Some of the more seasoned moms know well by now, how trick or treating for their little ones will go. It will either be a quick 30 minute walk which ends fast due to melt downs, or a full on 3 hour work out.
My children are a little older now, and we have tried all aspects of HOW to trick or treat. We used to try to go to other towns and go with friends/family, but then my kids would cry that they didn't have enough time or didn't go to enough houses. But now, we live in a town with a lot of row homes and close together homes, so we can hit A LOT of houses fast. And we only have 3 hrs anyway. So...onto my tips!
1 - Feed the kids before you go out. You are probably thinking DUH, but for real, this is a new rule I have now. I used to think they will eat snack while we are out anyway, doesn't matter. But...the last few years, I have taken off work on Halloween, so I have had time to cook them a real dinner. They come home from school, eat, we fix up the costumes, and we are out there at 4pm sharp. I find they eat less candy while we are walking around and they keep their energy up a little more.
2 - Bring extra bags with handles. Don't assume that when your kids bag is full they will stop trick or treating, Nooooo. They want to keep going, and their bags get heavy, then they want you to carry it. With 3 kids, I have learned over the years. First I started out with plastic grocery bags, for their candy overflow. Then those were getting too heavy for me & ripping along the way. The last few years I evolved to the re-usable bags, because they wouldn't break. Again, they get heavy too, and by the end of the night, we had 6 bags full of candy to carry home, on top of 3 whiny tired kids.This year - I am using a backpack!
3 - Bring drinks - preferable with tight lids or screw on caps. Luckily the first time I forgot to take drinks with us, we trick or treated at a house that handed out drinks, instead of candy. Awesome! But they were juice boxes, which in turn, I ended up carrying and one spilled, then a kid cried, etc etc etc. I find that water or soda with screw top lids work the best. Just bring a few for all to share.
4 - Have a mapped plan of action. Now this is only for the serious trick or treaters like us. (we LOVE candy in our house) Many times we have gone with others, who do not have a plan of action, and my kids ended up crying because we ended up doing more walking and less candy getting. So now, we have a specific path that we take from our house, to my aunts house who fully decorates her porch with my uncle in costume, to the hot spot in town where its curb to curb kids, then saunder around coming back home.
5 - Try not to have too many extra pieces to costumes, for younger kids. My daughter once had this witch hat/wig combo, and it ended up being a windy night. Guess who carried it all night long? She has a wig this year again...what was I thinking?? Oh wait...I'll have the back pack!
6 - For the parents -- DRINK COFFEE BEFORE YOU GO!!!!
I know I am like one of the only moms who plans out trick or treating, but tryst me, after 6 yrs of just going with it, and trying to meet up with other people and all, I found this is the best way for us to get the job done. AND, by staying in town, the kids get to run into their friends all night long.
Happy trick or Treating to all the parents out there!!!!
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