What’s our favorite holiday? Halloween of course! Costumes, candy, carving pumpkins– what’s not to love? And for au pairs who may not celebrate it in their home countries, Halloween is particularly special. In fact, one of our au pairs, Dezi from South Africa, shared with us how she goes all out for Halloween. From pumpkins to costumes to a trip to Salem, Massachusetts and more, Dezi tells you how to have the perfect Halloween.
Step 1: Pumpkin Picking
The best way to start off the Halloween season is carving pumpkins. But it’s all the better if you can get to the pumpkin patch and pick your own. Find a local farm, grab the kids, and pick out your own pumpkins for carving.
Step 2: Decorating the House
I made a haunted barn with my kids last year and all the neighbors came over and that was so much fun. We also made a fun decoration of “the kids” (kids clothes filled with leaves) upside down in the ground; we have the same things this year but with extra stuff we’ve made! trick or treat is also an amazing experience because the children are so excited and happy going to the parades and getting candy. Here is another picture of the cemetery I’ve build with my kids.
Step 3: Making the Perfect Costume
See above Dezi working on her costume– an ice cream truck! It will be done tonight, I am waiting for my host mom to bring me some more supplies!
Step 4: Visiting a Haunted House…or Salem, Massachusetts!
Step 5: Thriller!
As this will be my last Halloween in the States, I did this video because I wanted everyone to know how much fun it is to be an au pair and that we have the best cluster! I had my two closest friends with me when I came up with the idea, and we talked about it and then discussed it with our host mothers and everyone was excited to do it. We practiced three times before shooting the video and filmed it at my host mother’s business (shout out artlounge Arlington!) It was so much fun to shoot it. I had four different camera angles and my laptop with the moves so that we could stay on track.
