Halloween Party Ideas

I have always wanted to host a Halloween party for my kids but every year we dedicate all our time and energy into my uncle’s Haunted House attraction in Mississauga; Lou Cipher’s House of Terror .

This summer we moved out of the area and will not be participating in the Haunted attraction this year, so I took advantage of the extra time to put together a Halloween party, FINALLY!

I warmed up my clicking finger, sat down and got down to business searching and pinning all the things I thought the kids would love, and ‘love’ they did.

Decorations

I like creating the mood for a party but need to do it without breaking the bank. When I decorate, I try to create focal points in places people will gather the most.

    












Witch Table

Graveyard Hall

Costume Contest Trophies

Food

When I was selecting items for the menu I had a few things in mind; that the kids would be excited about them, that they would add to the presentation of the table, and that they would be easy to make.
Here’s what I came up with.

Chocolate pudding graveyards

Veggie Skeleton Man

The Great Pumpkin Cake

Rice Krispie Jack-O-Lanterns and Leaves

I put out some candy, and orange coloured popcorn and chips. I also froze plastic spiders into ice cubes for their drinks which was a huge hit with the kids.


Party Itinerary

• Guests arrive and paint their own pumpkins, and enjoy some Halloween treats
• Pizza for dinner
• Costume contest (show and vote)
• Watch a scary movie (Our selection; Paranorman)
• Candy Hunt
• Cake
• Announce contest winners

Party Highlights

As the boys arrived they got to paint a pumpkin to take home. We did this activity first so that they would be dry by the time they went home.

For the costume contest I had the boys take turns showing off their costume.

Then I gave them a voting sheet with the categories, and they voted for their favourites. Voting for yourself was not allowed.

Then they settled in to watch Paranorman.

While they peacefully watched the movie...My husband changed into this costume…

…and then this happened...

I was busy while they peacefully watched the movie too. I put their pumpkins into a Halloween treat bag and set up the candy hunt; all of which would become their party favours.

After they settled down from the zombie scare, they had their candy hunt and enjoyed some cake and more treats. Then they all posed for one more group photo before going home but they got zombie photo bombed.

Overall, this was my favourite party to plan and host. It was fun from beginning to end and I can’t wait for next year. Happy Halloween Ghouls and Boys.

Yes, I am Judging You!

I often hear people (especially on Twitter) say that as parents (specifically moms) we need to stop judging each other. In many cases I do agree with that; breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding, co-sleeping vs. crib sleeping, cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers. Those are all trivial matters to which I say: as long as your baby is being fed enough, has a place to sleep, and diapers are being changed often enough; who are we to judge?

But some issues are serious enough that you're damn right I am judging YOU.

My latest irk that has me on judge overload is parents leaving children in cars. Especially hot cars. There have been countless news stories over the past few weeks of children (and pets) being rescued in sweltering hot cars and even a couple tragedies of children who lost their lives due to this kind of negligence.



When you decide to have a child you are deciding to put that life above what is convenient for you. That means taking your child out of the car, bringing them along for a one minute errand, and then putting them back in the car. I don't care if you have to repeat this sequence 20 times a day. I don't care if your cranky baby just finally fell a sleep and you don't want to wake them. I don't care if your child is having a mega meltdown about going in the store. I don't care if you're so busy you 'forgot' you have a child with you. Nothing you say, no excuse you make to make yourself feel better will ever make you leaving your child in the car okay. It's wrong. This isn't a debatable issue. It's a judge-able issue.

On a hot day your car becomes so hot you could bake cookies in it or fry an egg. Imagine what that powerful heat does to a child.



When you first shut your car off it may not feel that hot because you had your A/C blasting the whole time, but when you shut the car off the temperature rises fast. According to weather.com If the temperature outside is 32C, after about 10 minutes the inside of your car will be 42C and after 20 minutes it will be about 50C and so on. A child's body cannot regulate that kind of heat. A few minutes in the car can cause serious damage to your child's health (shock, stroke, etc) and it can even cause them to die.

