Kids at Halloween
When our children were young, we kept a cardboard box for each one. The boxes were a place to save the stuff that might someday become a cherished memory. The passage of time has proven this one of our better ideas. The other day I was up in the attic digging through the boxes in preparation for Halloween, which leads to a story.
One of our daughters was determined to be a high school cheerleader. It took two years of effort but she made it, though just as my job called us to the Bay Area. Though she would never wear it, she invested $500 of her hard-earned money to buy the cheer outfit. Twenty-eight years passed. Now I was digging through the boxes, looking for her old cheer outfit, hoping the moths hadn’t eaten it. When found, the outfit was in like-new condition. There were actually two, one for each of the school colors. I never knew cheerleaders also had home and away uniforms.
This Halloween the 13-year-old daughter of our daughter will wear the never-used outfit. A cousin will wear the second uniform. Another cousin will join them with the cheer outfit her own mother used. Before the three, as close as only cousins can be, head out to trick-or-treat, they’ll have to stop for a few pictures. It’s a family tradition. Then they’ll be gone in a rush of Halloween teenage exuberance. I suppose their moms, with glistening eyes, will relive a bit of their own coming of age.
We have another Halloween tradition. When kids come to our door I present them with two choices: the usual bowl of candy, or a basket of shiny red apples. No one is going to take apples on Halloween, right? Wrong. Kids of all ages invariably take the apples. There are exceptions. Groups of boys, wary of being too “good” in front of their peers, will grab for the candy. When a boy in such a group chooses the apple, I wish I could meet his parents, to ask what they had done to rear such an exceptional child.
Last March, I wrote a column about the goodness of today’s kids. We live in a time of non-stop media sexuality, unlimited Internet porn, and hook-up dating apps. Today’s kids are being carried along by all this, right? Wrong, again. Since 1991, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has done a biennial survey of teen behavior that includes questions about sexual risk taking. Over the 26 years, kids have steadily become more self-restrained about sex, as measured by older age to start sex, fewer high school sex partners, fewer STDs, and fewer teen pregnancies. It’s a counter-culture story of kids getting better, one that seldom make the news.
This leads to an observation for parents: Despite the limitations of will and skill common to children, kids work really hard to make their parents proud. This is important enough to restate: Few parents appreciate how hard their kids try to please them. There’s meaning in that.
Skip fell in love with Laguna on a ‘50s surfing trip. He’s a student of Laguna history and the author of “Loving Laguna: A Local’s Guide to Laguna Beach.” Email: [email protected]
Places to worship (all on Sunday, unless noted):
Baha’i’s of Laguna Beach—contact [email protected] for events and meetings.
Calvary Chapel Seaside, 21540 Wesley Drive (Lang Park Community Center), 10:30 a.m.
Chabad Jewish Center, 30804 S. Coast Hwy, Fri. 7 p.m., Sat. 10:30 a.m., Sun. 8 a.m.
Church by the Sea, 468 Legion St., 9 & 10:45 a.m.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 682 Park Ave., 10 a.m.
First Church of Christ, Scientist, 635 High Dr., 10 a.m.
ISKCON (Hare Krishna), 285 Legion St., 5 p.m., with 6:45 feast.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, 20912 Laguna Canyon Rd., 1:00 p.m.
Laguna Beach Net-Works, 286 St. Ann’s Dr., 10 a.m.
Laguna Presbyterian, 415 Forest Ave., 8:30 & 10 a.m.
Neighborhood Congregational Church (UCC), 340 St. Ann’s Drive, 10 a.m.
United Methodist Church, 21632 Wesley, 10 a.m.
St. Catherine of Siena (Catholic), 1042 Temple Terrace, Sunday 7:30, 9, 11, 1:30 p.m. (Spanish). Saturday: 4 pm Reconciliation, 5:30 Mass.
St. Francis by the Sea (American Catholic), 430 Park, 9:30 a.m.
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 428 Park Ave., 8:00 & 10:30 a.m.
Unitarian Universalist, 429 Cypress St., 10:30 a.m.
