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Strollerderby
What do you do with all of your kid's Halloween candy?
One year a friend of mine gave away all of her kids’ Halloween candy on Freecycle. I know this because I emailed her right away and claimed it for myself (well, really for my husband.) He hid it from the kids and me, and it lasted a really long time. Of course, she let her kids eat some of the loot first after trick-or-treating, but then anything after that was gone. What do you do?
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.
You mean to tell me this doesn't have the same health benefits as actual corn? Thanks, Dr. Callen!
Dr. Craig Callen, DDS, of Mansfield, Ohio, would like you to know that Halloween candy is not good for kids, according to Fox News. Because of that earth-shattering revelation, Dr. Callen will do his part to save the planet — one cavity-free tooth at a time — by offering trick-or-treaters $1/pound to fork over their unwrapped miniature Snickers bars and Sour Patch Kids between Oct. 31 and Nov 4. Because Halloween candy is not good for kids. Got that?
Besides Halloween being bad for kids à la the candy? The danger! Stranger danger. Dark danger. Kids getting lost danger. Kids getting hit by cars while they’re lost in the dark danger. Costume chemicals. Non-flame retardant costumes. (Check out Jezebel’s piece on all the ways your kids could die on Halloween. There are a lot of them.)
Too old for trick or treating?
Halloween trick or treating – how old is too old?
Our middle school aged son has been asking that question, as he wonders (at age 11) if he should be abandoning the trick or treating tradition this year.
Uh… not yet, kid! Continue reading »
Popsicle Index: High!
Everyone goes trick or treating – or do they? When I was a kid, my neighborhood was full of trick or treaters. These days, my parents tell me their doorbell just doesn’t ring all that much. And yet, in some neighborhoods, trick or treating is exuberant, with loads of kids happily racing from door to door. Why is that? And where is that?
Too old to trick-or-treat?
According to Hans Broedel, University of North Dakota history professor and expert on early traditions, the Halloween activities we enjoy today evolved from a medieval custom in which kids asked for treats in exchange for praying for the dead of the household. In addition to little kids offering prayers for treats, it was also traditional for big kids to get in on the act by playing tricks – vandalism and such – on their neighbors.
Over time, Broedle says, Halloween became more of a little kid’s holiday and less of an excuse for big kids to act out. In fact, these days you are more likely to catch a teenager going door to door collecting candy than to catch one egging a house. Unless you happen to live in the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois or any of the other towns where trick or treating by teens has been banned. Continue reading »
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 »
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