Starting in early September, Rosemary began watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. A lot. Like multiple times on any given day. There are worse things for a toddler to get into so I indulged this. Now, Halloween is a few days away and I am ready to be done with the darn great pumpkin for a while. Since the big day is near we have prepared our house with the great pumpkin spirit but we have also carved our pumpkins, purchased our candy, and are doing everything we can to avoid scary movies (Issy and I are not into those- at all!).
This year, Rosemary became obsessed (thanks to a book from her Tia Dina) with Audrey Hepburn. So I did a thing. I definitely found a Breakfast at Tiffany’s outfit for toddlers. It comes complete with a tiara, earrings, gloves, and a classic Tiffany & Co. blue bag. Oh- there are even big sunglasses! She looks so stinkin’ cute- I can’t handle it.
We keep Halloween fairly simple. Issy and I aren’t big into dressing up so we definitely try to make fun memories for our kiddo. We want her to have fun with the season! This year, she and I watched “Coco.” It inspired us to create our own Dia de los Muertos altar. We have decorated it with marigolds, pumpkins, succulents, and candles. On it, we have pictures of those who have passed on. Rosemary finds the altar fun to look at and is learning about her family in a small way. She knows where her Grandma Rosemary is. She knows that Betty made my baby blanket. And sadly, she is just starting to learn about my great uncle who passed away a few weeks back. We have about 8 or so pictures up there and will be adding more relatives of some of our friends who want to add to the altar. It’s beautiful to look at despite it also being sad.
Last year, we went out of our way to make Halloween Covid safe. I prepackaged candy wearing masks AND gloves. We left everything out on a table in our driveway and despite it being 2020, it was still all gone by 8 pm (we started at 5:30 pm). This year, I won’t be doing that. We are going to leave candy in a basket and monitor it as kids come and go. Most kids are fairly honorable about how much to take so I am not worried about running out too fast. I am more worried about the rain that’s expected here in Vermont. That is just going to suck.
What are you doing to get ready for Halloween? Do you have costumes? Are you doing a party? What kind of candy do you like? Is it bad I am going to use the candy to bribe Rosemary into potty training?
Happy Halloween!
The Salty Exchange 