Do you as parents get into the holidays with your kids? Do you make costumes? My wife has made our son's costumes each of the last two years (the first year since he was born so close to halloween we bought something because she wasn't up to making one) and I think that's my wife's favorite part. We never dress up but might next year to help him get into the spirit. There's some sponsored trick and treating around here that we'll probably go to instead of the door-to-door thing. He's too young for that, anyway.
Halloween. Ha. It's my birthday. It was a great birthday as a child (candy AND presents!) and as a young single (always a party!!), but as a parent - heh. I'm lucky if they remember. Not that I care. I don't make costumes although I might tool together props and stuff from a party store to come up with something not-totally-packaged. I had to do that a couple years ago when, due to my procrastination, I could not find the desired 'butterfly' costume a few days ahead of the big night. I found some fairy wings, a hairband with bouncy antennas and a leotard, and that did the trick. It even won a prize at the school party! Ha. I don't wear costumes myself. I'm not into the recent Halloween house-decorating kick - just a jack-o-lantern. Although now that I have a lifetime of Halloween-related birthday presents kicking around, I can't help but put a few little trinkets around the house. My husband didn't grow up in this country, so he finds it all pretty strange. I have to carve the pumpkin(s) - he won't touch the things. Trick-or-treat. Hope it's not snowing, as it occasionally is in Vermont. And let the kids have candy for supper. It's their day.
We have, in the past, thrown a Halloween party for our friends every year. But now that our kids are getting older, we're going to start throwing an annual "Harvest Party" instead, I think. It takes too much time to trick or treat plus have a party. We're definitely not into the house decorating thing for Halloween. (Of course, we also have never put up our Christmas lights that we purchased eight years ago, either... We're lazy that way and our roof has a really steep pitch, and ya know.) My mom was always good about making us costumes or doing whatever we wanted for Halloween. I'm afraid I'm more a product of my generation: "The dang fabric will cost more than just buying a costume already made! Not to mention I'd have to buy a sewing machine." So we buy the prepackaged all the way and don't really care. I figure it's to make the kids happy, and if they're happy with some store-bought costume, then my job is done. If they get older and really want something custom... Well, we'll jump that bridge when we get to it.
I spent Halloween when I was ten in a body cast (boy versus car = car won), and found that it is quite easy to dress up as a mummy for Halloween when you're already casted from the chest down. What I found was that it can be great fun answering the door and handing out candy, which has been a joy for me ever since. Then last year my ten year old daughter broke her collar bone a few days before Halloween, and so I could pass the joy on to her. She also learned what I did 30 years ago: if you are laid up on Hallloween, you'll get more candy than you ever could otherwise, since all of your classmates and friends will share part of theirs with you! This year is the first time we bought costumes (Saturday), my wife having made them other years or having drawn upon our costume box to create something ever since. Our negihborhood is perfect for trick-or-treating; we had about 100 kids in the rain last year, amny from apartment complexes who take advantage of our street layout and low traffic patterns. We have a fog machine, and I line the walk with left over snap pops from the Fourth of July (which didn't go over too well in the rain last year but which were a big hit other times). We try to do something fun without going overboard. So I guess you could say that we do get into it with our kids! Oh, one last tradition - I always take the afternoon off work to be home with the kids and carve pumpkins. My Dad never had much holiday time, but he made a point of taking a half day on Halloween and so it really is "traditional" for me to do the same with our kids. And one more - I always make a big batch of homemade vegetable minestrone soup, which the girls know they have to eat before they're allowed to trick-or-treat. It's the one veggie soup meal each year they happily eat!
My family spends one long Saturday or Sunday afternoon near Haloween decorating sugar cookies. We've got a bunch of cookie cutters in various Haloween-themed shapes and we like to get quite eloborate in the decorating. When the kids were young, they liked to slather the cookies with as much frosting and colored sugar as possible. Now, they spend time putting great detail into spiders with webs, bats, witches, tombstones and cats. It's an activity that your can family can enjoy together pretty much forever. To make it work, have lots of bowls of colored frosting, disposable decorating bags with frosting and, maybe, melted chocolate. The idea is to avoid having anyone hogging the decorating supplies while others wait. I cover the table with newspaper topped with wax paper or aluminum foil for work surfaces. Another tip, make it clear up front that no one 'owns' any cookie. Another warning, the actual cutting out of the sugar cookies can be difficult and may be too hard and frustrating for the the under 8 set. This depends on your dough, but the one I use is not that easy to work with (but it tastes very good). Mom or dad should take care of that if the dough is hard to handle.
I went shopping tonight for supplies. What a disaster. Have you SEEN the prices for pins nowadays? I mean, who's ever heard of a friggin' pin shortage anyway. And a bushel of apples? I nearly had to take out a 2nd mortgage to buy a bushel. What is it - some kind of fungus that hit apple trees?
I'm thinking teaching my daughter how to egg houses and cut the brake lines of boys that are mean to her.
but that's just good parenting. not really halloween-specific, though. try to keep on topic. for example, teach her to spit in the brownies she brings to her class. or the good ol' blades in apples. you know, there's a lot of ground to cover there.
Seriously, we take regular candy like Hersey's bars and wrap them in construction paper, and label them things like "boar's boogers", "eye of newt", "ghost droppings" and the like. They were a big hit last year. Sachin
so, who's going as what? my little guy will be a pumpkin (mom is great at making costumes, so that's neat). I have to work that night so I'm gonna take a long lunch break and we'll take him over to a couple friend's houses. but he's too young to go trick or treating. next year he'll have a ball.
me and the missus went to Washington State a month ago...apple harvest season, dontcha know...dumbest think i've ever done was to not purchase a bushel of apples...70 cents a pound there...i'm an idiot...
I'm about six hours from a Halloween party and haven't given much thought to costumes yet. Oops. Son #1 wants to be the same thing he was last year--a store-bought dog costume that is really cute. Still fits, so fine and dandy. Son #2 -- no idea yet Son #3 -- (one minute older than son #2) Going to wear son #1's old bear costume. Nothing brilliant, but maybe something special will happen for son #2... But I doubt it.
Except for the time I had chicken pox, I always liked Halloween as a kid. As a parent, Halloween has quietly turned into my least favorite holiday. I guess it's because it comes at one of the busiest times of the year and it always feels like I'm putting stuff together during the last second.
The neighborhood is on the decline, so I try to appear not to be home to discourage the few kids that still go out at night. The indoor mall is the answer around here, really.
Time to combine it with a canned food drive for the food bank (we get teens doing this every year and keep a bag of food ready every Halloween - candy and support for the community is a good combination!) or with this: Another good candy-and service activity!
We will be heading to a friends neighborhood to go as a group with our daughter, his son and daughter, and another couples kids. Wine and cheese for the folks(beer for me) and trick or treatin' for the kids. Chloe is going as a Panda Bear. Oh pictures will abound.
Ehh, some people are little jerks, but I look pretty young so I could pass as a sophmore/freshmen. Fake mustaches are great. They make you seem like your a young person, trying to be older.
We just got back from our day care's Halloween "parade" -- parade is in quotes because the children (age 3 months to 5 years) stayed in formation for, oh, about ten seconds, then they ran every which way. It was great. I carried our baby boy (he's 7 months old now and not walking yet) while my wife took pictures. As far as we could tell, he was the only lamb there -- there were four Buzz Lightyears and about a dozen Power Rangers of various colors, and a tiger, a lion, a couple of monkeys, lots of butterflies and ladybugs, and a bunny, but only one lamb. I'll see if we can get a picture up this evening.