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At what age did you let your kids go trick or treating by themselves?
This morning, right before we head off to school, my son says, “Oh mom. I forgot. [Insert best friend's name here]‘s mom wants to know if he and I can go trick-or-treating for Halloween by ourselves this year. She says it’s okay with her as long as it’s okay with you.”
It’s Monday morning. I’ve been gone all weekend. The house is a mess. I’m tired, and now a Halloween parenting dilemma? No mother should be asked such questions on Mondays, especially not prior to 8am.
My husband happens to be standing there, and he says it’s okay with him … wait for it … as long as it’s okay with me. So everyone else thinks it’s just fine for our 10-year-old boys to go out by themselves tonight for Halloween, but they’re all waiting on approval from me. The mom with the anxiety disorder.
Halloween started as a Celtic new year's celebration called "Samhain."
Look no further if you are in need of a refresher course on the roots of Halloween. Strollerderby’s got you covered, with the help of History-of-Halloween.Net.
Halloween started over 2,000 years ago on the British Isles as a Celtic celebration of their new year on November 1st. The day was known as Samhain (pronounced Sa-wain) and was celebrated on the night of October 31st by burning crops and sacrificing animals. The Celts associated this time of year with death as the bounty of the harvest season ended and the months of winter started in earnest — and if you’ve experienced a winter in England or Ireland, you would not disagree with their assessment.
The Celts, Wiccans, and their Druid priests believed that the night before Samhain was a time when spirits could return from the dead to make trouble for the living. Another familiar element was the practice of setting out plates of food (now candy) to appease the spirits and to keep them out of their homes. Continue reading »
Every Halloween, my mom would round up all the black licorice to keep for her own. None of the rest of us liked it, so we didn’t mind. Looks like I’ll have to warn mom, though, to watch out for the black licorice this year.
The FDA now warns that if you’re 40 or older, eating 2 ounces of black licorice a day for at least two weeks could land you in the hospital with an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia. The stuff that makes licorice sweet, called glycyrrhizin, can make the heart beat dangerously fast. In fact, they say anyone who has an irregular heart rhythm or muscle weakness who has been eating a lot of black licorice should stop eating it immediately and call the doctor.
Who else should avoid black licorice?
Early snowstorm smacks Northeast.
Before you send the kids off to school today you may want to make sure school is open, particularly if you live in the Northeast. A massive snowstorm could make for a very happy Halloween indeed for little kids hankering for a snow day.
Several schools across the Northeast U.S. closed for a snow day after the record snowstorm hit the region over the Halloween weekend. It’s reported to be one of the earliest and heaviest snow falls In October for at least the past century. And one of the earliest school snow days ever recorded.
The storm reportedly dumped as much as 30 inches in some areas, left more than six million without power but the Associated Press reports that number dropped to around three million today. The storm is said to have caused the deaths of at least eight people. Continue reading »
Epic Halloween light show videos!
The Halloween light display set to “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO is a viral video sensation, and with good reason. Four pumpkin faces singing in time to the song, plus a huge light show that includes strobe lights, tombstones that light up and a perfectly timed light spectacular make this one to watch.
We poured over a bunch of YouTube videos to find the best Halloween light display videos to share with your kids – and big surprise, the genius behind the “Party Rock” Halloween light show in Riverside, California has had some of the very best displays over the years! Continue reading »
![AllSaints 300x202 JesusWeen! Celebrate October 31st with Jesus o Lanterns [IMAGES]](http://cdn.babble.com/strollerderby/files/2011/10/AllSaints-300x202.jpg "Jesus Pumpkin")
Catholic school kids celebrate Halloween, religious-style.
If you caught The Colbert Report last night, you know that in his “War on Halloween” segment Stephen gently mocked a Christian movement called JesusWeen, “a non profit organization also known as JesusWin…. focused on helping people live better lives through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” According to the JesusWeen website, “Every year, the world and its system have a day set aside (October 31st) to celebrate ungodly images and evil characters while Christians all over the world participate, hide or just stay quiet on Halloween day. Being a day that is widely acceptable to solicit and knock on doors, God inspired us to encourage Christians to use this day as an opportunity to spread the gospel.”
In addition to wearing white and handing out bibles to trick-or-treaters (“Sure to make your house the creepiest one on the block,” Colbert joked), a fun way to celebrate JesusWeen is by carving Jesus’ sweet face or other religious imagery into the side of a pumpkin. Take a look: Continue reading »
Gumby & Pokey!
Kids, they love to see people dressed in their Halloween costumes. And to raise the bar of cuteness and ohhs and ahhs, show those costume-loving kids a bunch of photos of animals — not humans– dressed up for Halloween.
We’ve already covered the insane outfits that people put on their dogs and cats, but how about other creatures that walk our great earth? They too are enlisted to get all dolled up in wacky costumes. Think horses, bunnies, parrots and even a lizard…oh my!
Check out these twelve other wacky animal Halloween costumes right here. Which one do you find the most amusing?
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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