Thursday 1 November 2012

Going Galoshans

Galoshans. There's a good ole Scottish word for ye. It means 'guising' or trick or treating to use the now popular Americanism. Galoshans is a pretty local term, this part of Inverclyde is one of the few places in Scotland that still uses it apparently. In Scotland, it's tradition not just to go round houses collecting sweets but you have to 'perform'  as well. I like that part. Where i grew up in England, trick or treating for teenagers in particular was literally 'give us a treat or we'll throw an egg at your house,'  for little ones it was just going round sweet grabbing. In Scotland, kids are expected to tell a joke or sing a song. Its fun.

Did i just say FUN? For those that know me, i am NOT a fan of Halloween, it is not an occasion that sits comfortably with me. We're Christians, we go to church and im not comfortable with the evil, sinister side of Halloween. As well as that, i just dont get it! What is it celebrating? What's the point of it? Our country never used to be into it this much! On top of all that, i quite simply don't like the colour orange :)

However, i have kids now and there is no avoiding Halloween. Calebs school is decorated, they've been hearing stories about witches and such like for the past week and had a party yesterday. I was against 'celebrating' Halloween in anyway until i seen the pure joy in Calebs face at the thought of dressing up, going out with his friends in the dark and getting sweets lol On Tuesday he even told me he felt sad we had no Halloween decorations up. So....all of a sudden i became Halloween-ised (and yes, i know that's not a word).

We carved our pumpkin (i would have done this anyway, even before kids Matthew and i had a pumpkin each)


We made paper bats, painted them and hung them on the window.

We had a Halloween dinner of  Ghosts (breaded turkey steaks cut into gingerbread man shapes), blood (tomato ketchup) and guts (baked beans)

We went out trick or treating with friends


and look at the mummy who 'hates' Halloween. Yeah, that big smile clearly shows how much i hate it lol


Caleb had a blast, came home with bags and bags of sweets and went to bed exhausted. We live in a great neighbourhood for this. The street was buzzing last night with at least 30 wee kiddies out and about with their parents. It was lovely actually. Even the houses without kids welcomed them in, had turned their living rooms into proper displays and enjoyed playing host. 

Now if Halloween's good for nothing else at least we can say it forged friendships and deepened the community spirit of the neighbourhood. So its not all bad!

Caleb's joke:
What do witches put on their hair at Halloween?
Scarespray!

Not to leave Aaron out, he had his pumpkin tshirt on for the day

So whilst you wont hear me wish anyone a 'Happy Halloween' i've come round to the idea a little bit. 'Happy Dress up Day' :-)

7 comments:

Kathy A. said...

What a great job you did on "Happy Dress Up Day" The smiles say it all.

Anna van Schurman said...

A joke! I had a hard time getting the kids who came by to say "Trick or treat." (Unlike in your experience it's less a threat than a traditional greeting.)

Christina said...

I too found myself 'Halloweening' this year. At 4, Iris was desperate to go out 'Trick or Treating'. As it was pouring with rain, we only lasted about 20 minutes, but both Iris and Isaac got themselves a mound of sweets.
We had stocked up for children knocking at our door but only 3 came. Iris was very disappointed as she was appointed 'Chief sweet giver'. It now means that I am making myself sick eating copious amounts of maoam candy bars! ;0)

stitcherw said...

Loved you pictures, thanks so much for sharing, they made me smile. Looks like you all had such fun, and the dinner was fantastic, very creative. I'm not much into orange either, but I so enjoy the fun "cuteness" of a lot of the halloween fun.
Sue

Karoline said...

That takes me back, I loved going guising when I was a kid. Trick or Treating is just not the same

Karoline said...

That takes me back, I loved going guising when I was a kid. Trick or Treating is just not the same

Lynn said...

When I was a child there were quite often times when I was asked to perform a "trick" such as a song before I was given a "treat". In fact a good many of the homes on our street did this. For me it's lost some of its fun now that we just hand out candy without the song or dance.
Loved your pics!