Conference moira::parenting_v3

    I'm in the process of making my 2 1/2 month old his Halloween costume. 
    He's going to be a clown.  I bought him one of those big red sponge
    ball noses.  He looks so cute with it on.  He doesn't even try to pull
    it off, he just gets cross eyed wondering what it is that's on his
    nose.  I'll only leave it on him just long enough to snap a few
    pictures.  His costume is going to be bright stripes and he'll have
    orange hair and a clown hat.  I'll just take him to the neighbors. 
    He's way too young to understand what's going on, but he can get the
    candy so his dad and I can eat it! :-) :-)
    
    Lori B.

    Steven's going to be Donatello, too.  He wanted to be Leonardo,
    but the costume only came in Donatello and Raphael.  It has a foam
    turtle shell and everything, really looks authentic.   It doesn't
    have a plastic mask, it has one of those scarves with the eyeholes
    cut into it.  
    
    Steven wants David to dress up and go trick or treating too. 
    David would probably get a kick out of it, too, but we'll see. 
    
    Which parent goes trick or treating and which stays home depends
    on the year and the inclination.  Last year when David was only a
    month old, I stayed home and Neil took Steven.  When I go, I dress
    up too (one year I was Boy George -- that was fun).  
    
    This year I'm thinking of staying home and decorating the house
    like something only a little scary.  I was thinking of a pirate
    ship, or maybe a treasure cave. 
    
    Jack o'lanterns -- if you want to use the flesh to make pie, carve
    them the same day, or the night before and keep them in the
    freezer.  If you don't want to use them, you can probably carve
    them a week or so ahead of time and have them still be in decent
    condition by Halloween, depending on the weather.  They'll last
    longer if you only leave them out in the evening and put them in
    the fridge during the day. 
    
    Votive candles work very well for pumpkin lights. 
    
    --bonnie

    Bonnie,
      Doesn't the candle smoke foul the pumpkin?
    	Linda
    		(who would love to make a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie out
    		of the Halloween pumpkin, talk about recycling!)

    Last week Brian (3 1/2) had decided that he would be a doctor and that
    Neil (4 months) should be a tree.  I have no idea where he got that
    idea from.  This week though, he decided that *he* should be a tree,
    Neil should be a bunny that could climb up the tree (no, I didn't know
    bunnies could climb trees either!) and that his Mom and Dad should be
    leaves on the tree.  Could be interesting...
    
    As far as who stays with the house and who goes trick-or-treating, so
    far no-one's ever wanted to stay home and miss seeing Brian do his
    trick-or-treating.  So, we've been selfish and closed up the house and
    all gone with him.  We've only gone to 7 or 8 houses though so it hasn't
    taken too long.  I'm not sure what we'll do this year.
    
                                                Tracy

    Alex is going to be "A mouse.  Not Mighty Mouse, Mummie, and not Mickey
    Mouse.  Just a mouse."  We bought some charcoal-gray Polar Fleece (and
    some dove gray for a tummy/hidden patch pocket) and a very simple
    pattern to which I'm adding distinctive touches (like padded cheeks,
    from which protrude pipe-cleaner whiskers).
    
    re pumpkin pie: If you reeeeeaaaally want to make one, I'd get a couple
    of little pumpkins specifically for the pie (I've found them thick-
    walled and therefore hard to carve - but that gives you more "meat per
    sphere" and the little ones might be sweeter).  My take: about once a 
    decade a streak of culinary self-righteousness surfaces and I do something
    REALLY dumb, like try to make a pie from a real pumpkin.  I will never,
    EVER, push a pumpkin through a sieve again!!!  Yes it WAS already cut
    up in pieces and steamed soft, like squash....  The proliferation of
    food processors probably renders this warning null & void but if you
    delude yourself, as I did, into thinking that getting back to the
    basics should go all the way back to manually pureeing pumpkins--lemme
    tell ya, it's a lot like WORK.  It tasted great but I could barely
    summon the strength in both arms to get the fork to my face.
    
    I would imagine that the candle smoke *would* lend a distinctive taste
    ;'P though I'm not sure it would "foul" it.  What I want to know is,
    how would you wrestle a still-perfectly-marvelous jack o'lantern away
    from your kids???  Our pumpkins have to collapse in on themselves
    before Alex will concede spoilage.
    
