Six Essentials for Going Trick or Treating With Your Kids

As the leaves change color, the spookiest month is upon us.  October, the month of candy and costumes, presents one of the most potent cultural phenomena in history: trick-or-treating.  Trick-or-treating is fun for all ages, whether you are a teenager looking to destroy property or an adult with a hankering for nostalgia, but how can you make this year’s trick-or-treating experience one to remember?  What things should you buy and bring with you?  Here are a few great ideas, from fun things to safety measures.

1.   A Bottle of Wine

If your children are young enough to don costumes, then they may be insufferable, especially on Halloween.  To numb the pain and feel like you are in on the fun, consider bringing a bottle of wine with you.  When the going gets tough, just take a sip.  You can purchase wine at the store, or you can order wine delivery, which is especially useful in inclement weather.  You can also share your wine with other befuddled parents who are chasing after their children.  The neighborhood will thank you for the gesture as well as the alcohol.  While wine is no cordial, you may at least be cordial with the wine you have.

2.   Leave Early

Whether you are watching children or trick-or-treating yourself, get started early.  Leave a few minutes before sunset.  Let your kids wear themselves out safely before returning home.  With bellies full of candy, they may actually want to go to bed at nine o’clock.  It is better to use daylight than to depend on flashlights an hour later.  Some cars fly through suburbs, so it is infinitely safer to trick-or-treat on the earlier side.  You need not do it in the middle of the day; many households probably will not be prepared.  Consider beginning at sunset.

3.   A Flashlight

“Just one more block,” your children might say, but you left early to avoid the dark, and now the dark is creeping up on the neighborhood.  Bring a flashlight, just in case.  Make sure the batteries are still good and the beam is steady.  Cars careening at 40 miles per hour through a neighborhood are dangerous enough by themselves, but one stray root can trip you or your kids, and someone can end up with a scraped knee or a smashed skull.  Gory injuries may be in the spirit of the holiday, but they are no fun in the grand scheme of things.  Flashlights are also good if you want to preserve your phone’s battery.  Your phone’s flashlight can heat your phone up, indicating that it costs a lot of your phone’s power.

4.   A Costume

Whether you have kids or not, you enjoy getting dressed up yourself.  From homemade cosplays to overpriced costumes, there are many things to wear.  Others may appreciate a subtle do-it-yourself costume.  For instance, you can dress up as a Squid Game docent by drawing a circle, square, or triangle on your forehead.  Drawing a lightning strike on your head is the most cost-effective way to turn into Harry Potter.  A bigger lightning strike can turn you into David Bowie or a member of Kiss.  Costumes are fun.  If you do not want to blow money on one, then make one yourself.  As long as others chuckle at the reference your costume makes, how elaborate it does not matter.

5.   Water Bottles

As fun as trick-or-treating is, it is also tiring and dehydrating.  Not only will you and your kids be walking all over the neighborhood, but you might be eating candy at the same time, and sugar is as dehydrating as salt, so either bring water with you, or drink up before you leave.  If you are bringing that bottle of wine with you, then it is going to be doubly important that you bring enough water to stand up to the alcohol and the candy.  Bottled water might not be great for the environment, but that is okay because you can employ reusable water bottles to keep you and your kids as hydrated as possible. If you have not gotten your kids reusable water bottles yet, then Halloween presents a great time for you to teach your kids the value of water bottles and plastic conservation.  Explain to them that plastic, the material out of which their toys (among many other things) are made, is itself made of oil, a highly limited resource!

6.   A Canvas Bag

Those bags of candy might be heavier for your kids than they are for you.  Consider bringing a canvas bag that is big enough to store each of your kids’ goodie bags.  This keeps things organized and gives your kids more of an opportunity to wear themselves out.  Enjoy your Halloween, and good luck with your safe trick-or-treating.