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Strollerderby
Want the candy? Do the work.
Young kids don’t always enjoy Halloween the way we think they should. Some get frightened by the scary costumes while others are uncomfortable approaching the front door of an unfamiliar house. Still others, like Redbook editor Ellen Seidman’s 7-year-old son, Max, find the loud noises and big crowds associated with the holiday to be just too much.
Max, who suffered a brain-damaging stroke at birth, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of four. Up until that time, his mother had tried in vain to help her son enjoy what for many kids is the happiest night of the year. But after several tear-filled Halloweens, she gave up. Max wasn’t enjoying it and she saw no reason to continue trying to make it happen. She and Max started a new tradition, spending a quiet evening at home while dad and sister went trick or treating.
But last year was different. Max decided he did want to go out and join in the festivities but he didn’t want to wear a costume while he did it. In a show of solidarity, his sister also opted to trick or treat sans costume. By Weidman’s account, the night was a success. In t-shirts and sweatpants, they had a wonderful family Halloween experience.
That should be the happy ending to the story, but it isn’t. Because apparently, costumes are not optional on Halloween. Continue reading »
Photo credit : flicker.com/JuhanSonin
With Halloween coming so quickly and many of our children looking forward to the activities that go along with it, we have to remember some of the safety tips, and rules that go along with making our Halloween the safest we possibly can for our children.
Halloween this year is also being celebrated on a weekend, so we need to be aware and conscious of adults also out having a good time, and possibly partying. Continue reading »
Solo trick-or-treating on Halloween?
When I was a kid, growing up in a Midwestern suburb that felt very safe, I went trick-or-treating with the same friend every year. Sometimes we took along another pal or two as we meandered through our quiet, pumpkin-lit neighborhood, ringing doorbells, showing off our homemade costumes and filling our pillowcases with candy, but I don’t remember, past maybe the age of 7, taking along our parents.
Now, as the mother of a 7- and a 5-year-old, I cannot imagine allowing my children to trick-or-treat without an adult in tow. (I barely allow them to cross the street without holding my hand.) I suppose that day may come, but when? When is the right time to allow your kids to trick-or-treat without you or your spouse tagging along after them?
The Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times recently posed this very question to its local police department. Cpl. Ben Parker, of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, told the paper that, in general, he doesn’t think it’s a great idea for kids to trick-or-treat without a parent or trusted adult nearby, and that he generally recommends a ratio of at least one adult chaperone to every five kids for elementary and early middle school age kids.
I’m well aware that the inappropriate sexualization of the Cyrus sisters is old news by now, but I just can’t stop being horrified by it.
Miley’s little sister Noah recently attended a fund-raising Halloween gala in a costume that would be scandalous for a thirty-year-old married woman. Noah is nine.
Unfortunately, the photo to the right is just the grade schooler in her usual get-up, which is far less disturbing than her vampire (I think?) costume, which is below. Continue reading »
Last night we took our kids to a trick-or-treat event at a nearby historical village. Riding with other similarly dressed little girls (read: princesses) on an ancient amusement ride under a red light while watching witches, monsters, and football players running by us in the dark, I was struck by what a magical holiday Halloween is for kids.
Magical, yes, but often scary, too. There were a lot of princesses and superheros there last night, but there were also costumes that made my kids cringe and hide behind my legs, too.
In the last few years, schools have been making a real effort to include Halloween fun in the curriculum, while at the same time asking parents to limit the blood and gore.
Continue reading »
The last year I went trick or treating, I was in middle school. My best friend and I had decided it was time to be distributing candy, not raking it in, and planned to spend the night manning her front porch. But after about twenty minutes, we found that asking little ghosts and witches what they were for Halloween was just not the same as roaming the crowded streets ourselves, all decked out and high on sugar. Continue reading »
Trick-or-treating starts in a little more than 24 hours — are you ready?
Whether you’re a new parent trick-or-treating with your little monster for the first time ever, or you’ve got a veteran kid looking to improve their technique, Reader’s Digest has some tips in their 13 Things Your Trick-or-Treaters Won’t Tell You.
Continue reading »
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