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Trick or Treat Candy
Growing up, I remember hearing about some crazy guy who supposedly hid razor blades in Halloween candy. Then there was another rumor that some bad guy was poisoning candy.
My parents instructed me not to eat any of my candy haul until they could inspect it and make sure it hadn’t been tampered with. I’ve made a habit of doing the same thing with my kids’ candy, but I don’t plan to this year. Why? Because there’s no reason to do it. Continue reading »
Have a Scary Halloween
The scariest thing about Halloween is supposed to be the costume. But you wouldn’t know that from all of the scare tactics about the holiday.
Not only are you supposed to be worried about letting your kids walk around in spooky costumes at night, but now you also have to worry that all of that candy is contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic, not to mention tooth decay. Continue reading »
A Massachusetts mom asks whether she should let her daughter, a pre-teen, go as a sexy vampire for Halloween. The costume idea is a riff on the Twilight series and involves a short skirt, a tight top and lots of make-up.
The expert Mediatrician, Dr. Michael Rich, tells “Belle’s Nemesis” that it’s normal for her girl to want to dress up in a way that is more mature and powerful than real life. After all, this is why little boys often want to go as Superman (or Iron Man). But in talking with the daughter, Rich recommends she reframe the discussion. 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.
Although the swine flu may very well be a popular costume this year, that’s the only kind you want to let in your door. To help prevent the other kind — the contagious, potentially serious kind — from replacing tummyaches as the aftermath of Halloween trick-or-treating, experts are offering some tips for staying safe and healthy this year. Naturally, if you or your kids are not feeling well, you probably want to stay home and not pass out candy — you don’t want to pass out germs along with the goodies.
Any Trick -or- Treater knows the drill. You walk up to the discouragingly dark house and knock on the door. After a painfully long pause the door opens revealing either an old woman who didn’t realize it’s Halloween or the middle aged couple who turned out every light in the hopes no one would knock. But now you’ve got them cornered, you little ghoul, with your goodie bag outstretched. You’ve forced confused grandma or the antisocial neighbors to improvise. And this is what happens:
Bad Goodie #1 condiments
What kid doesn’t want a fistful of soy sauce packets from take out for Halloween? Let’s hope the next house has fried dumplings.
When I was a kid a neighbor we nicknamed the “Banana King” would hand out bananas every year on Halloween. Bananas? On Halloween? Was he out of his mind?
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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