Post by InBetweenDays on Oct 29, 2020 9:58:54 GMT -5
DD (14) is going to friend's house. There will be seven of them doing an outdoor movie. They also each randomly chose names within the group and are doing some sort of fun PowerPoint of the person who's name they chose.
DS (almost 12) is going to walk around with some friends. No real ToTing but they may go to each other's houses for candy. Then they're coming here for a masked outdoor movie.
I'm hoping to build a candy slide out of pvc pipe in case we have ToTers. We usually get over 100 so I'm guessing we'll still get a few.
We are still ToTing, masked, and in our area it doesn't get crowded. Our town put out guidelines to maintain distancing and limit contact, but otherwise it seems it will go on mostly as normal. I'm not sure how many houses will participate, so I was thinking of doing a sort of treat hunt in our backyard to surprise the kids with upon returning back home in case it winds up being a bust. They are little so we don't go far anyway!
Our friends across the street have been in our bubble. We have two kids, they have one. Our husbands work together, so we're keeping in the same general germ pool.
Kids are going to dress up in costumes. We're going to do a Halloween egg hunt outside. I got little LED lights that I plan to put in the eggs so we can do it when it's starting to get dark. There are Halloween Lego figures and candy and other random trinkets to go in the eggs. I got some glow stick stuff for everyone.
We'll order pizza and have some different Halloween treats, maybe decorate cookies. We plan to stay outside. We're in New England, so we're used to putting on several layers under Halloween costumes. We'll have a fire to help keep the adults warm. If the kids want to 'trick or treat', we'll have them go back and forth between our houses and ring the bell a few times, taking turns who answers. Either way, the kids will have way too much candy & have fun playing together, so they shouldn't feel like they missed out too much.
ETA: Most Halloweens, we get maybe 10 trick or treaters all night long. We have tons of candy on hand that I'd be willing to give out (masked) if someone comes by while we're outside. But I don't expect many. Our governor has asked that trick or treating take place during the afternoon in daylight. If by chance a neighbor or two are handing out candy, I'd be OK with the kids ringing their bells to get candy with masks on, but there won't be full on trick or treating like past years (where we go to my in laws neighborhood that is way busier).
I made Halloween gift bags for the kids with a bunch of candy, small toy and a book each. We're going to make pizza for dinner and DS1 wants to watch the 5th Harry Potter movie.
Post by icedcoffee on Oct 29, 2020 11:09:14 GMT -5
We're going to go TOTing, but we won't ring any doorbells. We will only get candy from neighbors who leave it outside. My H, I and DS1 will wear masks. DS2 will stay in his stroller. We'll do this for however long we feel comfortable about it.
When we get home, we'll probably get a pumpkin shaped pizza and eat it in the driveway with a firepit and "hand" out candy (it will be on a table more than 6 feet away from us).
We are setting up a table at the end of our driveway for TOTers to help themselves. We don't get a huge amount of TOTers since we live in an older neighborhood without sidewalks or streetlamps. My kids will TOT, but will be staying away from any potential large groups of kids and only going to homes that also have outside tables for help-yourself candy. We have a neighborhood facebook page, and that is what most people have said they will do.
I originally was all "it's fine to TOT! cases are low and its outside!" and now we've had 500 new ones since October 1, so my county is really f*cking everything up. So I think we're going to just stick to visiting a few neighbors and not making the rounds for 2 hours like we usually do. DS is being a stormtrooper so there's already a mask, and I'll have him wear a cloth one under. There's another 4 year old two houses down so we talked about the kids visiting with each other a little and I'm sure our older neighbors will be out on their porches to see them (they're the only kids on the block). I'm sure we'll have some fall beers. I'm guessing we'll be outside an hour, max. The Penn State/Ohio State game will be on anyway so my H will probably want to be inside by 730, lol.
DS is also getting a little "party" at daycare - no dress up but some candy and crafts or whatever, and we carved a pumpkin last night.
