Who loves free stuff? Tell me what you’re going to be for Halloween in the comments section and FedEx will send five of you Trick-Or-Treat Bags full of stuff to keep your little ghosts and goblins safe this October 31st.
I’m pretty much done with scary movies. There came a point in my adult life when I decided that there were enough legitimately scary things in the world so maybe self-induced terror for fun wasn’t gonna be a priority for me anymore.
BUT
I like the cute, pretend terror of Halloween.
Creepy ghosts with inexplicable werewolf teeth.
Witches.
What-Does-the-Fox-Says.
Shudder.
It’s funny that we play at fear during this holiday but almost no one wants to be actually scared. However, kids are running around in the dark on the street with obstructed vision and children are twice as likely to be killed by a car on Halloween than on any other night. That’s partly because any other night they would be in bed. But since, on the 31st, they won’t be, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids to help keep scaring fun this Halloween.
Here are few of their suggestions:
Top safety tips Safe Kids and FedEx recommend for parents:
• Cross the street safely at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross. Walk, don’t run, across the street.
• Walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
• Slow down and stay alert – watch out for cars that are turning or backing up and never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars.
• Costumes can be both creative and safe. Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors. Masks can obstruct a child’s vision, so choose non-toxic face paint and make-up whenever possible instead. Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights in order to see better, as well as be seen by drivers.
Top safety tips Safe Kids and FedEx recommend for drivers:
• Slow down in residential neighborhoods. Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• Be especially alert and take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
• Reduce any distractions inside your car, such as talking on the phone or eating, so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
BE SAFE THIS YEAR. (All caps = I’m serious about this.)
If you’d like FedEx and SafeKids.org to send you a Safe Trick-or-Treat bag, leave a comment with your costume idea for this year. I’ll pick the winners on Friday, October 24th at 8pm EST so you can get your bags in time for Halloween!
***Update – And the winners are – comment numbers 8, 7, 16, 11, 20. Becky, AmyRyb, beccalecca, Leslie, and Holly Wright. ***
My kiddos are going to be a cheerleader, girl 11, a football player, boy 8, and a ninja turtle, girl 5, and last but not least the dog, a rufferee. Happy Halloween!
I love that your theme is going to be crashed by a ninja turtle.
Thx for your tips Kathryn. Happy and safe Halloween to you and your family. Just shared your tips with my son and he is going to be a cow for Halloween. (no surprise)
Angelique Denneman
Does he love cows? Fun.
My daughter will be Belle, I’m a rose and my husband well be the Beast.
I love that you’re the rose.
A dragon, Knight, and Princess! Adam and I will be the king and queen!
I love that the princess is the littlest. Too cute.
This year we are just reusing what we already have in the dress up box. My two oldest girls want to be witches for the third year in a row, I think my son will be Spiderman. And my three year old will probably be a dolphin (bought costume for her last year and then she changed her mind) or a butterfly.
I have no idea what I’m going to be!
I was thinking of going as a tired mom who just got a bunch of people in costumes.
My oldest is being a red ninja (the red part is very important), my four year old is being Mike Wazowski, and my two year old is being a ninja in training!
Thumbs up for ninjas!
Lily is Rosie the riveter, Bret is Colonel Sanders and Annabelle is a bumble bee.
Oh. My. Gosh. They will be so stinkin cute!
My older son is going to be a ninja–sigh, the end of the cute costume era–and my younger son is going to be a mouse, in the same awesome homemade costume I wore as a little girl and that my older son wore a few years ago. I am still trying to work out mine. I really want to be Velma from Scooby Doo, but the thrift store is letting me down right now! Also, I totally agree with you about scary stuff. I refuse to do movies, and even the Halloween store this year really creeped me out. I don’t even want to take my kids there. Halloween really isn’t about the kids anymore, is it?
All three of mine are going to be ninja. Who says ninjas can’t be cute?!
Every year I say, “We’re reusing costumes this year” and every year I end up making costumes. But NOT this year! Well, okay, I’m making two costumes, but two out of eight is NOT bad! We’ll have the 10th and 11th Doctors and a Dalek again, a cheerleader zombie, a dragon and the Paper Bag Princess (of Robert Munsch fame.) I’m pretty sure I’ll be a Panda or a Penguin (I’ve got a black hoodie to work with – other simple ideas are welcome!) and Spence hasn’t decided, but he’s got several from years past to choose from.
That is extremely impressive. You guys always look so great.
we are going to be an astronaut, butterfly, peacock and giraffe!
Cute!
My kids are going as a robot, a monkey, and a ballerina fairy. I abstain, myself, out of laziness more than anything.
I’m going to be dressed as my family’s Minivan floor. Yup, you heard me right; everything that has been left on the floor of my minivan for the past several months is getting pinned to my pants and shirt. There’ll even be a dirty shoe print on my face.
Okay. That is hilarious. It sounds like you’ll be dressed as all of America’s minivan floor.
We have a Secret Service Agent, a detective, and the youngest is still deciding between Tigger or a princess.
What about Tiger Lily from Peter Pan? Sort of a cross between Tigger and princess…
Pick me, pick me! 🙂
We will be a family of cowboys and girl this year. So glad b/c in previous years, matching my child’s superhero and Thomas obsessions took a lot more work. I am a cowgirl on any given day (except I don’t have a horse, or a ranch… well, anyway, I look awesome in cowboy boots and hat).
xo!
Of course you do. But can you rope a calf, Julie?
My costume idea is to be a librarian!
I’ve got a girly Frankenstein and little love bug this year 🙂
Will the Frankenstein wear pink?
The kids are Anna, Elsa and Olaf as you know. I has grand intentions of sewing appropriate Queen and King of Arrendale costumes for us parents but life happened:). Maybe next year?
I can’t wait to see pictures.
My daughter is gong to be princess peach from super Mario brothers!
Love it. We need to do a Mario theme one year!
I have 3 kids with 3 very different tastes. My 3 year old will be a tiger. My teen will be Rainbow Dash. And my 7 year old wants to be MineCraft “Steve”.
Makes perfect sense.
My niece is going to be a witch, and my nephew a werewolf !
We’ve got a 3-year-old cowboy (I beg your pardon, he says he’s actually the sheriff), and a 1-year-old wolf (who loves to howl “Aooooo” on command). Originally it was the other way around, but they decided to trade costumes. Good thing they are so close in size!