Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The past 7+ months I've heard the phrase "our kids have already lost so much" countless times. And, my friends, I'm over it. It's a bit pathetic, in my opinion, that as adults we are perpetuating the victim mentality for our kids instead of teaching them the art of grit and pivoting in unexpected or challenging times. Using a current issue as an example, are kids really going to "suffer" if they don't trick or treat? No. Only if WE (the adults) model a "loss" mindset. What if, instead, families looked at it as a way to plan a really fun evening? Maybe doing a family art project, bobbing for apples in mixing bowls, packaging up sweet treats to door drop for neighbors, creating a spooky themed meal together. I assure you, if WE (the adults) started finding the OPPORTUNITY instead of inflating the perceived losses, we may actually find that we have opportunities to create lasting memories for our children. They'll remember that year they had a SPECIAL Halloween instead of trick or treating like every other year. Shift your OWN perspective so we can look back at this time and remember how much our kids (and ourselves) LEARNED during the pandemic, not lost.

My aunt posted this recently, and I mostly agree. People acting devastated that their kids can't do what they do in normal years is overly dramatic - if you have a good attitude, the kids won't think it's a big deal. Shield them from seeing social media postings of kids going out trick or treating, and do fun things at home. We had a "candy hunt" yesterday - Dh and I hid 40 pieces of candy around the house and let our 4 kids go nuts finding them. That was right before lunch. Then they could eat candy after lunch while we roasted pumpkin seeds. No, it wasn't as exciting as going out to different houses and seeing everyones costumes, but everything is a bit different this year. And that's okay - we're staying safe and keeping others safe by staying home.

I love it. You aunt is wonderful.

Anonymous wrote:I'm rarely negatively affected by Facebook, but damn, it feels like we are the only ones who didn't go trick-or-treating. They were upset, too, even though we tied to make a fun at-home party. Our city asked people not to trick-or-treat so we followed that request. Just feeling like I let my kids down.

Blah.

Anonymous wrote:So OP didn’t screw anything up and had no intention of going out regardless of costumes because a kid was sick. What was the point of this post?

Anonymous wrote:OP, millions of us didn't go this year. You are not alone. You did the right thing. Pat yourself on the back.

Anonymous wrote:OP, millions of us didn't go this year. You are not alone. You did the right thing. Pat yourself on the back.

Anonymous wrote:The past 7+ months I've heard the phrase "our kids have already lost so much" countless times. And, my friends, I'm over it. It's a bit pathetic, in my opinion, that as adults we are perpetuating the victim mentality for our kids instead of teaching them the art of grit and pivoting in unexpected or challenging times. Using a current issue as an example, are kids really going to "suffer" if they don't trick or treat? No. Only if WE (the adults) model a "loss" mindset. What if, instead, families looked at it as a way to plan a really fun evening? Maybe doing a family art project, bobbing for apples in mixing bowls, packaging up sweet treats to door drop for neighbors, creating a spooky themed meal together. I assure you, if WE (the adults) started finding the OPPORTUNITY instead of inflating the perceived losses, we may actually find that we have opportunities to create lasting memories for our children. They'll remember that year they had a SPECIAL Halloween instead of trick or treating like every other year. Shift your OWN perspective so we can look back at this time and remember how much our kids (and ourselves) LEARNED during the pandemic, not lost.

My aunt posted this recently, and I mostly agree. People acting devastated that their kids can't do what they do in normal years is overly dramatic - if you have a good attitude, the kids won't think it's a big deal. Shield them from seeing social media postings of kids going out trick or treating, and do fun things at home. We had a "candy hunt" yesterday - Dh and I hid 40 pieces of candy around the house and let our 4 kids go nuts finding them. That was right before lunch. Then they could eat candy after lunch while we roasted pumpkin seeds. No, it wasn't as exciting as going out to different houses and seeing everyones costumes, but everything is a bit different this year. And that's okay - we're staying safe and keeping others safe by staying home.

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I didn't think ToT was happening. No one on our street was handing out candy, though I see now that things were happening on other streets in our neighborhood. Also, we had a fun plan in store for the kids -- a backyard party with a scavenger hunt, halloween-themed pinata, games... and while we still did that, each of our kids was allowed to invite 1 classmate. The classmates did not come because my 4YO came down with a cold.

Once I realized ToT was happening, we may have done that, but my 4YO had a cold...

My 6YO was fine with the party idea and was fine not ToT, up until when we realized their friends couldn't come.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Silver Spring Montgomery county and did not see any trick-or-treating.

I live in SS too. We didn't have any door knocking in our neighborhood, but lots of people set out treats on clothes lines or individual bags on tables. It actually made for a pretty great Halloween.

Anonymous wrote:I live in Silver Spring Montgomery county and did not see any trick-or-treating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I didn't think ToT was happening. No one on our street was handing out candy, though I see now that things were happening on other streets in our neighborhood. Also, we had a fun plan in store for the kids -- a backyard party with a scavenger hunt, halloween-themed pinata, games... and while we still did that, each of our kids was allowed to invite 1 classmate. The classmates did not come because my 4YO came down with a cold.

Once I realized ToT was happening, we may have done that, but my 4YO had a cold...

My 6YO was fine with the party idea and was fine not ToT, up until when we realized their friends couldn't come.

So you didn't really screw up Halloween. You just didn't teach your kids to "enjoy the wow that's happening now," as Daniel Tiger would say. It's something kids need to learn, so this is a good opportunity for that.