A Pumpkin Goblin Gave Me Quite a Fright!

Last evening, I dashed into the grocery store, to pick up just a few items before heading home after a meeting. I was intent on looking for some shelled sunflower seeds for a granola bar recipe, when a figure caught the corner of my eye.  It gave me a millisecond of a jolt, until my brain caught up and I realized it was a Halloween decoration - not a small person leering menacingly at me!  

A photo for the blog

I'm a little self-conscious about taking pictures in the grocery store, but just so I could show you what I saw, I took some photos anyway!

Mr. Pumpkin Goblin - despite his smile, he is a pretty scary guy!

Whew - it's just a statue

These little Halloween statues stand about three-and-a-half or four-feet tall. They have been strategically placed throughout our grocery store in the spirit of decorating for Halloween - and to lure the consumer into purchasing them! As I shopped, I laughed a little at myself for being momentarily taken back by these figures.  But looking from one to the next, I decided they really are a little creepy looking.

I decided to pass on buying either of these to take home with me!

Glad we weren't face-to-face!

I am not very tall, but I do measure over five-foot, so I was looking down upon (not up into) these eerie faces.  I started thinking about what it must be like for toddlers and preschoolers to walk up to one of these creepy characters.  Just image turning a corner, and coming face-to-face with one of these witches or pumpkin goblins! I suspect many kids probably think these figures are funny - and others have a bigger moment of fright than I did!

Halloween is fun - and scary!

Halloween can be a very fun event for people of any age.  But, it can also be a really scary time for small children ... and even pets.  Frightening things lurk everywhere this time of year - on the television, in some people’s yards on trick-or-treat night, and even in the grocery store. 

Parents need to be vigilant about trying to shield their small kids from exposure to things they might not be ready to handle - and help them process the things they do come across that they find scary.  A simple conversation between a parent and a child in the grocery store would probably be enough to eliminate the fear-factor of these goblins and witches for most kids.

Let's keep Halloween fun for little kids!

Here are just a few ways we can all make the Halloween season a little less anxiety-provoking for small children: 

• Be sure your Halloween decorations aren't too scary for the age of trick-or-treaters that usually pay you a visit.  
• Remind older kids to be mindful of where they go wearing scary costumes, and how they act while wearing them around younger children.  
• If organizing a haunted house event, be sure it is age appropriate for the audience.  
• And above all -- exercise extreme caution and be observant for trick-or-treaters when driving on Halloween!

I never did locate the sunflower seeds I was looking for, so I settled for pumpkin seeds instead!

Do you remember being scared of anything on Halloween when you were a child?

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