A COVID Friendly Halloween: How to Keep Your Kids Safe

We’re talking Halloween, but it feels a little like that movie, Groundhog Day. That’s the one where Bill Murray wakes up the same Groundhog Day…Needing to make some changes to his life to finally have the world continue.

So here we are in another Halloween wondering how to move forward safely this year. Asking ourselves how long this will continue.

By now though, most parents have settled into some semblance of a routine. Whatever differences remain in terms of how to manage their children in this pandemic, they are mostly getting through.

So, for this Halloween, the precautions basically remain the same.

Masking (easier) and outdoor social distancing (yes) and then hand washing.

Still concerned about the virus remaining on the surface of any treats? You can do one or both of two things. You can give the wrapping of candy a wipe with a disinfectant wipe. And/or you can wait a few days to pass the life expectancy of the virus on a surface.

Some communities are bagging pieces of candy and placing them on an outdoor table, only to watch as kids take their bag and move onto the next house. This is limiting some of the physical closeness and interaction between the person at the door handing out candy and the children who attend. It is a creative solution. It allows the event to continue and providing an increased sense of safety for those who participate.

We certainly want things to return to normal. However, normal as we know it may never be the same. It will be our creativity though that will allow us to continue and permit this crop of kids to enjoy life in this new version of the world.

As we get with the program and find our creative solutions, our collective anxiety may subside and with that, our kids may actually settle into this new version of Groundhog Day.

Oops. I meant to say, Halloween!

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW is a Canadian Social Worker in private practice. He is recognized from his 65 episodes of the hit show Newlywed/Nearly Dead, to over 650 columns as the parenting expert of a major metropolitan newspaper, to more than 600 media appearances, to his book, Marriage Rescue: Overcoming ten deadly sins in failing relationships. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert in social work, marital and family therapy, child development, parent-child relations and custody and access matters He speaks at conferences and workshops throughout Canada and the US and helps family peacemakers grow their practice.