    Leslie

    This year AJ wants to be a Firefighter.  Now since dad's a *real*
    firefighter this costume will not be allowed to be anything but
    *authentic*.  I plan on hitting the fabric store on the way home and
    making a yellow coat, his snowsuit from last year had black bib type
    pants (just like dad's) and I'll put reflective tape on the sleeves and
    bottom of the coat, for more reason's than looks.  The helmet is up for
    debate right now, dad's helmet is a bit heavy for a 3.5yr old, and the
    plastic ones look so fake.  I'll smudge a little "smoke" on his face
    instead of a mask.  (I found that Scotch brand makes a 2" reflective
    tape great for costumes.  Bought it at Ziff Paperworld in Worcester)
    
    Our town has specified Trick or Treat hours, I think it's 6pm to 8pm. 
    It's good from the point that you can at least get a snack into the
    kids before going out, and you haven't got the kids hounding you at
    9:30pm!
    
    Lyn
    
    

    re: .5 hahahaha  I can't stop laughing.

    Can I add a twist to this?  What do the ADULTS do for costumes?  We've
    been invited to the fire chief's home for a combination Halloween, and
    surprise birthday party.  Not having much experience dressing up
    adults, How about some ideas??
    
    BTW, the Chief is an ordinary type guy, it's a fairly small town and
    most of the people invited will be the firefighters, EMT's and their
    spouses.
    
    Lyn
    

    Just get a mask, rather than a whole costume.
    
    I found a really pretty bird mask, with green feathers all over it and
    a yellow beak, for about 3:00.
    
    I am wearing it to work on Halloween!
    
    

    Sally wants to be a fairy for Halloween and she has (or we can make)
    evrything except wings.  Does anyone know how to make easy wings? 
    There's some method with stockings and hangers - any clues?  Last year
    she was Little Red Riding Hood and collected candy in her basket.
    
    Kathleen wants to be a clown AND a fairy, so I guess one is for school
    and one is for trick-or-treating.  Does anyone know where I can get a
    sponge-type clown nose, in NH?  Last year she was an orange crayon!
    
    Our town (Goffstown, NH) declares trick-or-treating on a Sunday
    afternoon.  I used to think that that was very un-Halloween, but with
    small children I appreciate it!  We do our neighborhood as a family,
    then scurry home to hand out candy to everyone else.
    
    I really enjoy Halloween.

    re .10
    Saw sponge type clown noses at K-mart yesterday.  Not sure of the
    proximity for Goffstown to Manchester, but I know there's a Kmart in
    Manchester (the road connecting Hookset to Manchester what ever it is)
    
    How about just painting her nose red, just like the circus clowns do?
    

    
    HELP!
    
    We are going to a "Make Believe Ball" at the Groton Country Club on 
    October 27th.  My husband is going to go as "Phantom of the Opera."  He
    has a tuxedo and just needs a half-mask.
    
    The problem is moi.  I am pregnant--starting my 2nd trimester and what,
    oh what, do I wear?  I don't want to look out of synch with hubby--but
    let's face it--my waist is going, going, gone and I definetly can't get
    away with acting the ingenue to his Phantom.
    
    Also, I don't have time to make myself a costume.  Whatever I get, has
    to be either creatively quick--or store bought.
    
    Where do I go to get a costume that will fit my prego bod?  Who carries
    adult costumes and what size do I get?
    
    Help Help Help
    
    Bonnie
    
    

    re: pumpkins and candles
    
    Maybe it's because I trained my kids early, but they look forward
    to the pumpkin pies almost as much as to the jack-o-lantern.
    
    The candle generally only smokes up the inside of the top (the
    lid), though if you have a large candle or a small pumpkin it can
    sometimes cook the insides and spoil it.
    
    The easiest way to mash pumpkin is with a potato masher -- I've
    got the kind with a ring around the outside criss-crossed with
    wires in a square pattern, but the kind with the back-and-forth
    squiggle works just as well. It is work but I think the extra
    taste is worth it.  
    
    I'll post the directions in the recipes note in case anyone's
    interested.
    
    --bonnie

    Samantha (9 months) is going to be a "L'il Lion", ordered from
    Childcraft.  It's got a brown sleeper pajama that she can wear plain
    afterwards to bed; a button-on looooooong tail; and a removable hood
    complete with little lion ears and a nice big fluffy mane made out of
    fake fur fabric.  We've only tried the hood on so far, and she looks so
    cute!  She grabbed big scoops of the mane, made a grrrrrrr noise, and
    stuffed it in her mouth.  Can't wait, can't wait!
    
