“Mum, don’t look, you won’t like this bit!”
It’s a strange day when you have your daughters telling you what’s appropriate for you to watch on TV, but as someone who can't make the pictures go away and having an overactive imagination which creates scenes in my head far worse than in any movie, my family are well-used to employing the “Mum rating” to whatever we’re watching! It's something that I've learnt to live with; it's just how it is.
Hallowe’en, a time that stirs up passions a-plenty for many people and one that will certainly be different this year, has arrived and with it plenty of scary movies! Small daughter, still at an age where she will happily collect her body weight in sweeties whilst trick or treating, is disappointed that the endless conversations with friends about what outfits they may or may not wear (may not, sadly, this year, but she’s still had fun choosing!) won’t be resulting in a risk of tooth decay, but I think their plan is to watch a scary film together over the internet so I think there may still be plenty of shrieking going on! (No Mum-rating required for her although we do insist that they consider the age-appropriate ratings for the films!)
When I was a child, Hallowe’en was much less of an event than it is today. There was no trick or treating and nobody in our street ever decorated their houses. However, my brother and I would spend hours carving scary faces out of swedes (rutabagas) – also no pumpkins around in my younger days and you never forget the smell of smouldering swede! – and ducking for apples that we would take one bite out of and then leave to go brown …
