Halloween: Prepped and Ready

It seems like once you have children, all your days, weeks, and months just run together.  Thankfully, we have holidays.  Here and there throughout the year, these days are cherished and make time stand still for just a little while.  Halloween is the jumping off point for the big end-of-year holidays, and I think that is why it has become so popular and celebrated.  Everyone wants another day they can get excited about, build up to, and throw a party for. Who wouldn’t love it!?

This year, the Red Stick Moms had an opportunity to get a practice run on Halloween by joining in on the Mall of LA Fall Fest on the Boulevard on October 18!  We had the chance to meet lots of mommas and their costumed kiddos.  We handed out hundreds of “Red Sticks” (aka Twizzlers).  We even signed up many of our guests to win a $50 giftcard to Walk On’s Bistreaux & Bar.   Our lucky winner was Rachel B. in Sunshine, LA, by the way.  Congrats, Rachel!

This year’s event offered more fun and excitement than ever before.  We met the KLove Monkey, enjoyed cupcakes from Cupcake Couture, played games and won prizes with Xtreme Talent, trick-or-treated up and down The Boulevard, and watched dozens of cuties strut their stuff down the runway for the costume contest!  It was such a fun night and we are so                                                 _________appreciative of the Mall of Louisiana for letting us participate.

With that practice run under our belts (and all the other families that joined in), we are now ready for the real deal Halloween on Thursday night.  Costumes decided on? Candy purchased? Plans for the evening made? We hope you can check off at least one!

In all the fun and excitement, we definitely want to keep in mind our mommy duty.  We want to make sure our kids and our neighbors have a safe night above anything else, and we’ve included some of our favorite Halloween safety tips for you to consider.

• Buy glow sticks for all your kids to carry around while trick-or-treating.  Makes them easier to keep an eye on, and they have fun waving them around.  Want to go the extra mile? Fill a candy bowl with glow sticks for all your trick-or-treaters.
• Make rules for the night that fit your family: Don’t open candy without mommy checking it.  Don’t knock on a door unless you are with a grownup. Stay with your group of friends only. Etc.
• If your costumed baby is traveling that night via carseat, be very careful of strings or other areas that could pull tight.  If the costume is bulky, remove before strapping them in their seat and dress them once you arrive at your destination.
• Give older kids cell phones or walkie-talkies so they can always keep in touch.
• If kids have on face paint or hairspray, make sure you save time for a quick bath or wipe-down before bed.  That would not be pretty in the morning. 🙂

For a ton of great safety tips, visit http://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by the Mall of Louisiana.  However, all the thoughts and opinions are our own!