    We're having a "baby party" for the 5 kids in the neighborhood who
    range in age from 10 weeks to 1 year, should be a cute photo-taking
    opportunity if nothing else.  This will be the Sunday afternoon before
    Halloween.  Then on Halloween night my husband and I plan to take her
    around to a few houses, then run home and answer our own doorbell.  
    
    We both like Halloween so much we hate to miss _anything_.  It's so fun
    to see the kids, especially toddlers who are just beginning to
    understand.  I'm glad our neighborhood finally has a bunch of kids to
    come to the door, last year was depressing!
    
    

    Just wanted to add a note that the TV program "America's Funiest
    Video's) Sunday 8pm eastern time, mentioned that they will award a
    prize ($10K I think) for funniest Halloween video sent in.  So when you 
    haul out the video camera for Halloween it might hold a prize for you...in
    more ways than one!!
    
    Lyn
    

    - a few
    
    Bonnie - 
    
    A friend of mine was about to deliver on Halloween.  She wore a midrift
    top and painted a basketball on her belly, wore shorts and athletic
    socks and high tops.
    
    Nanci

    I had a friend who dressed in a baggy clown costume when she was 
    eight months pregnant.  
    
    Kim

    To .12 - Costume ideas:  
    
    You could be one of those wonderful Fairy Godmother types. 
    They are always a little plump and carry terrific wands and a sparkly
    mask would be fun and in keeping with your husband's costume!  
    
    Or...how about the type of gown (like in Dangerous Liaisons) where
    the gown hugs your upper body but is billowy with hoops and petticoats 
    from just below the diaphragm - you could wear one of those masks
    with the feathers...
    
    The previous suggestions do not take into consideration cost,
    clearly...
    
    For the cost conscious:  how about being a musical note?  That would be
    in keeping with the "Phantom" theme.  You could make yourself round
    with pillows, dress in black and have a black stick with a "flag" or
    two hanging off it going up in the air?!  (removable of course when
    the dancing begins...;-)   )
    
    You can see I'd rather be creative than work today!
    
    Good luck,
    
    Dorothy
    
                                
    

    I sieve'd it for finer texture - your mileage (preference) may vary.
    
    L.W.

    I had a friend who was very pregnant come to a party in her wedding
    gown......
    
    Norma
    
    P.s.   Congrats, Bonnie!
    

    The funniest thing I find with Halloween is when the kids come to the
    door and just ring the door bell and stand there with their bags open. 
    If the kids are old enough, I will reach in and take some candy out.
    You should see the looks on their faces!! If you don't say "trick or
    treat" you don't get anything!! I've asked kids what they want when
    they are just standing there. They must think I'm crazy but I think
    they can at least say "trick or treat" - pretty simple for getting
    candy.
    
    To avoid any "problems" with car loads of kids coming to our
    neighborhood, I will have seperate bags for the neighborhood kids and
    just give 1 or 2 pieces of candy to those I don't know. I will usually
    include a candy apple or some cut-out cookies in the neighborhood bags
    with a poem attached saying it is from us (or I will hand deliver if
    I'm the parent walking around with our son or personally notify the
    parents that they can expect some home-made goodie in there child's
    bag in advance). The kids seem to get real excited about "odd" treats -
    I guess even snickers bars can get to be old hat for a kid.
    
    Every year our neighborhood has an adult halloween party. The first
    year there were alot of people who rented costumes. They next year,
    anyone with a rented costume was not admitted. They award a bottle of
    champagne for the best costume and have started a plaque with the
    annual winners on it. My husband has been the winner every year (with
    much thanks to me and my incredible imagination and costumes made the
    night before!!) 
    
    Halloween is for adults. We just have to use the kids to get the
    candy!! 
    
    I think those 5-crayon sets are great as well for the little kids.
    
    Andrea                                                            

    Does anyone know what the official trick or treat night is for
    Nashua NH this year?
    
    --bonnie

    re .21 good ideas, it reminded me of something an older neighbor couple
    always do, instead of giving candy to the kids, they take a polaroid
    picture of each child and give it to them, plus a silver dollar.  It
    strikes me a VERY kind!
    
