Hello all and welcome back to ‘Caregiving 101’! This week we will be diving in to how to keep your little safe while out on Halloween!
Whether it be trick or treating, parties, or just a scary movie binge, it is still important to make sure your little is 100% safe and secure! Now the level of safety definitely depends on the little, the ‘rules’, the area, and what activity their doing as well as their specific comfort. For example some may want you to track where they are on find my iPhone or life 360 to feel safe while others may even wanna be alone or even have you tag along! It depends on what your little is comfortable with!
Sometimes instead of bringing us safety, things like Life360 or other tracking apps can cause paranoia and fear instead of comfort and safety. Again talk with your little on what makes them feel safe. With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s dive into ways to keep your little safe during 3 scenarios,
Halloween Parties/Fall Festivals
Trick or treating, one of a little ones favorite activity! But there’s ways to make sure that while trick or treating your little is as safe as possible!
Picking out costumes is one of the best parts of trick or treating! Whether it’s scary, cute, spooky, or all of the above, littles love dressing up!
How can we pick good costumes?
Well personally I like to make sure to pick costumes that will be good to walk in and that won’t be to uncomfortable after an hour or two.
Some things I don’t recommend is bad fabric or textures on your costume that you don’t like to feel as this will cause you to be upset!
Personally I like to always go with hoodies for mine, whether it’s a oversized carebear hoodie, or black hoodie and cat ears, these are things that still get who you are across while still being safe and comfortable!
Make sure to also dress for the weather!
Depending on where you are, Halloween can either be a cool breeze or a frosty the snow man situation! You want to make sure your warm and cozy. This means things like shorts and a T-shirt isn’t sometimes the best idea. Instead of shorts, try a long skirt or leggings with cool designs! As for T shirt make sure to bring a nice cozy jacket as well!
Trick or treating can be a little scary especially in small space. Some ways to help this fear is with safety!
Whether it’s just going to a small little neighborhood or warning you’re little of a house that may have a little jump scare, it’s important that littles are safe on Halloween so that they don’t get upset!
Some good ideas for faint of heart littles are:
going to retirement centers to do Halloween as many of them have events for the kiddos and oldies!
A group trick or treating pact. This way they aren’t alone :)
Looking out for houses with a lot of decor that may give your little the spooks!
And last you can bring a pet or a stuffie to make them feel more safe
With that said, there’s some good things to watch out for with Halloween! Just remember little ones when getting and eating your candy, caregiver tax is a obligation! :)
Halloween Parties/Fall Festivals
Parties and festivals are fun, especially Halloween ones! Though when caregiving it’s important to make sure your little is safe.
They can be really overwhelming and scary for a lot of littles, whether they wanted to go without realizing their triggers or they have no triggers at all, it’s still a good idea to pack some essential items so when your little needs a cool down they can!
Some good, essential items are:
Noise canceling headphones
A snack(just in case they are food picky!)
A water (just in case there is none)
And maybe some other things as well.
It’s easy to get lost so make sure to either hold your littles hand or even have something that’ll give u where they are (with their consent!!) like Life360 or find my iPhone!
Lost littles are never fun to handle especially cause they get scared and don’t know what to do. So create a designated “lost space” maybe by the bathrooms or a food table. This will help in the case that one of y’all do get lost
Also look for warning signs on when it’s time to go, things like tug pulling, texting your phone, or even heading towards the door and standing outside and key things to look out for.
Although it’s important to have fun, a littles social stamina and battery is just as important as many littles/nureodivergents will not understand there own battery until it’s too late. This also goes along for those with depression and anxiety too! Watch out for your friends :)
Last but not least scary movies are also something fun to do with your little on Halloween!
The most important thing here is knowing what type of scary movie is good for your little.
Do NOT force your little to watch a scary movie without them wanting to! That is not okay and will be traumatic for them. With that warning out of the way some good movies for each class of ‘spooky little’ is:
(Littles that get scared very easily and would prefer something more cute then spooky)
Garfield Halloween adventure
And a lot others! Most Disney kids Halloween movies would be suitable :)
(Littles that like a little bit of fear but nothing to scary!)
Scary stories to tell in the dark (I have never seen this one but I’ve heard it’s not to bad!)
Are you afraid of the dark
R.L. Stine's Monsterville
And many others! A lot of pg 13 halloween films would be good for them :) still ‘scary’ without the fear!
And finally… the scary littles
And a lot of other classic horror movies
Again please do not watch these with your little unless 1. Your little ask and 2. You know they can handle it!
You will be responsible for any nightmares that occur!
In conclusion halloween is tomorrow,
Make sure to tell me in the comments what your doing for Halloween! Who are you dressing up as? Are you watching any spooky films?
I hope you have an amazing Halloween my little spooks!
tangentwithtanner
andulkaphoto
vaporwave
janainaart
jacobvanloon
