BOOOOO! Halloween: Should it be "safe"?

It's that time of year again, when all manner of scary stories surface of tainted candy (although true this year thanks to Melamine from China), creepy neighbors handing out tampered-with candy, and the dangers of being in your neighborhood at night. I for one say Boo! to all the nay-sayers. Halloween is good clean scary fun.

So don't be a lame-o and take your kids to the mall for their Halloween treat (because then you are telling them that the Disney store and Spencer's should be more trusted than the nice lady next door. Really, you are.). Unless your neighborhood is really dangerous, like drive-by shootings and daylight muggings kind of dangerous. But if you live in most suburban, rural and urban neighborhoods you and your children can probably safely travel to a few homes or a few blocks to meet and greet neighbors and share some treats. Kids think its awesome to be outside at night (because it is!). That was one of my favorite parts of Halloween, well that and the mini-Snickers bars. Dressing up in costumes and hanging with your friends at night is about the coolest thing for a school-aged kid. So, don't rob your kid of some childhood memories, because you're afraid of Old Man Johnson sticking a razor blade in the candy (has happened but super rare) or whatever other not-real but scary thing a friend or the media have told you.

And for the people who never allow their children to ingest refined sugar, lighten up!! Don't hand out organic raisin packs, because no one wants that as a treat (Ok, my 2 year old would dig that as much as a Snickers, but he's 2 and has limited experience in these important manners). And allow your kid to have a few pieces of candy or 10. He will live to see tomorrow with all his teeth and not become an obese diabetic overnight, unless of course he already is an obese diabetic, and in that case maybe just one piece of candy is good.

This little nonsensical rant is all to say, childhood is so short and so precious. We bombard kids with so much that is beyond their years and needs in the name of safety, education, religion, etc. Let's allow the little ones to be firefighters and dinosaurs for one night. Let's show them the world is a safe place, people are friendly and fun can be had without a TV or computer monitor. Let's hand out our Snickers and eat them too!