Joanne Cantor’s son was 5 years old when he passed an elaborate Halloween exhibit with a scarecrow oozing “bloody” macaroni-and-ketchup intestines.
Halloween is a tricky time for the 5 and under set. On one hand, they get orange M&M’s, school parades and face paint. On the other, they have to contend with slithering snakes, 8-foot ghost skeletons and bloody animatronic ghouls.
Cantor, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “Mommy, I’m Scared: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them,” has advice for parents trying to navigate the spookiest holiday.