I love Halloween. I
love pumpkin carving. I love decorating
the lawn. I love seeing all the kids
dressed up. But most of all, I LOVE eating Halloween candy. I actually consider myself lucky when it
comes to this time of year. My husband
cannot eat products with dairy in them (aka chocolate) and my son generally
ignores his Halloween loot by the 2nd day. That leaves lots of yummy treats for me!
I do not, however, like the post-Halloween cold or flu that
inevitably creeps up on us so how am I going to help my family and pets stay
healthy?
- Keep our
hands clean! Thankfully I think
we’ve talked our son into a costume choice where he’ll be wearing gloves. Depending on the weather, we can have upwards
of 100 kids come by our house. Doorknobs
and doorbells go from high-touch to super-touch surfaces on Halloween. Wearing gloves can help keep a few germs off
our hands and if we need to eat a few treats along the way, I’ll be sure to
pack some hand sanitizer.
- Keep the
treat bowl as private property! Don’t
let trick or treaters pick their treats.
Hand the treats out yourself. It
will help minimize gluttony often seen by the older boys with larger hands
while making sure the little ghouls and goblins don’t leave their germs behind
when they leave! But…don’t fall to into
the pit of eating a treat every time you hand one out. We’re adults – we know that too much candy
will cause a tummy ache!
- Decline
the homemade Apple Cider (even if it’s “adult” cider…)! Who doesn’t like
apple cider, especially warm apple cider?
If the weather forecast holds true (while the rain and snow look to be
holding off), the weather is going to be a titch chilly. A mug of warm cider to sip while you walk
between houses may be just the ticket!
But if it hasn’t been pasteurized you run the risk of ingesting Cryptosporidium, Salmonella, E. coli or Listeria monocytogenes.
Unless you’re looking to rapidly loose the weight you gain from eating
the candy I would recommend staying away from the offer of homemade apple
cider.
- Keep your
chocolate from going to the dogs! I have a cat. He’s black and his name is Shadow so we don’t
need to dress him up for Halloween, but many people do dress up their dogs while they walk from house to house trick or
treating. Remember that chocolate
can be deadly to dogs and cats. If
you didn’t know, the darker the chocolate the deadlier it is! When your kids come home and dump their loot
bag to see what they got be sure to keep your pets safely away!
- Beware of
the Halloween Mask! Let’s be honest, you never know who and how
many kids or adults may have tried on the mask you bought for your
costume… I bet that’s something you’ve
never thought of! Gross isn’t it? To me it’s right up there with watching flight
attendants do the safety introduction and putting the oxygen mask on….gag! While perhaps a small risk, it’s really not
that hard to play it safe by cleaning and disinfecting the mask before it’s
worn. It is fall after all when cold and
flu viruses begin to run rampant!
I’m sad to say that I will actually be travelling at a
conference this Halloween so I’ll miss the festivities, but I hope you’ll keep
these 5 tips in mind and keep healthy on Halloween!
Bugging Off!
Nicole
