It’s a sad state in today’s world that parents have to think twice about taking their children out into the neighborhoods to trick or treat. This is such a far cry from my growing up, it saddens my heart that our own communities are not safe enough to trust. But there are many other ways to celebrate the Halloween tradition without the kids missing out on the traditional candy-fest that comes with this delicious holiday. And yes, it is one of my favorites of the year.
It’s a sad state in today’s world that parents have to think twice about taking their children out into the neighborhoods to trick or treat. This is such a far cry from my growing up, it saddens my heart that our own communities are not safe enough to trust. But there are many other ways to celebrate the Halloween tradition without the kids missing out on the traditional candy-fest that comes with this delicious holiday. And yes, it is one of my favorites of the year.
With Hauntfest already done, and a complete success this year again, there are many places that offer children the opportunity to trick or treat in their own community. I’m not saying that you cannot go out into your neighborhood with the kids, but we have to be much more wary of who are neighbors are. In my neighborhood, we know, or know enough of our neighbors to get the kids out on Halloween to do some local trick or treating. But, we also take the time to find events within the community and many of them are fit for any or all age groups.
From Marshal Scotty’s, our local malls and the many community events already happening this week, regardless of where you live, there is an opportunity for you to go out with your kids and make the most out of this fun filled holiday.
My grandchildren met me at Hauntfest this year, and I’m sure one of them is going with me to El Cajon’s Trunk or Treat event. Venues like these are all over East County this week and they are safer environments for our children to be out in.
On Halloween, we are headed out to our local Trunk or Treat, but this year have decided to team up with our neighbors on each side to make a trail way from house to house, with many a scary adventure. We will take the children out ahead of time to the neighbors we know, but we are also making them part of the “other side” of Halloween as they will participate in the handing out of candy at our houses. This is one Halloween I am looking forward to as this has been a plan in the making for years and I expect it to be a lot of fun for all of us involved.
However, we still need to keep our kids safe and it is not always from the real ghouls that Halloween brings out, but the traffic that it produces as we have a large number of trick or treaters each year. One is in choosing a costume that is visible, not only to parents that can keep an eye out on children in the dark, but so they are seen by others, especially those driving cars.
Of course as soon as I bought my black morph suit for this Halloween, the news has been filled with the dangers of this “invisible costume.” And they are correct. At Hauntfest, as the Cowboy’s Reaper, many did not see me after dark until I was right in their face. This is a dangerous combination on the streets, but fairly safe in an environment set-aside just for Halloween. Plus it will place a scare on the neighborhood kids that come by our house as I can stand just about anywhere without being seen. I hope they are ready, because we show no mercy.
But that is not always the case and we have to take precautions.
The darker the costume, the greater the danger after dark. There are so many glow sticks in various forms and inexpensive, adorn your children with them as accessories to the costume. Give them flashlights (preferably red) so that they can see where they are heading and most important, people can see them first when driving. Give them whistles. Not only will they detour a stranger, but are a loud alert that something is wrong. Do not let them wander ahead of the pack and watch them as they go to every door. If needed due to blind spots at the house, go up to the door with them. And regardless of trust or not, check all candy before letting them dig into that consummate sugar rush that they crave for.
While in search for that sugar high, it is imperative that we take steps to keep our children safe, and woefully enough, this time of year is a perfect opportunity for real predators who are scarier than any costume out there. Have fun, but be safe and find community events that can replace the trick or treat norm. Times have changed a lot since our generation were kids, but the fun of this holiday has not and there is no reason why they cannot find as much joy in it as we did as kids.
