Happy Halloween – Why Not?

To offset the seriousness that comes with being a caregiver, it's important to find moments of joy where we can. It is possible to downsize a holiday, like Halloween, so that it is appropriate for you and your loved one. In doing so you keep the custom alive and often with it a sense of normalcy which is very important for all concerned. 

So instead of the hours - even days -  you spent with costumes and lavish decorations, you may have only moments. However, in that time you can still have fun celebrating this festive occasion.

Here are some activities you can do together:

• Decorate a pumpkin with colored Sharpie pens if carving is too difficult
• Watch a very or barely scary movie like Hocus Pocus
• Serve easy to make healthy snacks like Black Bean Dip Cat
• Read aloud a suspenseful story like Edgar Allen Poe's Tell Tale Heart
  

If you can, add a drive out to a neighboring pumpkin patch and select a pumpkin yourselves, all the better. Plus, it's uplifting to get outdoors in the fall and see the pumpkins, hay bales,corn maizes, and scarecrows that have made these places so popular.

Having ways to celebrate the Trick or Treat season that are  both doable and fun – even silly-  help to dissolve the sense of isolation that can come when the holidays become too difficult to share with others.