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How many nixing Trick or Treating due to H1NI


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I dont know, I just think w/large neighborhoods, kids rushing to doors, touching doorbells and grabbing candy out of bowls. Just doesnt seem safe.

 

Even though I am a germaphobe, it hasnt bothered me as much as this yr. Just trying to be uber precatious.

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Not remotely concerned about trick or treating. It seems far less risky to me than, say, the ballet classes my kids attend with other kiddos 3 days a week. (I was very relieved when the studio started wiping down the barres between each class -- I didn't want to think about all the preschoolers in there early in the afternoon, rubbing their snotty little hands all over the barre, lol...) It's the every day things where we're cooped up with other people inside, sharing air space and door knobs and grocery cart handles that (mildly) worries me.

 

But walking around outside and collecting factory sealed candies (most of which won't get eaten anyway) from neighbors? Nah. :o) Just not a big deal.

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H1N1 certainly ISN'T the motivator but this year we're going to ChuckECheese for a bit of carniaval fun instead of ToT and a cool goodie bag with HFCS-free, food dye free, and preservative free candies from us instead.

 

I'm more concerned about the fall-out from the candy than I am about H1N1. At least when they're sick my mommy empathy instinct kicks in big time. But behaviour changes from candies is like a slap in the face.

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Yes. We are having a party at home in lieu of ToT'ing. Mostly, my reason is that we live in a small, rural area and there are no neighbors from which to collect candy. Almost the entire population of ps kids goes to a trunk or treat at this one local church. I don't want to bump elbows with that many ps kids in one place. We stopped soccer due to this same reason. We are, however, going to let my older ds go back to TKD in November. He is in a class with only about 5 other kids and he misses it terribly.

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See, CEC is the sort of place I'd avoid out of concern over flu and other illnesses. We're not planning to do any indoor play places this winter, regardless of how nasty the weather gets.

 

(I do understand your concern over most candy. It doesn't effect my kids' behavior, but it's certainly not good for their immune systems. That said, with a history of allergies and such, my kids are used to picking a few select favorites to keep and donating the rest anyway, so the gorging isn't too bad.)

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Uh...I don't think it's throwing caution to the wind or being unsafe to go trick-or-treating, despite the H1N1 hype. I doubt the deathly ill are going to have their porch lights on to give out candy, my kids don't eat their candy until they get home and I go through it, all candy will be wrapped or thrown away if given unwrapped, and they won't be going inside people's homes or hugging/touching them in any way. Where is the risk? Should I not take them to the grocery store? Where can I buy a hamster ball big enough to hold three kids?

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Where can I buy a hamster ball big enough to hold three kids?

 

A hampster ball would never do. If you are into bubbles, get a surgical grade one. They hold up longer too. And you don't want to put the kids in there TOGETHER...that would never do. You will want to put each in his own bubble. Much safer that way.

 

:lol:

 

I am not making fun of the op at all - H1N1 scares me to death and being a hypochondriac, it is even worse. My kids have been kept home more this fall than they were as INFANTS. I am just starting to realize how silly it must seem to others now. My post above is in an effort to poke fun at myself a bit.

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A hampster ball would never do. If you are into bubbles, get a surgical grade one. They hold up longer too. And you don't want to put the kids in there TOGETHER...that would never do. You will want to put each in his own bubble. Much safer that way.

 

:lol:

 

I am not making fun of the op at all - H1N1 scares me to death and being a hypochondriac, it is even worse. My kids have been kept home more this fall than they were as INFANTS. I am just starting to realize how silly it must seem to others now. My post above is in an effort to poke fun at myself a bit.

 

I also feel like there's no point in being obsessed with it. My husband is a cop. He comes into contact every day with populations that are not vaccinated, do not have proper sanitation, do not have great hygiene or nutrition. He'll be the vector if an illness is going to come home.

 

Maybe I just need a dad-sized bubble?

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I'm more concerned about the fall-out from the candy than I am about H1N1. At least when they're sick my mommy empathy instinct kicks in big time. But behaviour changes from candies is like a slap in the face.

 

 

 

I definitely understand that. That's why the Halloween Fairy comes and relieves the girls of most of their candy and leaves a medium-sized toy. I'd rather have two more toys around the house than face the girls sugared up. :001_huh:

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I also feel like there's no point in being obsessed with it. My husband is a cop. He comes into contact every day with populations that are not vaccinated, do not have proper sanitation, do not have great hygiene or nutrition. He'll be the vector if an illness is going to come home.

 

Maybe I just need a dad-sized bubble?

 

Same here. Dh works in an office, but he also travels a fair amount to different cities...sometimes all in one day and home by the evening. He still has to ride on planes, sit for hours in small rooms with others, etc. He is much more likely to bring something home than we are to pick it up on our small trips out...unless we are in a meeting with all the ps kids in the county. Those are germy little fellas, I tell ya!

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Well, we're supposed to do both - there's a thing at church (aka: The party on Halloween night with Halloween costumes and Halloween candy that we pretend isn't connected to Halloween by calling it a Harvest Festival.;) ) and TrickOrTreating after... the party is what I'm more concerned with..we'll likely have had our shots - supposed to get them Monday - but they won't be fully effective until...I think they said 10 days..it will have been 6... we might skip it, I don't know.

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My youngest is 14 years old and she does not even want to wear a costume this year. But my married daughter is wearing a costume- a ladybug - and passing out candy at her house.

I'll be passing out candy to the neighbor kids. They won't be putting their hands in the candy bowl ( getting germs into it ) because I just drop the candy into their bags.

