Hallo-what? Part 2
Yesterday I discussed why our family has chosen to not participate in typical Halloween activities. I thought some of you might be wondering how our boys feel about our decision.
When I have fantasized about motherhood, many of my fantasies center around building traditions with my kids. Traditions are memory makers, and I couldn’t wait to get to experience those things with my kiddos. Well, when you adopt an older child they come pre-loaded with memories of traditions they have already experienced. This never really occurred to me until we started to have conversations with our boys about childhood memories. Neither of my boys were raised in particularly Christian families, and definitely not as conservative as ours, so I wasn’t surprised that Halloween was something that they were used to participating in.
Jeremiah was especially exposed to a lot of age-inappropriate scary things, i.e. movies, stories, humor etc… When he moved in, there were quite a few things that we had to put away that were not appropriate for a 10 year old little boy to have. Not surprisingly, when Hubby person and I discussed our feelings about Halloween, he was initially upset. But, since our approach is simply not to focus on the holiday, it soon became not such a big deal, especially since he knew he would still be able to dress up and go to a really cool party.
Gabe on the other hand comes with a lot more history. He has 16 years of memories and traditions, and those are difficult for him to ignore. Thankfully, Gabe is very dedicated to pleasing my hubby and myself, and, in general, tries to respect our decisions. Well, the ones he considers important. He understands why we are trying to help him learn to honor God with his whole life, and has barely fought us on this decision at all. Of coarse, now he has the dreaded plague and probably won’t be able to participate in activities anyway. 
Anywho, this is just the beginning of the journey. We are still learning so much about our boys. Heck, 10 and 16 years is a long time. This upcoming season is going to be one of adventure, and I’m sure plenty of heartache, but I’m hoping maybe some good memories too.
Lord, give me patience as I learn more and more about my sons. Help me to be sensitive to their hearts as they remember things that are not easy to remember. Help us to replace any bad memories with as many good ones as possible. Bind our family together with love.
Blessings!
Hannah
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