Search Results for: blog pumpkinpalooza attack of the parental paparazzi

Parental Bargaining on Halloween

“Mmmm… Mommy!” Chomp. Chomp. “Mmmm… mmm… ” Chomp. “Yum!” “Mommy, this… ” Swallow. “This is better than chocolate!” –My 4-year-old daughter after eating her first Fig Newton. Now you see why I warmly embrace the whole non-edible goodie giveaway on Halloween night. My daughter is by no means a candyaholic and would happily choose a bowl of fresh fruit or a Fig Newton over a chocolate peanut butter cup or lollipop any day. (I consider this due reward for having birthed a child who didn’t sleep through the night until she was almost 3.) On Halloween my daughter would rather … Continue reading →

Pumpkinpalooza—-Attack of the Parental Paparazzi

How did your little pumpkins fare during last night’s rush to land the chocolate mother load? My little monkey made it through the night just fine. It was this morning when the nightmare began—2:28 A.M. to be exact. That’s when the goodies my daughter devoured the night before wanted out of her tummy and back into her Hello Kitty trick-or-treat bucket. I’ll spare you the gory details, but, no, her current ailment was not brought on by the few pieces of Halloween candy she ate; she also has a 103-degree fever, chills and body aches so chock this one up … Continue reading →

Homemade Halloween Costumes for Girls

After spending the last few years trick-or-treating as a dog, cat, giraffe and monkey, my 5-year-old daughter is finally breaking out of her animal costume rut. This year she’s making a bold statement by trying to scare candy from complete strangers dressed as a man-eating dinosaur (a.k.a. The tyrannical lizard king from the “Land of the Lost”). Don’t let the padded claws fool you; she means business. After looking at the price of the green fleece costume I did consider making my own, but then I remembered that I barely have time to brush my hair in the morning, so … Continue reading →

I Am THAT Mom

I did it. I succumbed to the fear… nay, the reality, that the dinosaur costume my 5-year had to HAD. TO. have for Halloween might not be hanging in Toys R Us later this month. Yes, I bought the overpriced green fleece ensemble complete with plush claws… last month… shortly BEFORE Labor Day. OH YES I DID! I am that mom. The one other moms can blame for purchasing the one and only size 5 dinosaur costume Toys R Us decided to carry in our local store. I swear there was only one left when we got there. Yes, I … Continue reading →

Make Crunchy Chocolate Turkeys with Your Kids this Thanksgiving

If you are going to take the time to make one edible craft this Thanksgiving, this should be it. My daughter made these adorable Chocolate Turkeys in cooking class last week and gobbled it up before I could go parental paparazzi on her and snap a few keepers. That’s just one of the reasons we are headed back into the kitchen this week to whip up a few more. The body of these cute little turkeys is made from Chocolate Rice Krispies cereal and the rest of the ingredients can be found in your pantry. This is one of the … Continue reading →

Teens Banned from Trick-or-Treating

Parents in Belleville, Illinois will have to find some other way to entertain their teens tomorrow night now that the mayor has banned high school students from trick-or-treating. Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert signed an ordinance Tuesday prohibiting any child who has completed the 8th grade from trick-or-treating on Halloween. The mayor says the move comes after his office received dozens of complaints from residents, who were sick of having teenagers ring their doorbells late on Halloween night. “We were hearing more and more about bigger kids knocking on doors after 9 at night, and the people who lived in the … Continue reading →

Halloween, the Economy and Your Family

Oprah Winfrey just devoted an entire show to the best money lessons you can teach your kids in these troubling economic times. The show featured tips on how to tell overindulged children that the spending needs to stop—-NOW. Financial guru Suze “tell-it-like-it-is” Orman was back scolding Oprah’s chosen families about how their reckless spending helped drive our economy straight into the dumpster. Though, as I watched the program I wondered how much of Orman’s advice was falling on deaf ears. After all, while Orman was chastising parents for overindulging their kids, the National Retail Federation was releasing information they gathered … Continue reading →

Do Your Teens Still Go Trick-or-Treating?

Exactly how old is too old to be wandering around a neighborhood dressed as a werewolf, ringing doorbells in an effort to score mountains of free candy? Some parents believe that you are never too old to celebrate Halloween… my mom being a prime example. She could care less if a horde of teens pulls into her driveway (in a vehicle driven by one of the masked hooligans) and stumbles up her walkway while pulling on the one and only item that resembles anything close to an actual costume (in some cases a Freddy Krueger mask paired with the same … Continue reading →

Parents Who Don’t Give Out Candy on Halloween

I’m not referring to curmudgeonly Mr. Wilson who thinks Halloween is just another way to get scammed by neighborhood rugrats. Nor am I referring to parents who are opposed to the holiday all together and prefer to celebrate All Saints Day with their children instead. I am referring to parents such as my neighbor whose son is diabetic. Each year she hangs an “Ask Me For Non-Sugar Treats” poster on her front door (you can download a poster at the Institute for Applied Biomedicine’s website) and offers a slew of alternative treats to kids who prefer something other than traditional … Continue reading →

Halloween Candy Competition Among Parents

There’s one in every neighborhood—-the home where you know you can score a king-size candy bar on Halloween as opposed to those tiny fun-size bars (which are really not all that “fun” unless you can cram 10 in your mouth at one time). King-size candy bars came courtesy of the Duerr family in my neighborhood. They had five kids, which explains a lot in terms of their generosity (with that many kids they were used to hosting half the neighborhood on a daily basis) and their choice of premium chocolate (one Halloween they handed out regular-size bars of Ghirardelli Chocolate … Continue reading →