ETA: I'm also just going to set up a card table in front of the house w/ candy on it so that no one rings our doorbell if we're not at the house.
We are still ToTing, masked, and in our area it doesn't get crowded. Our town put out guidelines to maintain distancing and limit contact, but otherwise it seems it will go on mostly as normal. I'm not sure how many houses will participate, so I was thinking of doing a sort of treat hunt in our backyard to surprise the kids with upon returning back home in case it winds up being a bust. They are little so we don't go far anyway!
Similar situation here. We are pretty rural so TOT is still allowed with covid guidelines. We only have a 3 year old and this is his first year to trick or treat and he is VERY excited. We are just planning to go to a few houses.
We will not get TOTers so we do not need to set anything up.
And daycare is doing a trunk or treat since the kids are all already together, so we will do that tomorrow after daycare.
Post by somersault72 on Oct 29, 2020 12:36:02 GMT -5
DH and I are taking DD ToTing. My parents and DS will hand out candy (masked). Everyone just sits outside that hands out candy in our neighborhood (or leaves a bowl out because they're out with their own kids).
We invited my parents and H’s sister, brother in law and our niece over. We’re going to put the kids in their costumes, have an egg hunt for candy, order pizza and eat Halloween cupcakes, and have a fire/s’mores.
I bought and printed an escape room (Escape Room Geeks...says ages 9-13, but adults can join) for the kids to do with our other pod family.
I’m deciding what to do for food, but I think we will do pizza and a few Halloween themed easy foods to add some fun.
We will put a bowl of candy on our porch and might let the kids go to a few houses is they have candy out. Our neighborhood is generally VERY slow for ToT...we generally get about 40-50 kids all night...first kids come around 5 and last around 9.
Trick or treating on my parents' street. We'll see how many houses are giving out candy. People still seem undecided here, which is understandable. We've told A to keep expectations low and that it might just be candy and a movie at my parents' house.
I knew that there would be kids going ToTing and we weren't going to allow DD to do that. So we decided to get out of town so she didn't have to see it. Plus, we can unplug from the news cycle for a few days.
I feel like I should hide behind a shield for that lol. .
We live on a military base and the housing company is doing a Halloween parade tomorrow - they will hand out candy and there’s supposed To be prizes for adults? Should be something fun to do.
Our county is not allowing any Halloween gatherings more than 12 individuals and is highly recommending no trick or treating.
Nobody I know is passing out candy, or trick or treating. Popular toting neighborhoods have pushed out social media, next door posts asking people not to come as houses will be dark this year.
Many of us have signs in our yards that say we have donated to such and such in lieu of handing out candy this year.
We are having one family over to ours for a piñata.
Post by redheadbaker on Oct 29, 2020 13:43:09 GMT -5
We're prepared to go ToTing (masked), and our neighbors are making a lot of effort to keep it contact-free. One neighbor built a candy chute to slide candy down to kids, others are talking about setting up tables at the end of driveways and waving from their front steps.
But, we're also prepared to go back home if there are crowds, unmasked ToTers, etc.
We have coordinated with a few local neighbors who are going to do driveway candy bags. We are also planning to stop by our friends house who already have said they are going to have a special bag for DS. Additionally, we will bake cookies and carve a pumpkin. Typing it all out I feel like DS won't be missing out on anything this year.
So doing have a small backyard gathering in masks for an hour. My kids will TOT on my tiny block and may the next block. DH will take them and I'll just ask him to stop when he sees more folks.
Post by HoneySpider on Oct 29, 2020 14:08:11 GMT -5
Our neighborhood is doing a small parade for the kids so we'll go to that and then do some ToTing near the house. We're planning to set up a table that we can put at the end of walkway with bags of candy that kids can just grab.
We are doing an outdoor, masked scavenger hunt with another family. Our older girls are in school together.
Families on our street plan to put candy out for people to take without face-to-face interactions, which works for me; however, most of them aren't good about masks, so we'll skip TOT this year. We will leave out candy bags that we already made up.
