Just like New Years, Christmas, and St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween oftentimes creates an avenue of celebration that’s heavily centered around binge-drinking.
Sure, these types of holiday festivities are enjoyable at times but what happens when the fun stops being so fun and becomes potentially damaging to your health?
At times, the pressures of partying around Halloween can be hard to combat. But abstaining from over-consumption of alcohol is not only a healthy choice, it’s an example of preventative care: your mind and body will thank you for staying sober!
These five ideas will assist you in staying sober this October 31st, in some enjoyable, unique ways.
1. Host Your Own Halloween Party
Having a Halloween party of your own may require some extra legwork, but can allow you to have a little more control in terms of deciding what drinks will be served during festivities. It will also allow you to pick who you spend your time with, alleviating peer pressure that some friends may project.
If you don’t want to drink and don’t want to experience the sometimes intimidating feeling of being pushed to do so, simply host your own party!
2. Create Some Spooky Baked Goods
Nothing adds more charm to your party than uniquely creative Halloween themed snacks. Whether you’re making chocolate eyeball cookies, or a spider web cake, taking the time to bake hand-made treats will always resonate with friends and family. In addition to this, baking will keep your mind busy and away from the bottle!
If you’re searching for inspiration for some ghoulish creations, Christine McConnell is arguably the best there is when it comes to mesmerizing festive treats. One look through her Flickr photostream and you’ll know exactly what I mean!
Additionally, McConnell’s fascinating cookbook titled Deceptive Desserts is filled with a multitude of incredible photos and recipes to inspire you and jump-start creative sparks.
3. Stay In And Have a Movie Marathon
This is a simple, yet effective way to stay sober. One of my favorite activities, when I’m feeling a bit more introverted, is to binge watch horror films with a like-minded friend or two. Rather than partying my night away, sometimes I prefer to just order a pizza and watch some classic creepy cinema.
An article by Slant Magazine and a write-up by Cinema Blend will give you over a hundred ideas for films to watch this year.
4. Volunteer Your Time: Help Keep Kids Safe
Halloween celebrations are enjoyable for all ages, that’s for certain! If you’re trying to stay sober on the 31st, one of the most helpful things to do is to volunteer your time to help kids enjoy a safe holiday.
But what can you do to help little ones out there stay safe while trick-or-treating?
A great starting point is understanding what the true dangers of Halloween are. An important resource by Portland State University Online explains these circumstances, separating myths from facts:
Myth: “Halloween sadism” which refers to strangers putting razor blades or other harmful things into candy for trick-or-treaters is extremely uncommon. These unfortunate happenings are usually projected by evil family members attempting to get insurance money from harming or even killing their own children.
Truth: Pedestrian fatalities spike on Halloween. This is due to increased levels of drunk driving, with around 23% of pedestrian fatalities attributed to drunk drivers. It’s also due to a lack of visibility. Children are hard to see at night, so the use of reflective clothing, glow sticks, and flashlights is crucially important.
Perhaps the best way to volunteer your time is to help direct traffic around busy crosswalks and intersections on Halloween night. Make yourself as visible as possible, and find a way to use a simple stop sign to help keep kids safe. And if you have the means to do so, hand out glow sticks or reflective tape to children wearing dark clothing or costumes.
5. Be the Designated Driver: Help Keep Your Friends Safe
If you want the social stimulation without the intoxication, you can try attending the same parties, but simply without drinking. This may be easier said than done. But there are some preventative measures that can be taken to make this more feasible.
- Just consume non-alcoholic drinks all night. Whether that’s a colorful holiday drink or simply water: just keep drinking! This can help hinder the urge to get drunk just by physically consuming any liquid.
- Create an elaborate costume, that either makes walking slightly more difficult (stilts or tall shoes), or makes drinking nearly impossible (face paint, intricate masks, or face coverings).
- Volunteer to be the designated driver for your friends. There’s no shame in doing so, and this will give your means to shutting up those who may question why you’re sober.
If you want to avoid drinking this Halloween for any reason, you absolutely should! Don’t let peer pressure make you cave, because you alone are in charge of how you celebrate. A sober celebration can literally be even more memorable in many cases!
