Located in the Crowsnest Pass, Charmed Family Resorts is one of Alberta’s newest destinations for magical experiences.
You may be getting real sick and tired of staring at your family at home by this point of Covid Winter in Alberta… The struggle is real and movie nights are getting old. We decided to mix it up a bit and try ice fishing! Last year my kiddo and I went ice fishing with my brother and let me tell you, my then 7 year old thought it was the coolest thing! He has been begging to do it again, but with Covid restrictions and not having the proper equipment ourselves, we just hadn’t been able.
Then I got the idea of renting an ice fishing shack from an ad I scrolled past one day on Instagram. Perfect!
Even though we’re eight months into dealing with a global pandemic, we’re still navigating many firsts and that includes Halloween. A few weeks ago, Dr. Hinshaw announced that Halloween is not cancelled but we still have to do our part to ensure a safe experience for all.
First things first, regardless of your current Halloween plans if you are isolating or feeling sick stay home, and do not hand out candy!
Celebrating Halloween Safely This Year
Masks & Costumes
The great thing about face masks is that there are many different styles available that can complement or even be the focus of your Halloween costume. From plain colours, fun prints, skeletons to animals, monsters to unicorns and more, the options are endless.
Regardless of if your costume incorporates a mask or not when social distancing is not possible your costume should allow for a mask to be worn safely and comfortably if needed.
Trick or Treating
This year we’ll be packing some quick snacks and of course hand sanitizer!
Generally, when we’re out trick or treating I’ll sneak myself and the kids a mini chocolate bar or two… but this year will look a lot different. To avoid the inevitable hangry, pack a granola bar or something equally easily accessible.
While it’s suggested that you avoid ringing doorbells and touching hard surfaces if it does happen the hand sanitizer will come in clutch.
And of course, once you get home before you dig into your candy, you’ll either need to disinfect it right away or leave it sitting for a few days…Who am I kidding? Go buy some Clorox wipes now.
Halloween at Home
If you’re skipping the trick or treating this year but still want to celebrate at home, there are still some great ways to celebrate Halloween which include:
- Dress up in your Halloween best and host a cohort Halloween party!
- Hide candy in your backyard and have a Halloween scavenger hunt.
- Host a Zoom pumpkin carving night
- Enjoy a Halloween movie marathon with your favourite movies!
Worried about having too much but still want your favourites? Visit the bulk areas of your local grocery or bulk barn to grab smaller amounts. This way you can still enjoy your favourites but won’t overindulge.
Handing Out Candy
It’s suggested that anyone handing out candy should do so while maintaining social distancing. If this is not an option, wearing a mask is a must!
This is also the year to get extra creative! Pre-packaging your candy a few days ahead of time, placing the candy on an outdoor table or another area that they can easily be grabbed from, using long salad tongs, and even the growing popular Candy Chute DIY are all great options.
Whatever you decide, the guidelines from the Alberta Government strongly discourages leaving out bulk bowls of candy for anyone to grab from.
Do you have other tips for celebrating Halloween safely this year? Leave a comment below so we can add it to our blog post!
By Ashley Anjlien Kumar, The Confidence Coach
In Part 1 of this 3-part series, I described some of the behaviours a child might exhibit if they have perfectionist tendencies. To refresh your memory, check out the post here. Not only will this help a child with perfectionism, but it can prevent it from developing in the first place.
PART 2: CELEBRATE MISTAKES
Sounds counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Aren’t we supposed to prevent our kids from making mistakes? As kids we were always cautioned against making mistakes, right? So why do I want to celebrate my kids mistakes?
I hear kids all the time, especially in a dance class or sports, “I hope I don’t make a mistake” or “I hope I don’t get it wrong.” They hope they don’t make a mistake because they view the mistake as a diminishment of who they are. That somehow, they aren’t good enough. Many kids, by age 5 or 6 years old, are already determining their self-worth by their mistakes.
In my family, similar to many conservative traditional families, making mistakes was not okay. You did not make mistakes. Mistakes meant punishments.
As we spend more time at home and try to not run to the store for every little thing, I am finding that we are trying to use what we already have on hand. Or, make what we need from things we have here. OR, just make things because we have nothing else to do! For my son’s Art Week at school we were given some projects to create at home. One of the projects was window painting with homemade paint. I wanted to share it here because it’s quick, fun and cleans up easily!
Homemade Paint
- Flour
- Liquid Dish Soap
- Warm Water
- Food Colouring
Mix equal parts of flour, soap and warm water in a large bowl. We used 1/2 a cup of each, but depending on how much paint you’d like you can adjust. Use a whisk to ensure that all the flour is mixed in. Find some small bowls and add the uncoloured paint to them. We used old plastic applesauce containers that I keep in the craft supplies. Use food colouring to create your own custom colours of paint! A while back at the grocery store I found these Neon food colours, they created some really pretty shades.
We painted on the window at our front door with a variety of brush types. Any mistakes we made were easily wiped away with a wet cloth. We also tried the paint on paper and canvas, with success!
What homemade projects have you been enjoying with the kids? Let us know!
I have flirted with skiing my entire life. I love the idea of it, but to be honest I found it kind of overwhelming. There’s the gear that I don’t really understand, the risk of hurting myself, the potential embarrassment of hurting myself or looking a fool and don’t even get me started on my fears of me or kids falling off the chair lift! BUT I see families skiing together and I love it! The chance for exercise outside all day, the scenery, the family connectedness, confidence building and often challenging nature of the sport are all reasons that I want my family to ski together. Plus, my husband grew up in a small mountain town and has been on skis since he was 3. Its in his blood and something I would love for my son and I to share with him.
Go Ski Alberta approached us and asked if we would be interested in doing a beginner ski day a few weeks ago. I jumped at the chance because as a family we had made a goal that we would ski more this winter (yet had only been once so far) and I love the idea of sharing the experience of skiing with others who also might be apprehensive about it.
I have had anxiety for the majority of my life now that I look back and can reflect on it and health anxiety is a large part of it. My search history reflects a list of asking google about my symptoms. Google and I have a love-hate relationship because nothing good ever comes up with googling symptoms. EVER!!