All Saints Day Celebration

All Saints Day Celebration

I have a confession to make. Back when I was in the Philippines and dressing up in costume was starting to become a popular thing to do, someone had suggested that instead of having a halloween party, there should be an all saints party. I thought it was cuckoo and smelled too much of religiousity. What was wrong with dressing up in costume? Why even have a halloween party if we were just going to turn it into a religious event?

Well, look at me now. My stance has obviously changed. I suppose my views changed when I started to see this as an opportunity to introduce my children to the different saints. It was not just about dressing up as saints and having a party. It is more about giving these children holy people to emulate. My children, aside from DD3, all chose which saint they wanted to dress up as. Maybe they liked what they saw in the picture book of saints we have. Maybe they were drawn to the saint's name. Whatever drew them to choose that particular saint, I'd like to believe that somehow, the Holy Spirit had a hand in it. Maybe their choice expresses their desire to emulate this saint. Maybe their choice represents a part of their personality. What I shall be doing this whole next year is pray to these particular saints to watch over my respective children. They will be my children's patron saints of the year.
DS has St. Ignatius de Loyola. DD1 has St. Therese of the Child Jesus. DD2 has St. Agnes. DD3 has St. Scholastica.

The celebration itself went well. The weather was perfect. It was overcast but did not rain. The sun did show itself a bit towards the end. There were game booths. There was the ever-reliable playground. DD3 chose to play in the playground the whole time and was disappointed at the end of the day that she did not get prizes like her siblings. LOL! DD1 & 2 played the different booths and recieved holy cards and small toys and candies as prizes. DS played in the beginning but had real fun manning some of the activity booths. He had a blast. He has always enjoyed being useful like that. I used to worry that he is too serious for his own good but I am now accepting that this is how he really is. If it makes him happy to be serving and helping, who am I to stop that? Most of the other people manning the booths were teenagers and parents. As I looked at DS, it hit home that he will become a teenager soon too. And yes, we will be mindful about puberty changes, hygiene, pimple removers, etc. For now, I will enjoy having him at the stage where he is, accepting who he is and relishing the joy he brings to me.