl at us as they cycle past our house till Christmas.

Since having children of our own we have become more in tune with events like Halloween and now try our best to fill their baskets with ‘lekkers’,  sending  them home to their parents high on sugar for a night of no sleep, sore tummies and multicoloured vomiting.  Just what we would expect other parents to do to our kids.

This year my kids will be old enough to join in the fun and I am looking forward to haunting the complex along with them and all the mini Frankensteins, Wondergirls and hopefully the odd, proudly South African, Tokoloshe. Maybe we will even meet some new neighbours, one or two of whom I’m secretly hoping will be as unprepared as we were and the Scrooge McDuck title can eventually be handed over.

I encourage all parents to go pumpkins out this Halloween and share in your child’s and all the other children’s make-believe magic. Even if it is an American tradition, why not embrace it with South African style by dressing your little one up as Liewe Heksie while you do your best Johan van der Walt impression complete with teeth?  So give up an old sheet to transform your little angel into a growling ghost or use that tacky 70’s shirt taking up space in the back of your cupboard to complete his Austin Powers transformation!  Get involved and who knows, you might just look good in Superman leggings!

by Sine Thieme, a writer and mother of four who is new to South Africa and busy chronicling her experiences on her blog, Joburg Expat.

The golden leaves are waving in the crisp autumn air, little feet are scurrying onto porches lined with jack-o-lanterns, cries of “trick or treat!” are echoing through the neighborhood… Actually, that seems to be other people’s Halloween fantasy. Let me come right out and make a confession: I really do not like Halloween! I don’t like dressing up, I don’t like buying costumes, let alone sewing them, I’ve had to force myself to show enthusiasm going to the pumpkin patch to help the kids pick their pumpkins, I don’t like decorating the house, and most of all I hate all the candy coming home, on a weeknight to boot, when it seems like our goodie bags are still full from Valentine’s Day.

Imagine my delight about moving to South Africa: I’d finally be rid of having to deal with Halloween! But to my horror, I’ve since learned otherwise. Trick or treating seems to be the great new thing in all neighborhoods around us. What’s more, South African kids don’t seem to get the “or” part of “trick or treat” – from what I’ve heard, you end up dishing out candy and having your house vandalized. As every year, my kids are scheming what they’ll be this time, and trust me, it’ll involve brand-new gear. So not only am I looking at another round of trick or treating, I have the additional challenge of finding costumes and pumpkins and whatnot in a place I can’t even find apple sauce and chocolate chips!

But the good news is that at this time of year Joburg evenings are mild and balmy, so at least we’ll be strolling down the street in short sleeves, beer in hand, meeting some of our new neighbors while thinking of our friends back home who are breaking out the mittens and ski coats and freezing their butts off.

by Sine Thieme, a writer and mother of four who is new to South Africa and busy chronicling her experiences on her blog, Joburg Expat.

by Sally Cameron,  midwife, mother of 2 and co-owner of earthbabies. I am  passionate, creative, trying to be Green unschooling single mom.  It’s a journey.

My daughter looks forward to Halloween every year it is one of the highlights of the year for her. She really got into the whole idea when we lived in the UK for 2 years. I was worried that we would not be able to find anything to replace the fun she was used having when they went trick or treating around the neighbourhood.

 The idea of Halloween has really taken off in SA over the last few years and there were actually quite a lot of different activities to choose from. I heard about Halloween Zoo at Johannesburg Zoo and we decided to give it a try. I was so impressed. The turn out was amazing and people went to so much effort with the costumes, young and old alike dressed up and got into the spirit of the day.

The zoo had various Halloween themed displays for  kids and lots of Halloween inspired decorations all around. We then had a picnic on the grass and all the parents took along bags of sweets. The  kids ran around from one picnic blanket to the next trick or treating. They had lot and lots of fun and it was declared to be as much fun as going door to door in England.

 My daughter and I dressed as witches and it was not without a little hesitation from me. In ancient times the women who were labeled as witches, when Christianity spread to those areas, were often midwives, healers and wise free thinking women. They were seen as a threat to the church and their healing powers were attributed to be other than God and therefore evil. Witchcraft was declared a heresy and many innocent women were tried and executed. As a midwife myself , someone always drawn to natural healing  I wonder if I would not have been a prime candidate for being burned at the stake for heresy.

 I think we got the balance right of being quite lovely witches, and if it is to identify with those who suffered, then I wore the costume proudly.

 How did you and your family spend Halloween?

How much should we remember the symbolism behind these holidays or do we just celebrate them on their fun and commercial value now?