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There has been much "Sturm and Drang" over Halloween, particulary Trick or Treat, both on my neighborhood email and our town Facebook page. Many ideas have been suggested. Our mayor has not made any statements about Halloween yet, unlike the mayor of LA who first cancelled T-or-T altogether, then backpedaled and "strongly discouraged" it. Yesterday, the CDC put out some guidelines for Halloween, día de los muertos, and Thanksgiving on its website. It is a very long document, so I'd encourage everyone to open it and read it.
Examples of high-risk activities: Participating in traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children who go door to door
Having trunk-or-treat where treats are handed out from trunks of cars lined up in large parking lots
Moderate risk:
Participating in 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)
Having a small group, outdoor, open-air costume parade where people are distanced more than 6 feet apart
Lower risk activities:
Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance
Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...xican-day-dead
(Mod note-Govt. website)
All of these activities have been suggested on the above mentioned social media. To me, "safe" Trick or Treating, which many suggest, sounds on a level with safe drunk driving.
Yes, it's very sad for the children to have to lose much of what is a long-established childhood joy, yet again.
Perhaps neighborhoods can be encouraged to decorate their houses to the nines, so parents can drive or walk by with their children, just to enjoy the décor. Hallowe'en candy is in the stores, so can be judiciously made available to children. Costumes can still be worn, and children can participate in indoor and outdoor decorations. The suggested scavenger hunt is a good idea, as long as adults accompany children to help maintain social distancing. Scavenged items would just need to be checked off lists, not actually collected, of course.
Hallowe'en stories and ghost stories are available in bookstores, online, and in libraries for family read-aloud night. DVDs are around and there will the annual rebroadcast of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and perhaps other seasonal programs.
Families can carve pumpkins into Jack-o-Lanterns. Hallowe'en cookies can be baked and decorated. Hallowe'en can still be honored, and still be fun.
But the heart of Hallowe'en, trick-or-treating, is something best foregone this year, and that saddens me, remembering how much my friends and I enjoyed it as children and how much my young relatives and neighbors continue to enjoy it.
So far, 2020 has been far more (nasty) trick than treat. Let's try to do what we can to ensure that 2021 is a better year in every way.
If our kids were not overseas, they would not be TOT'ing or celebrating any of these holidays in a social manner until schools were open for at least a month with no increase in cases. Holiday celebrations are non-essential and not worth the risk. Education is essential.
Back when they were here, they didn't get excited about drive-by birthdays and that sort of nonsense, even when we tried to get them fired up about it. How much fun do you think you would have sitting in a car seat for a XX-minute drive to pass by a friend, school graduation, etc for 30 whole seconds?
Like fake school with tablets/electronics, I think these sort of things are just something for adults to do for their instagram, or to assuage their guilt and pretend they didn't set their children back a year by carelessly spreading the virus.
I won't be handing out candy or putting up decorations. I doubt the kids will be back before Christmas.
Our neighborhood just sent out a poll. Those with young kids want trick or treating to happen. I( grown kids) do too, but not
by encouraging face-to-face contact. I suggested we leave buckets of candy by our mailboxes.
Our neighborhood just sent out a poll. Those with young kids want trick or treating to happen. I( grown kids) do too, but not
by encouraging face-to-face contact. I suggested we leave buckets of candy by our mailboxes.
I think decisions should be made by scientific evidence, not polls of what people want. How would you control for a huge group of children at the bucket?
If our kids were not overseas, they would not be TOT'ing or celebrating any of these holidays in a social manner until schools were open for at least a month with no increase in cases. Holiday celebrations are non-essential and not worth the risk. Education is essential.
Back when they were here, they didn't get excited about drive-by birthdays and that sort of nonsense, even when we tried to get them fired up about it. How much fun do you think you would have sitting in a car seat for a XX-minute drive to pass by a friend, school graduation, etc for 30 whole seconds?
Like fake school with tablets/electronics, I think these sort of things are just something for adults to do for their instagram, or to assuage their guilt and pretend they didn't set their children back a year by carelessly spreading the virus.
I won't be handing out candy or putting up decorations. I doubt the kids will be back before Christmas.
You're painting with a very broad brush. Yes, I proposed decorating houses for Hallowe'en, etc. for the enjoyment of children deprived of trick-or-treating this year - but I am also extremely cautious and am one of those pesky older generation members who's at high risk, so I get out very little and wear my mask and observe social distancing. No guilt here to assuage, I assure you!
The situation is bad, no one with any sense denies that. But gloom-spreading and assuming others are to blame for spreading the virus and are thus compensating doesn't help. Even if your own children didn't appreciate drive-bys and what you term "that sort of nonsense", surely they don't represent ALL children.
I normally put a few Hallowe'en decorations on my porch, and serve trick-or-treat candy from a basket shaped like a black cat wearing a witch's hat. That basket drew many, many appreciative comments from both children and parents on past Hallowe'ens, and though it can't be in use this year, you can bet there will still be pumpkins marching down my front steps, white-sheet ghosts in place of my hanging baskets, a carved jack-o-lantern or two, and other seasonal adornments visible from sidewalk and street, for a week prior to Hallowe'en and a few days afterwards.
Their presence will have nothing to do with any "guilt" on my part, but much to do with wanting to brighten things up a bit for my young neighbors and with acknowledging Hallowe'en, an ancient, historic festival worthy of being distinguished from other, more ordinary days, even during this most unfortunate year.
I think decisions should be made by scientific evidence, not polls of what people want. How would you control for a huge group of children at the bucket?
As I said, it was a neighborhood poll, 34 homes, maybe 15 of those homes with children. Large crowds are not an issue, nor am I responsible for controlling the children. Kids have missed so much this year, I hate to take Halloween away from them.
As I said, it was a neighborhood poll, 34 homes, maybe 15 of those homes with children. Large crowds are not an issue, nor am I responsible for controlling the children. Kids have missed so much this year, I hate to take Halloween away from them.
I'd hate for someone to die or become disabled because they went Trick or Treating or took their kids T or T (more likely).
I'm sad but my kids will not be trick or treating this year. I live in a neighborhood where it is so lively on Halloween. Huge groups of trick or treaters roaming around, people set out tables with bowls of candy, they have elaborate decorations and spooky music playing. It is usually really fun. There are always so many people walking around. My kids are sad we will not be doing it this year but they understand. I am trying to set up activities for us to do all day. Probably pumpkin carving, cookie decorating, movies on our large projector screen, my sister is coming over and we are going to decorate each bedroom in our house and have the kids come to each room for a surprise (I thought they would think this was lame but they are actually really excited about it). My husband and I are going to wear costumes this year. We are just going to make it as special as possible. I live in Florida where it is business as usual so I am sure we will have lots of kids still out in the neighborhood. But I am not willing to take the chance this year. I hope next year will be back to normal.
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