Halloween Survival Guide

Halloween is my least favorite holiday.  Always has been, and probably always will be.  But ever since we had kids and moved to the suburbs, I have had to acknowledge the holiday more than I have in the past.  In the burbs, people celebrate Halloween for basically two weeks leading up to October 31.  There are a minimum of three parties per child, or at least 3 separate occasions to wear costumes.  You can count on a few sugar-induced meltdowns and / or nap strikes. Overall, its a tough holiday to enjoy, but when you have kids and live in the burbs, you suck it up and pretend like you love it.

Below is my Halloween Survival Guide.  It helped get me through my first suburban Halloween!

Only buy/trade gently used costumes...
Why spend $30+ on a brand new costume that is going to look like rags at the end of the month.  The kids wear their costumes into the ground. I find dried buttercream frosting inside the sleeves and candy corn stuck to the side like a piece of gum.  Don't waste your money! Your child will probably never want to look at the costume ever again after Halloween is over anyways.

Buy multiple costumes...
This year we have SIX reasons to dress up, SIX! I know, its insane.  Similar to last year, I have two costumes that I rotate on and off, depending on whichever one smells the best.  I am always afraid to wash the costumes since you never quite know how it will look coming out of the wash.  And god forbid you accidentally ruin a costume mid-season, you are so screwed.  Just have two ready to go, and you are good.

Clear your calendars...
Don't plan any activities the month of October as you are sure to be booked up with nonstop parties, parades, fairs, you name it. If you aren't dressed up as a pumpkin, you are probably out picking one.

Minimize candy consumption...
Trying to maintain your healthy diet during Halloween is a challenge, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.  The best tips for not going totally off the rails is to wait until the day of Halloween to buy Halloween candy.  You are much less likely to raid the pantry when you only have enough candy to give out to trick-or-treaters.  I also tend to buy the candy I don't like so that I am not tempted to eat it. 

Trick-or-treating is super anticlimactic...
I had visions of Blake waddling up to our neighbors porch and saying "trick-or-treat!" Ha, boy was I wrong.  Instead, Blake was screaming and crying as we neared our neighbors lawn.  When we finally convinced Blake to walk up to the door, he recoiled as their dog came running towards him almost knocking him over.  Our neighbors weren't quite prepared for us either.  We came home with a few pieces of candy and a Fiber One bar.  I am hoping that this year we make it to at least two houses, but not getting my hopes up.

Toddlers scare easily...
Who would've thought! I took Blake to Party City and thought it would be funny to put on a mask and chase him around the store.  Guess what? He didn't find it funny at all.  I guess we don't have the same sense of humor.  He also got spooked out by a man dressed as a pumpkin that started chasing me.  I thought it was fake and had no reason to think otherwise until it stepped off its platform and all hell broke loose.  Now Blake is completely on edge when he sees any type of Halloween decoration.  His new favorite words are, "Spooky" "Creepy" "Scared". 

As much as I hate Halloween, I do love seeing my kids in their costumes.  Who knows, maybe the holiday will grow on me over time.