No halloween in Nigeria
“Mom, do we celebrate halloween?”, my daughter queried. She looked apprehensive as if she feared the answer but just needed to be sure.
Last week
The previous weekend we had attended a halloween/pumpkin carving party where I carved our first pumpkin and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had even gone to the pain of buying her a costume. It was a pain because I had to visit two stores before finding a costume. My plan was to go to one store and pick the first thing that I saw except that store was already out of costumes…a week before halloween! I toyed with the idea of dressing Darling Angel in last year’s costume but felt I owed it to her not to repeat the same costume for the 3rd year in a row! You see, I had bought a Tinkerbell costume, size 4-6 and she had won it when she was 4 and then 5 (each ocassion at a different school).
At the second store, there were still a number of costumes left, then I became choosy. There was no point buying another size 4-6. A size 7-8 also has the potential for lasting two years. I picked the only non-gory costume in a 7-8, a blue princess costume. And picked up a candy cone costume in 3T for Baby Brother. Since he’s just turning two, this item also has the potential for lasting two years.
Back home, I announce to Darling Angel, “Guess what? I got you a costume!”
She lighted up as expected. “What is it?”
“A princess.”
“Which one. Is it Mulan?”
I said “No.”
“Is it Snow White?”
“No.” With each No, her face darkened. I got the costume out. “Ta da!”
“It’s nobody!”, she exclaimed in disappointment.
“Well then, you can be princess nobody. But this is what you’re wearing to the halloween party.”
“Ok. But I think my Tinkerbell costume is more halloweenish.”
Apparently, she wasn’t impressed with my halloween shopping skills, but she went to the party as Princess Smart (she preferred that to Princess Nobody) and had a blast. Baby Brother detested the thing that I tried to put over his head and kept wrestling to take it off but otherwise he also had fun. I had enough fun to make me consider bending my personal “won’t be caught in costume garb” policy for next year and wear a t-shirt with a pumpkin picture (or something benign like that). Anyway, I digress.
Nigerians don’t trick-or-treat
I reminded my daughter of the fun we had last week, but she persisted. “I know, but do we celebrate halloween?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Do we go trick or treating?” Apparently, that was her main concern.
I laughed. “You know I’m from Nigeria and we don’t do that.” I may be softening halloween policies but it doesn’t extend to cruising the neighborhood and knocking on doors, with or without costume.
Darling Angel started to cry. The tears were flowing strong.
I gave her a hug. I explained myself. This is just something I wouldn’t do. I had seen a flyer from the Childrens Museum and they were having a halloween party complete with spooky science experiments. I asked Darling Angel if she would rather go to that than trick-or-treating. “Children’s museum!”, she chose. Her smile returned. The tears receded. Crisis averted.
The old halloweenish costume
The tinkerbell costume did get worn for the 3rd straight year. When it came to what she would wear to school for halloween, Darling Angel stood by her more halloweenish option. Princess Smart didn’t cut it.
No halloween in Nigeria? Are you sure?
I’ve told friends and colleagues that in Nigeria, the closest we have to recognizing halloween is reading the ocassional newspaper article which would describe this ‘odd tradition’ and the lengths that Americans go to celebrate it. Then I was telling my aunt about Darling Angels question and she commented that halloween is now celebrated in Nigeria. Really? I don’t have any details but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is true because Nigerians love everything American. Eventually, those newspaper articles must have planted ideas of how to become more American-like.