The flu bug didn't even occur to me. I intend to carry on as usual.:party:

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The thought never occured to me, but we don't go anyway due to food allergies. We stay home, the kids dress up, my husband and I go into different bedrooms, and the kids come knocking and trick-or-treat that way. Silly, but it works.

What a cute idea. If the weather is cold, you won't even have to go out and get cold. The kids will still get to be all dressed up and eat candy or whatever you have for them. When my kids were little, they didn't even like to go to very many doors. After about 3 or 4 they always wanted to go home.We've raised some real home bodies. :001_smile:

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H1N1 certainly ISN'T the motivator but this year we're going to ChuckECheese for a bit of carniaval fun instead of ToT and a cool goodie bag with HFCS-free, food dye free, and preservative free candies from us instead.

 

I'm more concerned about the fall-out from the candy than I am about H1N1. At least when they're sick my mommy empathy instinct kicks in big time. But behaviour changes from candies is like a slap in the face.

 

 

I'd rather touch doorbells and doorknobs than the games at Chuck E Cheese!

 

Though going to Chuck E Cheese to avoid the candy behavior certainly is a wise choice!

 

We have such wonderful weather here in Arizona for Halloween....it's in the high 80's today and probably will be next weekend as well....so most of the time folks are either sitting outside passing out candy, or those that do stay inside have their screen door so you can just walk up, shout Trick or Treat and hold your bag open.....the homeowner drops it in. My kids actually don't like that arrangement because they don't get to see what they got first, lol.......kinda like the old Charlie Brown Halloween special where the adult drops the goodies in, the gang all stick their heads in the bag and call out what they got....and poor Charlie got lump of charcoal.

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I tried to get my youngest on board for a b;day at party at CEC for her 8th b'day and she freaked. Although I told her we could have the run of place at around noon on a school day, she said that the tunnels and ball bins are disgusting and gross and she hates them. lol

We have discovered that not all children like to go to Chuck E Cheese. We tried to take one of our daughters there for her birthday when she was little. When we started to enter the restaurant as soon as she saw the person in the big mouse costume she froze and did not want to go inside. It wasn't really a loss because we went to a different pizza restaurant and the other place had a lot better pizza.

Edited by Miss Sherry
poor grammar
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[/b]the homeowner drops it in. My kids actually don't like that arrangement because they don't get to see what they got first' date=' lol.......kinda like the old Charlie Brown Halloween special where the adult drops the goodies in, the gang all stick their heads in the bag and call out what they got....and poor Charlie got lump of charcoal.[/quote']

 

I like those old Charlie Brown cartoons. You must be talking about the one where they go to the pumpkin patch.

 

One of my favorites is the "Charlie Brown Christmas".

 

It's getting to be that time of year again to get out the holiday movies.

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I'd forgo it for ebola :D but not for H1N1 (according to our workplace's CDC info sheet, H1N1 is actually generally milder than the seasonal flu, just easier to catch/wider range of victims), seasonal flu, strep, or the other traditional late-autumn illnesses. In fact, we might be doing Halloween at the children's discovery museum. There is trick-or-treating there as part of it. And other kids, touching everything. Immune building and fun at the same time ;). Oh, and we have food allergy (dairy) and intolerance (red dye 40) here, and will just be "trading" their unsafe candy for safe candy.

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We have discovered that not all children like to go to Chuck E Cheese. We tried to take one of our daughters there for her birthday when she was little. When we started to enter the restaurant as soon as she saw the person in the big mouse costume she froze and did not want to go inside. It wasn't really a loss because we went to a different pizza restaurant and the other place had a lot better pizza.

There is no mouse in costume during the day on a school day. That is strickly a weekend deal around here.

 

I like CEC because they let the parents buy beer.

 

;)

Edited by LibraryLover
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Wow. My kids will be at their Dad's but I would think it would be more risk to go to Youth Group, Church, the grocery store or library as far as swine flu goes.

 

:iagree: Due to having a compromised immune system with our rare liver disease, we normally make everyone wash their hands after coming back from an outside errand or store. We'll do the trick or treat if son wants to (he is 14) but will normally have him wash before eating. The glove idea is great. Toss it in the washer when you get home. However, I personally think it is more risky attending school or church and catching a bug, IMO.

Edited by tex-mex
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Are you forgoing trick or treating to stay safe??? Or throwing to the wind.

 

Nope. Trick-or-Treating is the least of my worries. I've got two kids in public schools plus between my three they're in band, marching band, ballet, 4-H, honor band, jazz band, jazz class, youth group and Sunday School. I am going to try and get them vaccinated at the clinic this week.

 

I am going to sit outside to hand out and am giving out cans of soda instead of candy.

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We've already warned the kids we may forego trunk or treat at church this year for a scavenger hunt at home. We usually just go to the church function and to the grandparents/relatives houses anyway. I'm waiting to see if our area is out of its "peak" yet to make a final decision.

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We live on the edge. Not only will we be trick or treating this year, I will be encouraging the children to eat as much candy as possible, as quickly as possible in order to get it out of my house. Sure, eating healtfully strengthens the immune system, but at our house we eat cake. (and candy) :D

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We may be but not because I am afraid of us catching the flu, instead because we already HAVE it. My oldest started the fever and cough on Wednesday. She is mostly done. Fever is gone, the cough is lingering. However, my boys have just started the cough and so we probably aren't done yet.

 

For now, we wait and see.

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If kids don't get exposed to germs when they are young they will be sick their entire lives. The chance of getting H1N1 is less than getting hit by lightning, better not go outside EVER.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting your information, but H1N1 is very contagious and at the levels that we're now seeing in schools/communities/etc, the chances of contracting it are CERTAINLY higher than your chances of "being struck by lightening".

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