HALLOWEEN FUN AND SAFETY!

History –    Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31, is a mix of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic  and Roman religious rituals and European folk traditions that blended together over time to create the holiday we know today. Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity and life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. Halloween has long been thought of as a day when the dead can return to the earth, and ancient Celts would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off these roaming ghosts. The Celtic holiday of Samhain, the Catholic Hallowmas period of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and the Roman festival of Feralia all influenced the modern holiday of Halloween. In the 19th century, Halloween began to lose its religious connotation, becoming a more secular community-based children’s holiday. Although the superstitions and beliefs surrounding Halloween may have evolved over the years, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people can still look forward to parades,                                                                                                                      costumes and sweet  treats to usher in the season.

Pumpkins and the Legend of Stingy Jack –

Jack-o-lanterns are an Irish tradition brought to America by early Irish immigrants. But early jack-o-lanterns were not pumpkins, they were turnips, rutabagas or gourds that were hollowed out. Lights were placed in them to ward off evil spirits and to keep “Stingy Jack” (the legendary Irish drunkard and prankster, believed to have made a deal with the devil and condemned to walk the earth upon death, whose namesake has been given to modern day, carved pumpkins) away. It was not until the 1800’s when Irish immigrants came to America and found pumpkins to be so plentiful and easier to carve, that the tradition was altered.

Tick-or-treating – why we do it

The American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives.

Trick or Treat

The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Our Favorite Halloween website for crafts and cooking ideas

Visit this Disney site for great Halloween crafts and cooking fun.   –

http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/

Yummy Mummy Dogs

Au Pairs helping children stay Safe on Halloween   

1. Make sure to inspect the children’s Trick Or Treat candy to make sure everything is in a sealed wrapper and appears safe.
2. Small children should not eat hard candy because of chocking.
3. Children should be supervised when they go Trick-or-Treating.  Many parents will come home early from work on the day to go with their children.  Check with Host Parents about this.

Halloween Safety Tips for Drivers

Halloween is a wonderful holiday, but because of increased foot traffic and that Trick-or-Treaters are out at night, the potential for automobile related accidents with young pedestrians increases four times on this night according to a CDC (Center for Disease Control) study.

Streets are literally crawling with all sorts of witches, ghosts, goblins, vampires and all other sorts of costumed people. This makes for added responsibility for drivers to make sure that they drive safer than normal.

In many areas, people drive their kids into subdivisions and let them out to walk from house to house. Usually the parent follows behind in the car. This can cause traffic jams in small areas and much confusion as kids dart between cars on the streets going from house to house. A driver is already distracted because they are trying to keep an eye on their own kids and usually aren’t paying attention to much else.

Children and adults tend to be preoccupied and may not pay as much attention to safety as they should. They may not see your vehicle or just assume that you see them automatically. Stay on the defensive and you shouldn’t have a problem while driving on Halloween night

* Don’t use a cell phone or other electronic device while driving on Halloween night. You shouldn’t be doing this anyway, the rate of cell phone related auto accidents has jumped dramatically since the use of cell phones and texting has risen so high. Some states have already made laws concerning this and others are working on it.

Make sure your child carries a flashlight, glow stick or has reflective tape on their costume to make them more visible to cars. Left them know if they carry a flash light to never shine itin the eyes of a driver. This can cause blindness on the drivers part temporarily and they may not see your child.

HAVE SOME FUN THIS MONTH

Haunted Happenings in October

The month of October brings exciting activities to the city of Salem, Massachusetts. There are many activities relating to the city’s history and penchant for things macabre, including walking tours, haunted houses, trolley rides, spooky performances, exhibits, harbor cruiss and more. There will be the Derby Street Carnival on October 15 and a free concert on Saturday, October 30, starting at 8PM on a stage on Washington Street. Visit their website for all the details: http://www.hauntedhappenings.org/

In Westford MA, visit Witches Woods   http://witchswoods.com .  Haunted Hayride and Halloween Screampark – open Thursday – Sunday  nights 6:30-10:30.

In Southern New Hampshire, you will find Canobie Lake Park’s SCREEMFEST. The fun amusement park has been taken over by goblins and ghosts! It runs on weekends through the month of October. Visit here for all their details: http://www.canobie.com/SCREEEMFEST/index.html

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!