Halloween 2019 was an interesting one. I was pregnant with my first baby and had just found out about it. I don’t believe I’d even told my colleagues yet, but I was definitely feeling all of the possible early pregnancy symptoms – I was nauseous all of the time, I had mood swings, I felt out of breath often, I even felt lightheaded at times. It was hard enough going to work in my condition, but having to go to a celebration, such as Halloween, with all of the noise and energy levels of the students, full of different treats all throughout the school, smelling of 100 different things on each floor, with my level of nausea and sensitivity to smells (even without being pregnant) was a total nightmare!

I needed a quick no prep costume, so I just picked up a rock t-shirt from my mom (she is a fan, ha-ha), dressed in all black, tied a scarf around my head and did some quick black makeup, and I was ready. My costume was of a hard rock (or even metal) fan girl.

The celebrations at the school were similar to the ones from last year. We had normal lessons till the lunch break, then the students had a quick bite and the celebrations started. We had organized different games and activities for the students and teachers both. There was a lot of food, as I said, all of it absolutely wonderful, beautiful and thematic to Halloween – pumpkin muffins, brownies, bat lollies, black cat cookies etc. , but as I said, I couldn’t even stand the smell, not to think of trying to eat anything. I was also in a pretty moody state.

The other teachers all wanted me to be on the judge committee for the best student costume contest, since I was there last year, I had the microphone and I did a great job. So there I was, moody as ever, hungry and yet nauseous, fed up with the day already, having to judge the kids’ costumes and put up a big smile, because I didn’t want to ruin Halloween for nobody. I almost enjoyed the whole thing, ha-ha.

I did manage to go through the day and survive (YAY). I even took a gingerbread bat cake on a stick from the school treats for later and in the evening, comfy and on the sofa, after a good dinner and a brief no-nausea window, I did pull it out and ate it with joy.

It was a strange Halloween and a difficult one. I did enjoy some parts of it.