October 20, 2015

Parenting - Halloween Edition

It's that fun, family time of year again. We're all getting excited for a night of the fun and scary next week. With that in mind I figured it was about time to share a few tips that I've learned about how to keep your kids' Halloween fun and safe.

The Costume - First off, the costume. To help keep mom sane there are lots of great DIY costume ideas out there. I recommend finding one that is a light color so that children are easy to see as you are out Trick or Treating. With the costume you'll also want to make sure you have a cute candy bag. Currently Albertson's has some really cute Charlie Brown bags that are perfect and they are free with purchase making them even better for your Halloween fun!


The Pumpkins - Carving pumpkins is a family tradition for many of us and one that can be very fun. To make it safer for kids, let them help with things like spreading out the newspaper (to keep it clean) rather then using the knives. We let our kids choose how their pumpkin will look by having them draw the face they want on a piece of paper and then it's the adult's job to transfer their face to the pumpkin. Another tip is to use glow sticks to light your pumpkins. This is a great way to include some fun color and avoid the hazard of an open flame around the children.



The Plan - Before you go out to trick or treat do your research. Oftentimes, our neighborhood will designate a specific day, or even specific hours, for trick or treating. We have found that it's always fun to see everyone else while you're out so planning things like this - or even going to a community sponsored trunk-or-treat can be really fun with small children.

The Food - Yes, Halloween and candy seem to go together but to help keep your kids happy and healthy this Halloween plan ahead to make sure they get a good dinner before they dive in to their sugary bounty. We just love crock pot meals any night of the week but they are absolutely amazing for Halloween. This year we will be doing traditional chili and cornbread - all in the crock pots. It's simple and I can put it in prior to getting all the kids in their costumes and be happy knowing that whenever we return from our trip in the cold it will be ready for us. Nothing better then that!

When Things Don't Go As Planned - Whether it's too cold, you have sick family, or something else goes wrong there are always those nights and Halloween is no exception. When you run into problems there are lots of other fun things to do on Halloween too. When we've run into this problem in the past we have turned our night into a pajama night with a good movie. Movies, games and yummy treats can make even a Halloween at home fun for everyone. You can view the trailer to the new Peanuts Movie here to help get your Halloween fun juices flowing. Just make sure while you're hanging out you enter to win the Charlie Brown Sweepstakes to help the magic last all fall!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons Safeway. The opinions and text are all mine.