    As for adult costumes,  maybe *I* should dress up as the champagne
    bottle :-)  (reminds me that when I had my own apartment, my father
    used to wait til most of the kids had come and gone, then he'd dress up
    and ring my door bell and present me with a "beverage"  glass to fill!!)
    
    Lyn 
    (who's having a ball with this!!)
    

    If you still need it, here's my version of "wings"...
    
    I had some white wrapping paper with little silver stars on it... the
    opalescent cellophane should work too...
    
    I took some stiff wire (coat hanger would do) and made the wing shapes
    which I then glued to the paper.  You need to "paper" both slides,
    gluing the edges together... trim around the hanger.. I used a sturdy
    safety pin to attach the wings to her dress...  Another small "tip"
    I let her wear a pretty party dress over which we put an "outfit" of
    that above mentioned "opalescent cellophane"  it was real easy I made a
    sort of T-shirt and Skirt with this cellophane directly on the sewing
    machine - and if you knew me you would know that I hardly can thread a
    needle.. muchless make clothes that you could call clothes..
    
    Good luck !

    Not very "flattering", but how about "frosty the snowman" an old white
    sheet, plenty of safety pins...
    
    More in tune with your husband's disguise... an opera singer... I have
    never ever seen a slim opera singer...!!!
    
    

    How about Humpty Dumpty (a mans outfit, with a cone head hat)?
    :-) :-) :-) :-)
    	Linda

(amazingly?) is on Halloween itself, Oct 31, from 6 to 8 (at least according to 
my son's school calendar for this month!)

		Helen

    Good heavens.  We actually get to trick or treat on Halloween this
    year???  That's great!
    
    --bonnie

    I've been asking people what their kids are going to be and I think
    that, this year, Halloween should be renamed "Ninja Turtle Day"!  I
    expect about 30% of the trick-or-treaters to be turtles.  Are you
    hearing the same thing?
    
    Do you remember other one-theme Halloweens?  I don't.
    
    Thanks to the tip here, I found clown noses at K-mart (74 cents) and
    will plan on "painting" her nose red if we have trouble keeping that
    on. 

    Steven's definitely going to be one of the Ninja Turtles.
    
    The last one I can remember was, I think '82, when we had, I kid
    you not, close to half Darth Vaders.
    
    --bonnie

    I wrote something similar to this in the Learning Disabilities notes,
    but I know this will evoke a larger response.
    
    Halloween is dangerously close, and I'm trying to think of non-sugar
    ideas to give out.  I also try to avoid nutrasweet items.  He reacts to
    nutrasweet violently; temper tantrums, kicking screaming, insomnia.
    
    What I had in mind were the celophane packets of crayons, 3 or4 per
    pack, or some other non edible, or non-sugared things.  Last year I 
    think I had 30 visitors for halloween so I need to keep cost constraints 
    in mind too.
    
    I know this is short notice, but I've never been one to plan in
    advance.
    
    Along these lines, who takes the child(ren) out, and who stays home to
    pass out the treats in your homes?
    
    Any other fun traditions associated with Halloween you would like to
    share?
    
    Lyn

    My sitter said she found mini-packs of kiddie decorated band-aids! I've
    never known a kid that didn't like band-aids.
    
    Sue
    

    Just a few things come to mind...
    
    Gift certificates from McDonalds, Friendly's etc.
    Stickers, pencils, or other little trinkets.
    
    -sandy
    

	a few more.....

    some of the card/stationary stores carry rolls of stickers, so you
    could get different kinds

    I'm planning (if we're going to be home) to give out the mini boxes
    of raisins - at least that way, if there are leftovers (which there
    were last year) it will be something we can still eat, instead of
    lots of candy bars which we generally avoid

    Debbi J


    

    

    At CVS they had Crayola crayons, 3 in a packet.
    

    Little mini packs of Pepperidge Farm gold fish crackers.  I picked up a 
    multi pack the other day in the grocery store, they are with the rest of 
    the Halloween candy.  And as previous reply noted we can all enjoy the
    leftovers!
    
    Mary 

    I bought small bags of peanuts and raisins for older kids, and
    stickers, colored pencils and crayons, and little mini pads of paper
    for younger kids.  Also bags of fruit chews or fruit roll-ups are a
    good choice.

