It seems like we’ve had to flip our lives upside down since March when Covid began and the latest debate has to do with the upcoming holiday…..Halloween.
Normally we would take our daughter Ella out trick or treating through town and meet up with friends. The library usually has a fun walk through and there are “trunk or treat” sites as well with lines of costumed kiddos waiting for a treat.
This year though, there are some concerns about the safety of approaching strangers homes and asking for candy. You don’t know who they are or who they have been in contact with. Everything is an unknown and seems scary.
For a lot of parents it was hard enough to send their kids to school, so to send them out to get candy with hundreds of other kids feels a little bit spooky if you know what I mean.
There are no right answers to these situations and in the end you just need to do what’s comfortable for you. A survey shows that only 1/2 of people plan to hand out candy this year and 23% of Americans will still go trick or treating but if you’re not feeling comfortable heading out here are some alternate ideas for the kiddos:
- One-way trick-or-treating “where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance (such as at the end of a driveway or at the edge of a yard).” If you make goodie bags, you should wash your hands for 20 seconds before and after creating them.
- Outdoor costume parades with small groups which allow for more than 6 feet of distance between people.
- Outdoor costume parties where people are wearing cloth face masks and are more than 6 feet apart.
- Open-air, outdoor walk-through haunted forests where people are wearing cloth face masks and are more than 6 feet apart. (More distance is recommended between people if screaming is expected.)
- Visits to pumpkin patches or apple orchards where people use hand sanitizer, there is proper social distancing and face mask-wearing is encouraged or enforced.
- An outdoor Halloween movie night with local family and friends who can maintain more than 6 feet of distance from each other.
Whatever you decide to do, enjoy the time with your kids and stay safe!
