Happy Halloween

I love handing out candy to the kids and checking out everyone's costumes. This year we had an added bonus of taking M down to see the family for his first trick or treat. Yup, we drove an hour and a half each way just so M could show off his Yoda costume to everyone. We started with Great Gramma, moved on to my mom's house which included my sister and other family members (by choice) After that it was off to G's parents where he was sufficiently spoiled. Over to Great Grandpa which was an adventure as we had never been to his housing complex. That ended up with a few u-turns and finally a phone call asking which damn building we were supposed to go to. Finally a pit stop to see his uncle at work and then Taco Bell/KFC for lunch. After all of that, we were home by 4 with lots of time to get the candy ready for the kids. Aren't we exciting?

Here's the thing that's bugging me about Halloween this year. Apparently there are towns that have actually cancelled trick or treating due to H1N1. A lot of newspapers have been encouraging parents to keep their kids home this year to avoid exposure to the flu. Am I the only person who thinks this is insane. I understand the concerns about the flu but is cancelling Halloween really the way to deal with it. Can't we trust that parents can be responsible enough to take care of their children? I think that there has been a little too much hype about this in the media and all it's managed to do is panic people. I plan on getting my flu shot and I plan on having M vaccinated too but I am patiently waiting until next week. Next week BC is opening up the vaccinations to children under 5 as well as folks like myself who are considered at risk. I plan on calling my doctors office to find out when and where they are doing the shots and then I'll plan from there. I am not going to stand in line with a toddler for hours on end just to get a needle. I am not going to sit in my house and hide until i get it and I AM taking my child out for trick or treating or shopping or whatever else I deem ok.

Oh, and I think I'm also going to stop listening to the hype because it's just annoying me now.