Saturday's Child - Halloween

Halloween

With the Eve of All Holies nearly upon us, parents and providers are looking at Halloween options with an eye on safety, kiddie-comfort and wellness, and that's good.

Whether parents and providers are Halloween buffs or adamantly opposed to reveling in the creepy side of the imagination, any occasion involving very young children means attending to their welfare and immediate needs as a primary consideration.

First, remember what Officer Friendly says, "Trick or treat during day-light hours." That's not always possible with parents who work full time, so it's really important for child care providers to work with parents to insure that kids are "ready to go" when they do leave their child care.

Here are some ideas that might make the very special occasion of Halloween a little easier on families of trick or treaters:

First, encourage children to wear a costume for the day. It's a special day, especially for little children. A costume is only fabric, so let them play in it. It's something they will remember forever.

Make sure that costumes are "user friendly," which means not too long, not too tight, not too heavy, not too fragile, nothing tight around the neck, a pop on hat only, no mask, or shoes the size of coal barges. Costumes should be comfortable and be accompanied by a set of extra clothes. Gym shoes should be worn with socks that fit.

After a day of costume wearing, any costume is going to look pretty bad. So, at the end of the day, when it's potty time, get out the glue gun and fix as many of the shreds as possible. As a really nice touch, try applying a little face paint just for fun. That way, the child is ready to go out with the parent without stopping at home first.

Food on Halloween is tricky but important for "wellness." Kids, being what kids are, want only candy and sweets. To help keep little bellies from "yanking" as the teens say, try this:

*Begin the day with a wholesome cold cereal and lots of milk and juice.

*Put sweets up and give cheese and crackers for morning snack.

*Keep soda and coolaid out of reach of children.

* Make the "yellow lunch" as it's known in child care circles. It's filling and kids eat it up while it's kind to the stomach:
macaroni and cheese,
chicken nuggets,
corn,
peaches,
bread and butter and lots of milk

*Keep sweets natural or not at all for the whole day.

It goes without saying, the nicest thing parents can offer a child care are special occasion highly decorated bakery cookies for children's parties and occasions. These are wonderful, but on Halloween, it behooves the parent and provider to keep them back a day and do something different.

Instead of sweets, at snack time, serve homemade soup, cheese and apples and crackers and milk. This little dinner will let parents skip an extra stop and a dinner delay so they can get a child to his evening activities early.

Have fun and be safe and remember what the Irish say: Ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night, Lord deliver us! Hmmmmmm, I wonder if they were speaking of the English?