Enjoying Halloween and making the most of it

I always loved Halloween. Its not celebrated that much in Argentina but its been one of my fondest memories from the time I lived in Boston.
Not much of a Halloween spirit in South America, there’s some parties here and there but that’s that, mostly for adults looking for yet another excuse to party. Trick or treating is simply impossible because of the obvious crime problem.
But now that we can celebrate it we do enjoy it. Sure, another excuse for consumerism and what not, but kids have a blast and that what matters the most. Enjoy it and make the most of it!
Here’s some tips :
*Have a blast and spend some quality time with the family. At the end of the day, that’s what matters the most.
*What’s Halloween without pumpkin carving? It’s a good time to teach safe and responsible knife use to children that are old and mature enough to handle one under adult supervision.

*Don’t throw it away! Make pumpkin pie, soup or some nice snacks with the pumpkin seeds. Teach your kids not to waste. Rinse the seeds with water and dry them up, mix with a bit of olive oil and a tad of salt, spread over oven paper and put it in the oven for 15 minutes or until the first seed pops. A bit hard but tasty. Tastes somewhat like popcorn.

*Use trick or treating as an excuse to get to know your neighbors a bit better. We’ve often talked about how important your community is. When things get tough, there’s very few people you’ll be able to count on, but that simply means you should have a more extensive network, not a smaller one.
*Teach your kids self-control when it comes to eating candy afterwards, have just a couple pieces and learn to stop. These are all small gestures, but in the end it works towards forming a stronger personality.
*If you can manage it, invite some kids over for a Halloween sleepover. Learn who your kid’s friends are, become more social. Again, a good moment to speak with your kid’s friends parents.
*Don’t buy a ton of stuff. Its nice to improvise and try making some costumes yourself. I’ve done projects before involving glued paper, recycling, some metal cutting for a helmet and cutting some wood. Its no big deal but it’s a good excuse to have your kids try some tools, maybe for the first time.
*Spooky night games are a great excuse to use some flashlights. Kids get to handle them, learn how to use them. This Halloween we’re going to a museum that makes a night scary tour in our town. You’re supposed to dress up and bring a flashlight (yes, we have enough flashlights for everyone … :) )
Just a few suggestions folks, happy Halloween!
FerFAL

 Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.