Ghost stories

It's that time of the year... though to be honest I haven't paid too much attention to it yet. Nothing like the old days, when I wore black (or purple or gray) clothes with spider or lizard jewelry every day in October, and read only scary stories at night. And dyed my hair green, of course.

That was then, this is now. In homeschool preschool we aren't going to start doing Halloweenish themes until next week -- and even then, they'll be low key, of course. I considered having a Ghost Week, but quickly nixed that. Our still unfinished family tree on the wall in the hallway has caused enough problems, with all the dead relatives on it. I need to look online for how to talk (or avoid talking) to small children about death. My general sense is that one should avoid the topic, but in our case that also means avoiding the subject of grandparents. I would like to be able to talk about my mother and father, make them part of the boos' history. But as soon as I start talking about them, the fact that they are dead comes up too, and then boos start asking me about death. The question for the last week or so has been, "Mommy, when we are all grown up, are you going to die?" (Because I told them, in response to another question, that I wasn't going to die until they were all grown up, married, with children, etc.) I say, "I'm not going to die for a LONG LONG LONG TIME. I am very healthy and so is Daddy." And then I change the subject.

Anyway, Ghost Week just sounded like it was going to be a little too complicated, so we're going to learn about various Halloween animals and vegetables instead.

But in my spare time, I can't help noticing what month it is. Some of my favorite blogs have been linking to various scary things on the web, and I always seem to click on those things when it's very late at night. Here are some I enjoyed recently (thanks to http://ivebeenreadinglately.blogspot.com/ and http://bourbonandtea.blogspot.com/):
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/10/03/letter-from-a-haunted-house-part-one/ (I'm anxiously awaiting Part Two)
http://meanjin.com.au/articles/post/encounters-with-the-uncanny/ (This one is creepy creepy creepy, especially the part about the kangaroos.)
http://worldweaverpress.com/2012/10/04/ghost-walk-at-the-sweetwater-county-library/ (A bit scary on its own, but then you might want to move on to the library's ghost blog: http://www.sweetwaterlibraries.com/sclsblogs/ghostblog/ which links to some creepy, entirely black, YouTube videos (they do have sound). I spent way too much time one night listening to all of them and now consequently I am afraid to walk down my hallway in the dark.)

October was plenty fun before the internet, but it certainly has added an interesting dimension.

And now I must head to bed... before the ghosts in the hallway get me... and because I need lots of sleep to have the energy to continue making Baby B's Halloween costume (he's going to be a tree).