{"id":1036,"date":"2015-10-16T00:39:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T04:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/?p=296"},"modified":"2015-10-20T10:53:57","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T14:53:57","slug":"halloween-is-coming-october-31st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.aupairinamerica.com\/boston1\/2015\/10\/16\/halloween-is-coming-october-31st\/","title":{"rendered":"HALLOWEEN IS COMING OCTOBER 31st !"},"content":{"rendered":"

HALLOWEEN FUN AND SAFETY!<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"bats\"History<\/strong><\/span> – \u00a0\u00a0 Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31, is a mix of ancient Celtic practices,\u00a0Catholic\u00a0 and Roman religious rituals\u00a0and European folk traditions that blended together over\u00a0time 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\u00a0began to lose its religious connotation,\u00a0becoming a more\u00a0secular\u00a0community-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,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 costumes and sweet\u00a0 treats to usher in the season.<\/p>\n

\"pumpkin\" Pumpkins and the Legend of Stingy Jack<\/strong> <\/span>–<\/h2>\n

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 \u201cStingy Jack\u201d (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\u2019s when Irish immigrants came to America and found pumpkins to be so plentiful and easier to carve, that the tradition was altered.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tick-or-treating \u2013 why we do it<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Trick

Trick or Treat<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our Favorite Halloween website for crafts and cooking ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit this Disney site for great Halloween crafts and cooking fun.\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013<\/p>\n

http:\/\/familyfun.go.com\/halloween\/<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

\"Spirit<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Yummy

Yummy Mummy Dogs<\/p><\/div>\n

Au Pairs helping children stay Safe on Halloween\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"halloween-safety-4\"
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make sure to inspect the children\u2019s Trick Or Treat candy to make sure everything is in a sealed wrapper and appears safe.<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Small children should not eat hard candy because of chocking.<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Children should be supervised when they go Trick-or-Treating.\u00a0 Many parents will come home early from work on the day to go with their children.\u00a0 Check with Host Parents about this.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Halloween Safety Tips for Drivers<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    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.<\/span><\/h3>\n

    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.<\/p>\n

    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<\/strong><\/span> and you shouldn’t have a problem while driving on Halloween night<\/p>\n

    * Don’t use a cell phone <\/strong><\/span>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.<\/p>\n

    Make sure your child carries a flashlight<\/strong><\/span>, 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.<\/p>\n

    Drive below the posted speed limit<\/strong><\/span> in residential areas during trick-or-treating hours. This will allow you time to break if you see a child dart in front of you.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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    <\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    HAVE SOME FUN THIS MONTH<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

    \n

    \"house90\"Haunted Happenings in October<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n

    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\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

    In Westford MA, visit Witches Woods \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/witchswoods.com<\/strong><\/a> . \u00a0Haunted Hayride and Halloween Screampark – open Thursday \u2013 Sunday \u00a0nights 6:30-10:30.<\/p>\n

    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<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN!<\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    HALLOWEEN FUN AND SAFETY! History – \u00a0\u00a0 Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31, is a mix of ancient Celtic practices,\u00a0Catholic\u00a0 and Roman religious rituals\u00a0and European folk traditions that blended together over\u00a0time to create the holiday we know today. Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity and life and death, Halloween is Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,1],"tags":[23,24,37,57,58,64,78,88,112,133,141,153,173,181,189],"class_list":["post-1036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-au-pair-tips","category-child-care","category-uncategorized","tag-au-pair","tag-au-pair-in-america","tag-boston-area","tag-concord","tag-cooking","tag-cultural-exchange","tag-fall","tag-halloween","tag-lexington","tag-october","tag-pumpkins","tag-safety","tag-sudbury","tag-trick-or-treat","tag-winchester"],"yoast_head":"\nHALLOWEEN IS COMING OCTOBER 31st ! - Best Of Boston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HALLOWEEN IS COMING OCTOBER 31st ! - Best Of Boston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HALLOWEEN FUN AND SAFETY! History – \u00a0\u00a0 Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31, is a mix of ancient Celtic practices,\u00a0Catholic\u00a0 and Roman religious rituals\u00a0and European folk traditions that blended together over\u00a0time to create the holiday we know today. 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