Have a Kids Halloween Party or Trick or Treat Safely

Its almost Halloween, and every kid is looking forward to have a ton of fun!  Who could resist?  All those free goodies and a chance to dress up like Spiderman or a beautiful ballerina!

But, unfortunately, Halloween isn't as innocent as it once was.  This is no reason to deny your children the pleasures of this holiday. You just need to exercise a few common sense tips.  Here are some things to consider:

If you MUST go Trick or Treating first, follow these guidelines:

1.  Go while it is still daylight, and in a group. Always make sure you go all the way up to the door with the kids and keep an eye on what's going on;

2.  Even though you are going out in the daylight, carry a flashlight and make sure everybody's costumes are light colored;

3.  If you come to a house that doesn't look welcoming - no porch light, for instance - pass it by;

4.  Better yet, take your kids trick or treating at the Mall. Before the date of Halloween, ask at the Mall if they allow Trick or Treaters.   Each year I see more parents doing this and the merchants are beginning to expect it and be prepared with goodies;

5.  If your town doesn't have a Mall, see if the local business area downtown is going to be open to trick or treaters;

6.  When you return home, inspect all of your children's goodies  very carefully.  Toss out anything homemade.  I know, someone might have gone to a lot of trouble to make a good, wholesome Halloween homemade treats for the kids, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

7.  This is terrible to say, but be careful of fresh fruits also.  It's  a sad commentary on the way things are that wrapped candy bars are the best thing for kids to get on Halloween.

8.  After you've sorted out all of your kids goodies, put half of them in the freezer for another time and ration the amount of candy they can eat each day.

Some Kids Halloween Party suggestions:

1.  If you go to the Mall, you can end up having a Kids Halloween Party there in one of the restaurants that provide this service.  This is always a lot of fun for the kids!

2. A lot of church groups have started having a Kids Halloween Party instead of trick or treating.  They have bags of treats for all the kids and play a lot of kids Halloween games. Some even have a Pinata that the kids can take turns swinging at and then, when it breaks, all the kids can scrabble for the goodies!

3.  Another party alternative is to let your kids invite their closest friends over for an all-night sleep-over and rent the scariest movies you can find!  Every Halloweein, creepy movies are everyone's favorites!  Bring out the popcorn and hot cocoa and the Halloween homemade party food and give each kid a healthy goody snack bag.  Let them all be dressed up in their favorite cool Halloween costume, of course, and put a carved pumpkin with a candle inside on the coffee table and make the room festive with other Halloween party decorations, such a spiders and webs, black cats, witches with brooms.  You can find these kinds of things at stores where you can also buy Halloween costumes.

These are just a few of the things you can do to ensure that your kids have a safe and sane Halloween and they don't even have to know about the precautions you've taken.  They can just be . . . kids!

Did YOU Know that the Halloween Pumpkin Used to be the Halloween Turnip? Really!!

Hundreds of years ago in Ireland there was a terrible man, a blacksmith, who led a life of crime, stealing, cheating people, and just being plain onery and mean. He was gifted with a "silver tongue", as in "silver-tongued devil", and could talk people out of their life's savings.  When the real Devil heard about him, he decided he'd better come up from Hell and check him out.  He didn't want any competition!

One night, the blacksmith, whose name was Stingy Jack, was walking home after spending an evening in one of his favorite taverns and he saw a man in the road grinning at him.  He realized it was the Devil and thought his evil life had finally caught up with him.  But, he was a clever con artist!

Stingy Jack approached the Devil and told him he was ready to go to Hell, but asked the Devil if the two of them could go back to the tavern and have some drinks before descending into the bowels of the earth.  The Devil thought about it for a minute and decided it was a safe enough request, so he said OK.

They returned to the tavern and drank ale all night long.  Just before dawn, Stingy Jack turned to go, but the Devil stopped him and said that since Jack had invited the Devil to the tavern, it was Jack's responsibility to pay for their drinks.  Stingy Jack protested that he didn't have any money, so the Devil would have to pay.  The Devil refused.

After thinking about it for a minute, Jack came up with a scheme.  He told the Devil to turn himself into a silver coin and he, Jack, would use the coin to pay the tavern keeper, and get change!  Then, when the tavern keeper wasn't paying attention, the Devil could change himself back into well, himself, and the two of them could leave the tavern, pocketing the change from the silver coin!

The Devil thought this was an idea worthy of him, so he said OK and proceeded to turn himself into a silver coin.  But, alas, instead of paying the tavern keeper, Stingy Jack put the silver coin into his grungy pocket, under his crucifix, trapping the Devil.  The Devil tried to change himself back into the Devil, but couldn't as long as he was weighed down by the crucifix.

Finally, so he could be released from Jack's bondage, the Devil agreed to trade his freedom in exchange for leaving Jack alone for ten years.

At the end of the ten years, again walking home on a dreary night, again in a drunken state, Jack stumbled upon the Devil waiting for him in the road.  "Ooops!", Jack thought.  "This time I'm done for."  He asked the Devil to do him just one small favor.  Jack told the Devil that he was hungry and, as they were standing under a magnificent apple tree, he asked the Devil if he wouldn't mind climbing up to the top of the tree and getting him an apple to munch before they descended to Hell.  Jack said he would do it himself, but he was very old and feeble and couldn't make the climb.  The Devil thought this was an OK request, so he climbed the tree.

When the Devil tried to climb down from the tree with the apple, he discovered that Jack had carved a cross into the trunk of the tree and he couldn't get down.  He was stuck in the tree.  Foiled again!

This time Jack agreed to set the Devil free if he agreed to leave Jack alone for ten more years and if he promised that he would never take Jack's soul to Hell.  What could the Devil do?  He agreed, and was set free.

Jack died seven years later with a smirk on his face because he thought that he was going to Heaven for sure.

However, Saint Peter had other ideas.  When Jack arrived at the Pearly Gates, he told Jack in no uncertain terms that he would never be allowed into Heaven because he was such a terrible person and had led a life of crime, cheating, stealing, and drunkeness.  So Saint Peter sent Jack back to earth.

Jack then went to the Gates of Hell and told the Devil he guessed the Devil had won after all and he would have to let him into Hell.

The Devil grinned again and reminded Jack that he, the Devil, had made a solemn promise that he would never take Jack's soul to Hell.  Jack was cursed to wander the earth forever in the darkness.

Jack pleaded, but to no avail.  As he turned to leave, the Devil tossed Jack an ember from Hell to give him a little light to lighten his way in the dark world.

In his pocket, Stingy Jack had one of his favorite stolen vegetables, a turnip.  He cut off the top and carved out the interior and put the ember inside to make a lantern to light his way.

The people around where Stingy Jack roamed would see his strange light from time to time and were afraid to meet him on the dark roads.  They called him, in fear, Jack of the Lantern, later shortened to Jack O'Lantern.  They started hollowing out turnips, gourds, and rutabagas, among other things, with scary faces.  They would put these on their porches and in their windows on the night of All Hollow's Eve (Halloween) because on Halloween, creepy spirits, such as Stingy Jack, were most free to harm the living.  These "lanterns" were meant to scare Jack away.

When the Irish began to immigrate to America in the 1800's, they brought this tradition with them, but quickly discovered that the larger pumpkins were much easier to carve then turnips or rutabagas.

Its almost halloween, so if you want to return to the original tradition, be sure when you go to your local Farmer's Market this Fall to ask the farmer if the Halloween Turnips have arrived yet.

Happy Halloween!!