Fete d'Halloween!

Despite Halloween actually being a week ago, I had the opportunity to do a “fete d’Halloween” with the children.  I am currently on vacation right now with the family on an island on the Atlantic called Ile de Ré. It’s a charming little fisherman’s village with a bit of tourism. Everyone rents bicycles because the land is very flat.  It’s a marshy place, and has been mining salt for hundreds of years.

            This is my second night here and Sophie informed me that she and Laurant would be going out to dinner with some friends. I would be basically be babysitting for the rest of the night. Just me, the children, and three bags of Halloween goodies… Hmmmmmm.

            When the children came down for dinner, they found a dark room, lit only by candles, and me, stroking the family cat. We ate “dinner” by candlelight. Little dogs, (hot dogs), dragon eggs (peas) and lastly zombie brains (apple crumble) for dessert. While we ate, I told the history of Halloween, and how it really goes down in the United States (to the best of my French ability). The kids picked up on the fun spooky-feeling of Halloween, and soon commenced in taking turns telling scary stories (I pretty much missed those due to the language barrier).

            After dinner we cleaned up together with me bribing the children often of the “Halloween Game” that I had planned for them. We went up to our rooms and I taught them how the whole “trick-or-treat” tradition works by having them act it out with me. Then I began the “game”. I reversed things a little to work with our surroundings. I had each child takes a turn transforming a blanket into a costume. They would knock on the door, we would answer, and they would pretend to be something using the blanket as their prop. They would have to say trick or treat correctly in English in order to win their REAL candy bag.

            Boy did they love them! Not just the candy, but the little plastic spiders, mini-whoopie cushions, and glow-in-the-dark skull rings as well. They acted like it was Christmas and thanked me profusely. I forgot how simply wonderful it is to be a child, and how the littlest things can matter so much.

            After they opened their goody bags, Jeanne and Berenice asked me when my birthday was, haha. I hope that these kids soon realize that I desire truly to be their friend. It is my goal to be an awesome au pair/babysitter for them—someone they will never forget. As the language barrier is worn away, little-by-little, I think they will grow to love me and vice versa. However, I know that some has already grown despite not being able to communicate; love is after all, it’s own language.

                              (Special thanks to MARILYN for the Halloween treats!)