Halloween and Young Children: Trick or Treat?

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

The school supplies are long gone at area stores; swiftly replaced by Halloween everything. My preschooler, who is absolutely petrified of anything that howls, hoots or hangs crooked, bursts into tears each and every time we get near the Halloween area at Wal-Mart and Target. (I don't even attempt to visit places like Halloween USA or Halloween Express when my daughter is with me.)

This understandable, yet at times inconvenient fact (inconvenient because these days obtaining a tube of toothpaste now requires taking a six aisle detour around the Halloween madness) is not unique in families with young children. Likewise, the fact that my frightened child can go from bawling like a newborn to begging like a puppy the instant she catches sight of the Halloween candy (which is strategically placed on the periphery of the seasonal center just out of earshot of the cacophony of cackling witches and wailing zombies) is also something parents with young children are likely very familiar with.

Which is not to say that the spooktacular decorations featuring bloodied limbs and skeletal remains scares the daylight out of every youngster. This is well documented by the masses of toddlers and preschoolers I've seen (and pointed out to my own child) happily embracing ghoulish costumes. Of course, my verbal observations are rarely acknowledged by my daughter given that she can barely hear me over her impassioned sobs and she certainly can't see the children I am referring to through her steady stream of tears. So much for encouraging change.

Interestingly, I don't recall that she was this scared of freaky Halloween decorations last year. I distinctly remember taking her into the same aisles at the same stores to look for a costume and we left without a single tear shed. This year the only store featuring Halloween gear that we can visit without a meltdown is Toys R Us, and even then she clings to me like al dente pasta completely uninterested in the myriad of cute, cuddly, glittery, sequined and otherwise tame decorations.

On the bright side... my wallet couldn't be happier.

How does your youngster react around scary Halloween decorations?

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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