The proven risk of death or serious brain injury to your child in a matter of minutes should be more than enough reason not to leave your child in the car, but in case you need more convincing of how stupid it is to do so think about it from the eyes of the Children's Aid Society. The CAS doesn't have clear guidelines on when it's okay to leave a child alone, but it does use 10 years old as a guideline paired with the parental knowledge of their own child's readiness. They still point out that a parent is responsible for providing adequate care arrangements until the child is 16. So we should be able to agree that if you shouldn't leave your young children alone at home until (let's say 10 years old) then you shouldn't leave your 9 month old, 2 year old or 4 year old alone in the car either. No matter the weather. No matter the location. No matter the reason. They are too young. It's neglectful for a parent to do so. And neglect is a form of child abuse.

"But my parents did it to us and we didn't die"

Congratulations! You survived! But many did die. You just weren't aware of it and because of it many things have changed since you were a kid. For instance, we now use seat belts, we put our children in car seats, we don't ride in the back of trucks, we don't use lead paint, and we don't leave young children home alone.

So stop making excuses for when its okay to leave your child alone in the car. Stop trying to reason that it's only a few minutes and they'll be fine. Stop being a lazy parent with no control over your kids. Remember that you are the parent not your child. You know best, not them.



MY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:



1. I think it's a sad world when we have to suggest that you leave your purse or cell phone beside your child's car seat in order to remember you have a child, but since that's the advice from the police then I'll pass it on here: do what you have to do to be the best parent you can be. If you think this habit will help you remember that you have children, then do it.



2. Lock your car when parked so other children playing won't open your door and lock themselves inside your car.



3. If you see a child left alone in a car call 911 and get the child out of the car.

It's in the Cards

Some people think that cards are a pointless part of a gift. That they just end up in the garbage without a second thought. But I have always viewed greeting cards in a different light. I love them, I cherish them, and I have kept every single one I've ever received since I was 8 years old, every single one my husband received since we've been together, and every single one of my children's since the day they were born.

That is a lot of cards.



But, we are getting ready to move and I had to clear some of these collections out. Before I could even think of parting with any of them I had to read them ALL again and in doing so I discovered a few things that I wanted to share with you.

1. We have received cards for everything. Every possible occasion you could think of, I have cards for it: birthday, Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, baby shower, new baby, christening, thinking of you, wedding, new home, Easter, get well soon, sympathy, and so many others including one given to me when I sliced my finger on a can of baby formula.

2. The hand written messages from so many people made me realize that I'm loved, I'm liked, I'm appreciated, and I'm thought of. Reading these messages really lifted my spirits and were probably even more meaningful read years later than they were at the time I received them. I think it's sad that most people today do not take the time to hand write a message to anyone.

3. I was reminded of different chapters in my life from the barely understandable teenage lingo we used to use, to the many parents and co-workers who appreciated my work as an Early Childhood Educator and as a party entertainer, and the love expressed to me by my family, husband and children.

4. I enjoyed looking back on the cards from my children because it shows the progression of their writing abilities from year to year.

5. Looking at cards from my childhood was like a blast from the past because some of them were very time specific such as one shaped like a cassette tape and another with a girl talking on a phone with a spiral cord. Also seeing the names of friends I haven't seen in over 20 years brought back a lot of childhood memories.

6. It was interesting to see how many friends had given me a card over the years. There were so many, but only a few friends were around long enough to give me many, many cards.

7. My grandmother gave me the exact same card on two separate years that said "To My Grandmother" (I'm sure she meant grand daughter)

8. My other grandmother passed away in 1998. It was so nice to see my name in her handwriting again. (These ones did not make it to the garbage pile)

9. A friend wrote inside my son's first birthday card that he would never see the card, but I proved her wrong because he did see it. (Albeit 8 years later).



10. I found a Rexall gift card from 2003, a Shoppers Drug Mart gift card from 2005, an Old Navy gift card from 2006, and a cheque from 2007.



I ended up keeping quite a few cards because I might like to read those messages again some day. I will take many to work for the daycare children to reuse and the rest did make it to the garbage. It was a difficult thing for me to do but it was time to declutter my greeting card hoarding.

The moral of this post is to prove that greeting cards do have a purpose, some times far greater than even the gift itself. I don't remember what gifts accompanied any of the cards I received (except for the baby shower cards as someone wrote them down inside)but I do remember the kind words of each person's personal message to me and my family. If you have ever given me a card please know that I have always cherished it.