You want to make what?

My aversion to cooking is well known to anyone who has the slightest bit of knowledge about me.

Oh, I keep thinking I’ll get better at it. I collect recipes and cookbooks like they are going out of style, and every Christmas my significant other fulfills my wishes and buys me the latest in kitchen gadgets.

The problem? I end up being forced to dust them all for lack of use.

I’m just not a natural at it, and I never will be. My failures in the kitchen were amplified when I worked at the Akron Beacon Journal because I sat alongside this wonderful reporter named Lisa Abraham, who covered county government at the time but was an unabashed foodie. (In a fitting sidebar, Lisa has since moved to the food writer’s job there, and just won honors from the...

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Sick on Halloween meant a tough decision – for my son

A child’s dedication to acquiring candy is something to be admired.
Halloween borders on the sacred to my kids and trust me, it’s all about the candy. The cool cos-tumes are just a bonus.
My oldest, 9-year-old Ryan, starting running a low-grade fever the day before Halloween. Throughout the day Saturday we were battling his 102-degree fever with Tylenol and Motrin. Noth-ing hurt and he wasn’t nauseous – just the fever.
Now came the parental dilemma. Do we let him go trick-or-treating?
We went back and forth and ultimately decided to let him go if he kept his mask on, wore gloves and didn’t touch anything except his candy bag.
About 45 minutes in, Ryan was drooping. Last year he’d been running from house to house leap-ing over smaller children...

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Better later than never …Halloween was cool

A bit late posting here, but how did your Halloween go?

We had a good day at our house. I took the day off from work, so that allowed me to go into school with my daughter and help with the class Halloween party.

The party, it turned out, was really fun. I’m not exactly one of those people well suited to entertain 22 5-year-olds, but I survived. I found it neat to meet the children my daughter talks about all the time, and the school made the whole event really festive — all of the costumed kiddies paraded around the neighborhood near Spring Valley, led by the drummers from the Elyria High School band.

The kids thought it was really cool, and they were waving like pageant winners to those who were home and popped outside to watch the...

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Candy concerns

What do you do with 153 pieces of Halloween candy? If my oldest had his way, he’d have a spreadsheet itemizing each piece and a label maker to ensure his siblings didn’t touch even one piece. He had to settle for his own bag and the top of the fridge.

Our middle child did almost as well trick-or-treating last week. He tired out a bit toward the end but lasted the whole two hours. Our youngest, three years old, quit after one block but later rejoined us for the last half hour. Even she needed her own bag to hold her sugary bounty.

Now my husband and I find ourselves candy gatekeepers. Once the sun went down, all three kids took advantage of the dark and, judging by the number of empty wrappers in their...

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Keep kids safe with smart costume choices

From Nemours/KidsHealth.org

(MCT)

KidsHealth.org, the most-visited Web site for children’s health information, offers these safety tips to help make this year’s Halloween festivities a trick-free treat:

TROUBLE-FREE TRICK-OR-TREATING

— Accompany young children under the age of 10 on their rounds and try to go early before it gets too dark.

— For older kids going out on their own, be sure they carry a cell phone, if possible, go in a group and stay together, only go to houses with porch lights on, and carry a flashlight with new batteries.

— If kids want to visit neighborhoods other than your own, be sure to stress the...

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Trick or treat at the mall

Two area malls are hosting trick-or-treat on Wednesday night.
Midway Mall in Elyria will open its doors to costumed little ones 6 to 8 p.m. Radio Disney will be on hand to make the event festive, and there’ll be candy, games and prizes awarded.
That same night, Westfield Great Northern will host trick-or-treat 6 to 8 p.m. as well. More than 60 stores will serve as treat stops, and fliers are available in Center Court listing them.
There also will be a sing-along with Miss Tara from Beck Center for the Arts, performances by the Rock City Dance Studio, fingerprinting by Child Protection Education of America, a craft project and a photo opportunity....

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Halloween safety tips

McClatchy-Tribune

Follow these tips for a safe and fun Halloween night:

On Halloween night, motorists need to be especially cautious, watching for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs and darting out from between parked cars.

Have children carry flashlights or glow sticks for easier visibility.

Insist that treats be brought home for inspection before anything is eaten. Don’t let children eat anything that is unwrapped or seems unusual. When in doubt, throw it out.

Don’t let children carve a pumpkin unsupervised.

Use facial makeup instead of masks that can hinder a child’s vision.

Only fire-retardant...

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List of trick or treats and Halloween festivities for area

AMHERST

Amherst’s annual Halloween parade will be held immediately following a costume judging contest at 4 p.m. Oct. 26 at the San Springs Building at 480 Park Ave.

Trick or treat will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday Oct. 31.

Costume shopping can be a Halloween nightmare

As much as I love Halloween, there is one thing I hate. Shopping for the kids’ costumes.

I put this off for as long as I can – usually until about mid-October. If I wait any longer, most of the most popular costumes will be gone. So off to the store we went this past weekend.

You can usually hear the costume section before you see it. The shrieks of small children and the angry retorts of frazzled parents are hard to miss. My stomach recoiled, but I plodded on.

On the way in, it’s easy to push the kids past the candy aisle and the decorations aisle. We hit the costumes aisle and chaos ensued. You can’t...

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Keep kids safe with smart costume choices

From Nemours/KidsHealth.org

KidsHealth.org, the most-visited Web site for children’s health information, offers these safety tips to help make this year’s Halloween festivities a trick-free treat:

CHOOSE COSTUMES WISELY

— Choose a light-colored costume — it helps kids be seen more easily.

— Masks make it difficult for kids to see and breathe, so use nontoxic face paint or makeup instead.

— Make sure that costume props, such as wands or swords, are flexible, in case kids fall.

— Put a nametag — with your phone number — on your children’s costumes.

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