Happy Friday the 13th!
Apart from Halloween, this is my second favourite themed time of year. What horror lover wouldn’t want to ritually watch Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th? Yep, my hubby and I will be enjoying some rioja out of our Halloween-themed skull glasses later and watching tragic Jason, and his creepy mum, Mrs Voorhees.
But, that’s all for the grownups. What about for the kids? You want to know some fun Friday the 13th superstitions from my childhood? Alright then, here we go:
Friday the 13th superstition no. 1 – long hair had to be tied up!
Grab your hair bobble for this one (or a rubber band/ shoe lace/ piece of string – anything at hand) for if you have long hair, and it isn’t tied up, it will fall out! Yep, you heard me right. When I was a primary school kid, anyone with long hair would be scrambling about on Friday the 13th for something to tie up their hair with. I remember one girl who proudly and defiantly stated “I’m not tying my hair up, that’s stupid” and had to suffer, for the remainder of the day, while the rest of us inspected her hair and speculated about how we thought we could see a bald spot starting to form, or that her hairline was receding. Lol.
Friday the 13th superstition no. 2 – do not enter classroom 13!
I went to Strand Primary School in Sydenham, East Belfast (now renamed Victoria Park Primary School). It was a small school consisting of one long brown brick building for P4 through to P6 children (ages 7 to 10) and P7 had to be housed in a couple of whitewashed ‘outhouse’ classrooms, detached from the rest of the school. These classrooms were number 13 and 14. Every year, P6 children would go into a frenzy about who was going to be picked for classroom 13. When I was in P5, apparently the ruckus got so bad, with children and their parents refusing to allow their kids to be put into classroom 13 that the school renamed the room ’12A’. When I was in P7, I was selected for classroom 12A; but we all know, it was really classroom 13. Spooky laugh time…mwa ha ha!
Book recs for children to celebrate Friday the 13th:
At the moment, I’m reading one of my own childhood favourites with my son. Room 13 by Robert Swindell has it all: a spooky hotel, four plucky preteens, and a good deal of creepy mystery. What’s not to love?
I’m also sharing a childhood favourite series with him too: the adventures of Winnie and Wilbur. Winnie, of course, is a witch and Wilbur is her familiar, a black cat. We’re currently reading ‘Winnie shapes up’ which is actually a recently published one in the series, so it’s new for us both.
I recommend both of those books for some spooky reading, if you have older primary school age children. Reading is so important for kids. My son is still an early reader, so when I read anything to him, I make sure he follows along with the words and explain anything he doesn’t know. As his teacher said to all the parents at a recent start-of-year meet and greet in the classroom, when it comes time to do the SEAG test (formerly the AQE test, and back in my day, the 11 plus transfer test), Maths can be taught in school, but a teacher can’t possibly teach all the vocabulary that there is in the English language. She explained that children who read regularly, and expand their vocabulary using big words, are the ones who pass their 11 plus test. You can’t argue with that.
Anyway, back to this blog post. Whether you’re having spooky fun today or not, have a happy Friday the 13th, and make sure your hair doesn’t fall out!
Leilanie Stewart 