Blurry Halloween Lines
I’m not great with blurry lines; I’m a rules follower and work much better with yes or no than maybe. Last Halloween what to do was clear: no trick-or-treating. No one in town was supposed to take their kid around, and no one in town was supposed to hand out candy. I knew what to do and what not to do.
This year, it’s all a little amorphous. Some people are trick-or-treating. Others are not. Do we buy candy? How much if we don’t want a lot leftover? How do we pass it out safely?
We’re opting to place a bowl with candy at the end of the walkway and sit by the door, many feet away from the bowl, so we can see costumes and be friendly but not have small kids crowding outside the door. So it’s kind of a grab, wave, and go. They get candy, we keep safe, we keep them safe, and we drink tea to keep warm.
What are you doing in your town?
2 comments
Last year and this year it was fully a go for trick or treating in our town, despite it clearly being unsafe. We did not take our kids then and will not again. Our community numbers aren’t great. And we had our first experience with “there’s a covid case in your child’s class” this week – at her table, no less, so we are fresh off a (thankfully negative) covid test and feeling like we will enjoy the safety of home. Our girls are excited to trick or treat at different doors at our house, eat candy and chili and watch a movie.
They did get to dress up for school and parade through the halls (it rained, of course) snd play Halloween bingo and eat too many treats. And that feels like a win.
I’m seeing social media posts from friends in the northern hemisphere over the afternoon. I’ve seen little kids out trick or treating in your city (or nearby) looking very cute, but I don’t know what the actual arrangement was (eg going to houses etc). No Kidding Friends in NC (Raleigh, I think) have put out a grill to toast marshmallows with long forks for people to toast them themselves, and they are staying on the other side of it – similar to your approach. They do smores when there is no pandemic, but didn’t feel it was time to do it this year.