I don’t know who is more excited about Halloween arriving – me or the bean? I love holidays. I love holidays so much more since becoming a mom. I thought nothing was better than being a kid on Christmas morning, until I got to watch my kid on Christmas morning.
I’m always on a quest to find ways to really make things like Halloween stand out. So we’ve started a number of Halloween traditions we love to do year after year.
Halloween parties. I love to invite all our little friends over, in full costume, for an evening of fun and mischief. We order pizza or do a potluck dinner, and I tend to organize some sort of activity. Last year we had tattoo and nail polish stations set up with theme-appropriate accessories, and this year, we decorated our own Halloween cookies and cupcakes.
We bag up treats together. We not only do small candy bags and get the whole family involved in an assembly line, but we also make up special treat bags for friends who come trick-or-treating, as well as our class treats (which are usually something non-edible). This year we added the teal pumpkin project to our list of to-dos, painting a pumpkin teal to indicate to kids with allergies that we have non-edible options. We made up a bowl of Halloween stickers, tattoos, notepads, pencils, plastic spider rings and fangs.
The healthiest breakfast possible. We know how many candies and sweets our kids indulge in on Halloween, so we make a game out of finding the very healthiest possible options for breakfast to start our day off with an influx of vitamins. The promise of treats later on is usually all the incentive my kid needs to eat those extra berries and scrambled eggs.
Themed dinner. We have supper early, usually right after school, and I always try and do something festive. In years past I cut pumpkin faces into the cheese of our cheeseburgers, made pumpkin faces in tortillas for quesadillas, and carved faces into orange stuffed peppers. This year we’re having soup served in an actual pumpkin as well as spooky black pasta.
Hot chocolate for the parents. I keep a crockpot and styrofoam cups next to my front door and offer moms and dads a cup of hot chocolate while en route. Something sweet for the parents can make trekking around the neighbourhood a bit more tolerable (I’ve even heard of neighbour who dole out adult libations if anyone wants, or needs, one).
Halloween specials. Have you seen all the fun shows and movies playing on kids’ channels as well as primetime cable? We’ve recorded a bunch to watch while we sort candy after trick-or-treating Halloween night.
Avoiding candy overload. The days, even weeks, after Halloween are filled with deploring whining, “Pleeeeease can I have one more candy?!” The solution: the bowl of candy is next to the fruit bowl. Pick one from each (then mommy will sneak a few after bedtime! I already called dibs on the bubble gum).
– JC