A Scare Free Halloween Bash

Yikes, it’s getting cooler and October marks the beginning of holiday festivities as the year comes to a close.

 Halloween in the US is a really big deal. It’s the time where everyone can enjoy their dream disguises and play pretend for both children and adults.

Although some families enjoy the thrill of haunted houses and spooky ghosts, our family approach during this season is quite different.

We don’t do scary!! As a result, my daughter often feels excluded from a lot of parties and events throughout October. We struggled between fun and fear and how to make this season work for her and her no tolerance for anything frightful.

Some Background

To get a better idea of how we arrived at not doing scary Halloween, ya gotta hear this story.

My daughter started a home school daycare at 18 months and her tiny classmates were excited about all the spookiness of Halloween. They played scared for weeks. Since my daughter could speak very well early, she would rehearse all the spooky things she heard and saw at school. I listened, but I never expected she would react the way she did later, especially at night.

Monkey Business

Through the night and the next morning, she would explain to me that monkeys were in her bed and playing with her. Although odd, I believed her. Night after night she would have the same discussion each morning about the visits from the monkeys. Although she smiled as though they were genuinely nice when playing with her, she seemed very uncomfortable. I decided to take charge and evict what I imagined were Gremlins (comedy horror movie from the ’80s). So I started going to her room when she called for me at night. she would try to point them out but of course, I saw nothing. She would then say, “see mommy, right there”. Finally, I would tell these invisible to mommy monkeys to leave her alone and get out. She watched me do this night after night but according to her, they would come back the next night and the next.

One morning, she said while giggling, “mommy last night the monkeys put their buts on your face” I was mad!!! Whatever invisible creatures that were paying visits to my daughter at night were starting to make things personal and seriously annoying me. They were making fun of me now and she was chuckling away. This was indeed personal and unless we got these monkeys under control, I was not going to get a solid night’s sleep.

 Monkey Eviction

These unwanted, sleep wrecking monkeys had to GOO. To get a handle on things, I calmed down and prayed for the right approach. I realized that my child could apparently see things I could not see, and they were most certainly real. We both were exhausted from interrupted sleep throughout the night for days, I was ready to spank the teacher for letting scary talk happen among 1-3-year-olds. I was mad with anyone I could think of that could be a part of helping invite these monkeys in our lives.

I realized a lot this very first Halloween holiday of my daughter’s life and I will never forget what I came to understand. My mini-me had to run the monkey show and not me. She was the one could see them, and interact with them. SHE needed to run them off. I told her, “baby you, da boss. Tell them to leave you alone and never come back again” She quickly did it and she never saw the monkey again.

I have learned so much about my little person as she has grown to now 10 years old. She is a real superstar. We still can’t do scary. Whenever she dabbles in scary it backfires and she’s miserable. Each Halloween I come up with safe ways to help her enjoy the season. She is now excited about dressing up and not feeling left out of the festivities.

Fun Tips for October Fun

Here are 5 fun ways I help my daughter enjoy the month of October scare-free.

1. Host costume play-dates. Invite your kids’ closes friends and let them have free play in their costumes. Kids just want to have fun. They naturally want to dress up and their imagination is serious business. Parents will enjoy the break as well.

2. Suit up to run errands. Have them dress up on the weekends throughout the month as you run errands with them. Even head to the movies with them all suited up.

3. Host a costume party. Think of superheroes, even comical villains or someone they admire: This is a full party with dancing, food, and activities. The kids will NEVER forget it.

4. Attend local fall festivals. Every neighborhood is swarming with fall festivals. Head out to as many as your family can stand.

5. Do nature trails. Every activity does not need to be over the top. This is a good time to take in fresh fall air on nature trails on your bikes or simply walking, exploring, and chatting.

Featured Menu:

• Chick-fil-a Nuggets and Strips (the reason why the south will always be my homestead…xoxo)

• Cucumbers and carrots with avocado ranch salad dressing from Chick-fil-a

• Nothing Bundt Cakes

• Bia Drinks (better than juice boxes; gotta try it)

• Queso cheese dip

• Tortilla Chips

• Whole apples

• Sliced Oranges

Featured Decor:

• Mini cauldron bowls– for the queso dip and chicken nuggets

• Veggie dishes– black and bold for hold colorful veggies

• Homemade tent- chairs, sheets, blankets, pillows, battery operated string lights, and a good book)