Our town published guidelines based on the CDC's recommendations, and they're trying hard to keep everyone from going to the big neighborhood that usually gets 400+ families. I do expect that will result in more people than usual visiting our neighborhood, which isn't exactly a problem, but it will make it more challenging to practice social distancing. I'm lucky my kids are just excited to dress up and eat candy; they don't really care about the actual door-to-door aspect at all.
I’m still not sure about ToTing. Might let them do a few houses (considering only going to houses that have Biden signs because it feels like a higher chance of encountering masked candy givers).
Overall, I’m focused on trying to make it a fun night in. I have a whole themed dinner planned out and we’ll watch a movie, maybe bake some cookies or something, and let them eat candy.
I won’t pass out candy, but will put a bowl on the front porch. We don’t get a ton of ToTers so there will be plenty of candy for us.
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 29, 2020 14:23:13 GMT -5
We will be ToTing. Distancing should be fine here even with increases due to Halloween being on a Saturday. It just doesn't get crowded in our neighborhood. We'll have our masks with us.
No knocking on doors. We're putting candy out in a bucket like we always do, but I'll put a few each in plastic bags so people aren't digging through as much. Most people do the same since people are out anyway.
Other than that, we'll do some baking and arts and crafts stuff.
We're planning to ToT like pp's mentioned, with masks on everyone except 16m DS, who will either be carried or stroller'ed. IDK what we'll do with candy at our house, maybe just set a bowl out?
It's really just about DD (4) at our house, because DS (1) doesn't care. We'll do it for as long as it seems safe, we can maintain distance, it stays fun, and she's getting candy. She's getting a party at school and gets to wear a costume at school (as long as it meets the requirements of no costume mask, no interference with her covid mask, no props, no face paint, and can wear all day) so she'll be ok. She's getting a "Halloween." She's going to wear her Rey outfit from last year because the loop hairdo pretty much sells it with ease and meets those req's.
She's going to be the Mandalorian for ToT, and DS is going to be the Child. I will be so happy if I get one decent picture of the two of them in costume together.
Post by picksthemusic on Oct 29, 2020 16:04:23 GMT -5
I'm making caramel popcorn, Rice Krispie treats, DH is making chili, I'm making decadent mac and cheese. We're taking the kids to the IL's house (they just got a new place on 20+ acres) and hiding Halloween 'eggs' with candy in them all over the yard for them to find. They'll wear their costumes and run around if it's not raining. Then we'll go home and watch movies and eat food.
Post by oregonpachey on Oct 29, 2020 16:32:50 GMT -5
We live in an area where cases are low. We will be going ToT with the caveat that if it gets busy, we will be going home. In past years, our neighborhood has very few ToTers so I am not too concerned.
My kids are wearing masks and gloves. Their candy will be sprayed down before consuming.
Seems like everyone around here is planning to ToT. We have big yards and there are no crowds. We are having three cousins ToT with us, but they will all stay outside or in their own car, and they are being careful, too. I'll bring sanitizer and we'll wear masks. After that, we will go to MIL's so kids can take pics and trick-or-treat at her house, but we will stay outside.
I will probably bag candy and leave it out in packets, I think. Hadn't decided for sure how to handle that part. We don't get a ton of kids.
Sadly, we can't have the cousins over afterwards, or do our usual 2nd trick-or-treat and then Halloween dinner at MIL's house this year.
I will probably do mummy dogs for dinner for just my family, and then we'll have movie night with a Halloween theme. I have Halloween Bingo; maybe I'll pull that out. I also have some Halloween shrinky drinks.
Might make cookies or some other Halloween treat, too.
Post by lolalolalola on Oct 29, 2020 18:48:16 GMT -5
My kids don’t TOT but we do hand out candy. I got full Size chocolate bars this year. I have been wondering I if should use bbq tongs or if gloves are good enough for touching the candy to hand it out.