Celebrating holidays - Halloween and Bonfire Night by Daisy Doo*

Hi all,

As we approach another half term, the last one before Christmas, it would be a good time to talk about festivals and celebrating them with our young people.

Not every culture celebrates Halloween and Bonfire Night. To be honest, Bonfire Night is always a bit of a conundrum, celebrating that the Houses of Parliament were going to be blown up. Is Guy Fawkes a hero or a criminal? Well, that could be a discussion for another time.

Halloween, Julian is absolutely enjoying the run up to the scariest time of the year. His room looks like a grotto with spider webs (not real ones, honestly), spiders, bats, pumpkins and his usual request to ask me to use my limited artist skills to draw zombies, ghosts, skulls and bats, for him to stick EVERYWHERE in the house. His enthusiasm is contagious, I love that he wants to dress as a vampire and has asked for a cape so he can be one, he is wearing his skeleton onesie to bed; it has to be washed repeatedly so he can wear it each day.  The joy of seeing him so invested is not calculable, the non-verbal little boy has come a long way.

Have a discussion with your children and young people to see how they would like to celebrate the day. Trick or treating, finding an age-appropriate party or just making ghostly snacks at home or little craft projects and pumpkin carving competitions. Calon Cymru has an event for carers and children this half term which is another great excuse to get together with other foster carers.

However, Bonfire Night is another story. This day we do not even acknowledge. It is wise to be mindful of how traumatic the bangs, flashes and other loud noises can be for the young people who live with us. A discussion about how they would usually celebrate would be a good idea. Maybe start a new tradition for them or just enjoy it quietly at home around the fire with a hot chocolate.

Christmas is looming, and Julian is already asking about it. This will be his 8^th Christmas with us. 

Take care,

Daisy Doo and Julian too xx

*Name changed to protect the identity of the foster carer, children and young people in their care