No Havest Party for this girl!

I think changing Halloween celebrations in schools to Harvest parties is stupid. There. I said it. It infuriates me that some closed minded dorks can't cope with the idea of Halloween. Oh, I think if little Johnny in 1st grade came home and told his mom that at the school Halloween party they sacrificed a live virgin, held a seance to contact a dead principal and drank the blood of a goat, I might raise my eyebrows--- and realize this had nothing to do with Halloween. But kids in ghost costumes are forbidden? No skull decorations because they're the sign of the devil? Plu-eeze!

What got me thinking about this is I'm decorating the school library for Halloween. Now, I work at facility for youth where they've been court ordered. We're just one step away from prison/ jail. We are also a very CHRISTIAN facility. I work in the PUBLIC school library. I have to consider I'm in a public school that's strictly for highly at risk youth in a Christian setting. Oh yeah, don't I just fit so well there?

Anyway! I'm trying to decorate and someone mentioned that I couldn't have Halloween decorations because it's "not Christian." I seriously bit my tongue and summoned all my will power to keep my mouth shut. And I wished I could've channeled Lilith!

Normally when faced with a comment like that, the first thing I want to do is buck the system. Of course. I know, I'm officially 40 years old and I still want to rebel at the first sign of being pushed- you'd think I'd outgrow it but still to no avail. And normally I think it's far easier to ask for, or even beg for, forgiveness rather than to ask for permission. But since I had already pissed off people about Banned Book Week (this will be an upcoming post!), I just thought, "Screw it" and I asked my principal.

And he didn't care if I decorated for Halloween, he didn't care what sort of decorations as long as they weren't "gross" and were "tasteful", and he didn't care if I called it Halloween. He asked me to not use skulls because that's a campus wide rule. So, HA!

I've been making Halloween happen. I have jack-o-lantern window clings, and spider webs, with spider rings. I have a bulletin board dedicated to our authors of the month: Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King. I have a pumpkin full of candy. We have a scarecrow and tombstones. I'm working on table top lanterns with battery operated candles. We have a Raven, a'la Poe. I'm even planning a Poe presentation and a little bit of information about All Hallow's Eve.

So I'm gonna Halloween it up! And I plan on going in costume on the appropriate day! I thought about wearing a costume a day, or least a variety of masks and hats daily but I think I'll wait and do that the week before and on the Big Day. I think I'm even going to see if I can host a Halloween Library Party on Oct. 31.

Any chance to eat candy, wear a tiara in public, and rebel against Big Brother!

Nothing mild mannered about this librarian,
Maggie