As a parent to three school aged children, Halloween is an extremely exciting time of year. My favourite parts of preparing for Halloween are working with my children to decide what the costumes will be (even when the decisions changed at least three times during October) and carving our jack-o-lanterns.
I’m not a huge fan of making our own costumes (amen to all those out there that do make their own every year – amazing) I really would rather pick something out of the dress up bin or choose something we have but I don’t always . . .
have that choice.
I do love decorating the house indoors and out and the anticipation of the big event is pretty spectacular. They love being home to hand out treats to the first trick or treaters and simply can’t wait to head out to start collecting themselves.
One of my favourite family traditions is carving our pumpkins. Now that we have three children choosing what their pumpkin will look like, it tends to take a whole afternoon. For those of you with little ones, you can opt to give your pumpkins faces by using stickers or push pieces. We’ve also enjoyed painting our pumpkins and decorating them with sparkles. However you choose to decorate your pumpkin, consider saving the seeds to bake them into a delicious treat.
Here’s a recipe shared with me by a good friend. I’m going to try this one out this year. Here it is.
- Clean the seeds, then bring them to a boil in salted water and simmer for two hours.
- Drain them and then dry them with paper towels.
- For every ¼ of seeds use ¼ tsp olive oil and 1/8 tsp salt.
- Toss and coat seeds.
- Bake at 250 degrees for one hour, stirring occasionally.
Lastly, I read these powerful reminders on social media and felt it reminded me quite a bit of things I may sometimes forget. In case that is the case for any readers out there I chose to share these real reminders about trick or treaters:
- The child who is grabbing more than one piece of candy might have poor fine motor skills.
- The child who does not say Trick or Treat or thank you may be non-verbal.
- The child who looks disappointed when they see your bowl might have an allergy.
- The child who isn’t wearing a costume might have a sensory processing disorder or autism.
- The person who looks too old to be trick or treating might be developmentally delayed.
Please be accepting, patient and kind.
However you choose to celebrate Halloween, enjoy making new memories with your children.
Next week I’ll share some ideas on what to do with that extra candy.
