Halloween & Day of the Dead

Halloween 2023 is in the books. It was filled with firsts for us, and I had some big feelings about them.

The biggest change was that we didn’t meet at my friend’s house to pre-party and then to Trick-or-Treat with the girls in her neighborhood. This year the friend who usually hosts went out with her younger daughter’s friends. I ended up going out with my younger kid as well. And our girls went out with their school friends, instead of together. That part felt especially hard.

I like our usual Halloween hang out not just for the company but also for the low key vibes. We usually stayed our about an hour before heading back to the house to hang out.

Last night my son and I joined his friends and they do Halloween differently. We were out for three hours and we hit up two of the craziest neighborhoods for Halloween. I ended the night walking to bus stop in my socks, because I just couldn’t wear my boots any longer.

That we partly because I wore them all day at school. Our staff theme this year was Barbie and people went all out. I wish I could post group photos but as you know, that’s not how I roll. I will say that I love my staff. We really bring it when it comes to dressing up.

This year I was weird Barbie, because all my Barbies ended up weird eventually. When I saw Weird Barbie in the movie I thought, oh yes. There she is. That’s my girl.

I made me own Weird Barbie costume and I spent exactly $5 on it – for the patch that I ironed on the dress, so people would know I was Weird Barbie and not just a weirdo.

Everything else I had. I used a dress I didn’t love and spattered it with paint, that I already owned (and was able to find in the shed!) I threw on some crazy leggings and a wig I had at school for skits. The final touch was my white go-go boots which I wore as Princess Leia and my daughter wore as Cher from Clueless and which barely had another use in them. My daughter and I spent last Sunday drawing all over them, and they were a big hit.

My daughter was a Pokémon she already had the onsie for, which means the only costume I had to buy was my son’s. He went as Glamrock Freddy from FNAF. It was a pretty intense costume and I worried he’d have second thoughts but he rocked it at school and on the streets.

We met up with his friends early and we’re our Trick-or-Treating by 5:30. We started near their house in the Mission. All in all there were four 10-year-olds and their parents. It was the same group that spent the night for our son’s birthday.

After walking five pretty packed blocks we said goodbye to one family and headed up the hill to Fair Oaks, which might be the most popular Halloween neighborhood in San Francisco. People come from all over the Bay Area to Trick-or-Treat on these six blocks.

We headed up there because one family had a friend in the area. We stopped there to use the bathroom and get some more real food in our stomachs. Most of the adults stayed at the house while I went back out with the boys. We hit up about half of the blocks that were closed off. There were DJs playing in some of the garages and dance parties in the street. It was truly nuts.

Back at the friend’s friend’s house the boys counted their candy.

At 8:30, when it was clear no one else was heading home, I bribed my own son with an episode of The Simpsons if he’s head back with me. And this is when I took my boots off and walked the five blocks back to the bus stop in my socks.

Yesterday morning we were all really tired but luckily my class was finishing up Coco at school, so that was manageable. I always love that our Day of the Dead unit ends with Coco right when Halloween requires a break. It’s my favorite unit for a lot of reasons.

Last night my husband and I went to a concert of Spanish-language groups, including an Aztec punk band. It was a lot of fun, and I would never have gone to something like that on a Wednesday if most of my classes weren’t finishing Coco today. Yay!

Today is Day of the Dead. I really love this holiday. I’ve had my ofrenda up in my classroom for a few weeks, with pictures of my grandmother, cousins and cat. It’s been nice to see their faces and think of them this month. I wish our culture provided more opportunities for us to remember the people who are no longer with us.