Surviving At Home

What’s a child’s favorite part of Halloween? Going trick-or-treating, of course. What could be more fun than dressing up, and then walking from door to door collecting plenty of candy along the way? Best of all, this fun tradition takes place at night. Make this the most fun trick-or-treating experience for your child with these simple tips.

Location, Location, Location
Pick a good neighborhood with plenty of people who are prepared for and welcome trick-or-treaters. If you are new in the area, talk to other parents in your neighborhood about where to go trick-or-treating. Usually neighborhoods or subdivisions that decorate a lot are a good choice as well.

Chaperone
You may be tempted to send older children out on their own to Trick-or-Treat, but unless you know everyone on the street they are walking on, and have them go in a group, it’s just not a safe option. Instead, send at least one adult along with them. Having an adult will make sure the trick-or-treating stays a fun experience for your children.

Trick-or-Treat in a Group
Kids have even more fun trick-or-treating if they get to run around in a group. Get a few families in the neighborhood together, or ask the cousins over to go trick-or-treating with you and your kids. Just make sure you bring several adults, especially if the kids are young, to keep up with everyone.

Don’t Overdo It
Start early, right at or even before dusk and don’t overdo the trick-or-treating. How long you end up trick-or-treating will of course depend on the age of your children. Just keep an eye on how they are doing and take them home when they start getting tired. The whole evening will be more memorable if you end it on a good note.

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After living in my town for 7+ years, I’ve discovered that with a little bit of research you can find different and interesting activities for your kids during the summer months. Here are some ideas based on what’s offered in my own town:

1. Book Stores: the big chain stores usually offer summer storytime programs, sometimes with a visit from a favorite character.
2. Local Parks Department: hopefully your town has a parks department because I know ours works overtime providing activities for the kids. They offer bus trips to sporting events and Broadway shows; Italian language classes; free tennis lessons and $10 golf lessons; swimming lessons at our town lake; and our 7-week town summer camp that is extremely reasonable in price.
3. Toy Stores: we have a small mom-and-pop toy store (where you can rent the toys prior to purchase) and they often have summer story and craft times and playgroups. Great way to meet new people in your town.
4. Historic Sites: our local museum is offering a summer camp for the “Renaissance kids” that will cover different art, science projects. I never would have known this was available if the brochure didn’t come home from school.
5. Children’s Museums: these museums are built just for kids’ enjoyment and ours offers many different week-long educational camps, including weather, crazy concoctions, fossils, Native American Tales, and space exploration. A few years ago my oldest went to the puppeteer camp and had a fabulous time.
6. Minor League Sports Events: we’re looking forward to taking our girls to see the local baseball team. They have a really nice stadium, many fireworks nights, and often do give-aways at home games. Sometimes a local radio station is broadcasting from the games and you can visit the dj’s at the booth.
7. Places of Worship: Every year I see many signs for various church camps, all with different themes. There are a few here in my part of NY that are extremely popular, thus difficult to get registered, so be sure to note when registration begins!

Don’t forget to check out your newspapers’ calendar of events for smaller goings-on, like town carnivals and craft fairs. Use your imagination and have some fun!!

I can’t believe that on a picture perfect spring day with bright sun, light breeze, and 70 degree temps, that not one child is outside playing today! That blows my mind. Hopefully they’re all at the baseball or soccer fields enjoying the day.

My youngest helped my husband dig up dandelions bright and early this morning while my oldest helped me wash windows (it was like pulling teeth!) but now we’re all headed outside for a rousing game of Cosmic Catch. My oldest got it for her birthday in April and it’s pretty cool. Like an electronic version of hot potato.

Maybe I’ll even be brave enough to get MY bike out of the shed and wash it down and take the baby seat off. Haven’t used it in many, many years, and now my youngest is on her own bike so we can toss the baby seat (no, definitely no thoughts of having a 3rd child!!)

I’d love to know your ways of getting your kids out the door on nice days like this one. Does it take a lot of convincing or do you have a nature lover who hates being cooped up indoors? What’s your trick?