Rain, the horror! Parents divided over postponing Halloween due to storm
With a storm system set to barrel down on parts of Eastern Canada, Montreal mother Andrea Haid took to Twitter Wednesday appealing to the city’s mayor to postpone Halloween for a day.
After learning that the neighbouring suburb of Sainte-julie had taken the step of delaying trick-ortreating until Friday, Haid said there was no reason why Montreal couldn’t do the same “to keep kids safe.” She told the National Post she had also created an elaborate costume for her 4-yearold son combining the Super Mario characters, Yoshi and Poochy, and didn’t want it to “melt” in the rain.
“It’ll be miserable for everybody. It’ll be muddy and cold. What’s wrong with bumping it for a day?” she said.
While she waited for an official reply, one childhood development expert chimed in to express worry that we were seeing another manifestation of parents overreacting and over-protecting children.
“This really is the wrong way to go. Far better to offer children manageable amounts of risk and responsibility,” said Michael Ungar, Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience at Dalhousie University.
“There is an opportunity here to demonstrate ingenuity and make costumes waterproof, or maybe use the rain to embellish the ghoulishness of the costume. Dress warm, wear rain gear, and go have fun. That is developmentally what our children need far more than being coddled.”
According to Environment Canada, a low-pressure system was forecast to bring 30 to 50 millimetres of rain across southern and eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, as well as heavy winds.
In response, Suzanne Roy, mayor of Saint-julie, southwest of Montreal, announced the city was postponing Halloween until Friday after considering the “safety and comfort of children and teenagers wishing to roam the streets to collect candy.”
She noted that the “exceptional” nature of the expected rainfall drove the decision.
American media outlets reported that communities across the northeast, including those in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, had similarly postponed Halloween due to the inclement weather.
After hearing these reports, Haid tweeted a message to Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante. “Montreal residents! Can we postpone Halloween by a day due to awful weather to keep kids safe? The mayor of Saintjulie did this already, let’s follow.”
At about 4 p.m. Wednesday, Plante’s press secretary sent an email saying that Haid’s wishes had been granted: “We will postpone to Friday.”
Several other municipalities outside Montreal reportedly took the same action.
When an Ottawa business owner suggested on social media that his city follow suit, a vigorous online debate ensued.
“While we have no real sway of any kind, we think the @ottawacity should put out a statement delaying #Halloween by one day. With up to 40 mms of rain, the kids don’t want to trick or treat in a boat,” Mike Wood, managing partner of equipment rental company Ottawa Special Events, wrote on Twitter.
Wood told the Post he doesn’t have kids but was thinking of his neighbour, who has three young daughters.
“I love Halloween. I’m in the event business, right? Oh man, those poor kids are going to get soaked.”
He said he intended his message to be “tongue in cheek” and didn’t anticipate the strong, visceral responses he got — most of them negative.
“I had many a Halloween as a kid where I had to put a snowsuit on under my costume. … This is not a safety issue, it’s a comfort issue, and it’s ridiculous,” one person wrote.
“Call me old fashion but that’s part of the adventure,” wrote another.
A spokeswoman for Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Wednesday there were no plans to switch Halloween dates and emailed a link to the city’s website featuring tips for how to stay safe while trick-or-treating.
Meanwhile, a petition has been circulating in the United States to move Halloween permanently to the last Saturday of October to reduce injury to children. Canadians, however, are divided over the idea, according to poll results released Wednesday by Research Co.
The online survey of 1,000 adults found that 41 per cent agreed with the idea, while 43 per cent were opposed. The biggest support came from Quebec, while the least support was in B.C.