    Often, when I see all these packaged candy in the stores, I 
    think that what a shame it is that a twisted few have destroyed 
    the trust we used to have in adults to give things to children
    at Halloween that are safe and good to eat. As a person who 
    likes kids I'd be honoured to make or bake something personal for
    the children, but thinking as a parent in this day and age, I'd be
    very leary to let children eat things made by strangers. 
    What a crying shame.
    
    Monica
    

    One year my kids got home baked cookies which I normally throw out
    for just that reason. BUT, this time was different.  The woman who
    baked them put them in a plastic bag with her name and address written
    on a paper inside the bag.  She was a neighbor so I wasn't too leary
    but I thought it was a great idea giving her name.
    

    I've got a neighbor who decorates his double garage into a "chamber or
    Horrors" every year, and it looks like this year will be no different. 
    For the kids to get candy from these people, they have to go into the
    garage, with things like animated monsters, real people lying in a home
    built coffin, that jump up when you come near it, etc.  
    
    I'm not sure how to deal with it, except the obvious avoid that house. 
    But AJ won't even go up that side of our street to trick or treat at
    the ajacent houses. (Our street is shaped like a horse shoe, this house
    is in the center strip, with one more house next to it).
    
    What should I do, there is no reasoning with my son, he's plain and
    simply terrified of these people.  Should I try to tell the neighbors,
    whom I don't even know, what they're doing to the little kids.  It's a
    great idea for a private party, or the middle school age kids, but for
    pre-schoolers it's a problem.
    
    Ideas???
    Lyn

re: .40

Lyn, I think that your obvious solution is the best one.  There's no rule that 
I know of that says you have to go to every house in the nieghborhood, and 
trick or treating is supposed to be fun.

While I personally think that the razor_blade_in_the_apple bit is way 
overdone, I discourage my kids from going to houses of people that we don't 
know.  What enjoyment is there in getting a treat from a total stranger, much 
less one that scares you or you don't like?

As a "treat provider", I think it's kind of fun for kids I know to come 
to the house, show off their costume, and get their treat (with the younger 
kids, I may even get to chat with the parents).  I don't particularly care for 
some kid I don't know coming to the door, grabbing all s/he can (or that I 
will let them have -- some of them are greedy beyond belief) and leaving.

Clay   

    
>>> I discourage my kids from going to houses of people that we don't 
>>> know.  What enjoyment is there in getting a treat from a total stranger
    
    Clay, my husband and I have moved 5 time in the last year. We used
    to live in a place, where, because of the disparate cultures
    co-existing, many people kept to themselves, thus as a kid I *always*
    ended up at strangers' houses at Halloween.
    Also, because of this atmosphere we both grew up in, our present
    neighborhood is a new place for us, we are still only starting to
    make an effort to know our neighbors. It sounds strange, but I am
    normally a VERY outgoing person, but you have to have had lived in
    a place where YOU are the minority to understand this mentality.
    Anyway, I am STARTING to recognise some of the kids, but not having
    my own yet to go out and make friends, we are relatively unknown.
    
    WE are the strangers. I hope the kids will come and see us this year.
   
    I like the cookies with label idea. Maybe I'll save that when we
    are more famous in our neighborhood.
    
    Monica,
    raised in the English Minority, still a stranger in town.
    

    This is year as for the last almost twenty we will have a haunted
    "happening", I say "happening" becasue we do something different each
    year, this year is Civil War soldiers -- Northereners and we live in
    Florida, that should be pretty scaring in itself.
    
    The point I want to speak to though is "frightening" kids so bad that
    they don't want to come down the street.  Since this is a "family"
    affair on our part we do many things to adjust our actions based on the
    "observed" reaction of the "trick or treater".  You can learn from eye
    contact or a head nod to the parents what reaction their child might
    have.  A "monster" with a pleasant "how are you?" or "are you having
    fun?", brings enjoyment to most kids.  You can even ask "did I scare
    you?", they'll usually say "no!" but it breaks the ice and everyone has
    a good time.
    
    Oh, we've scared some kids but it's usually been "older" high school
    age ones who are trying to show how macho they are, not realizing that
    anyones innner fears can be triggered.
    
    To the question of who stays home and who takes the kids out.  When our
    kids were "younger" my wife escorted them around the neighborhood and I
    ran the show at how.  Now we will all do the show, the "kids" -- 15-17
    might hit a few houses with their friends.
    
    We'll all have a good time
    
    
    
    BOO!
    
    Did I scare you?
    
    General Stonecold Jackson