SAFETY URGED FOR A FUN HALLOWEEN

Children are fickle creatures when it comes to Halloween costumes. One year The Little Mermaid is all the rage and the next they insist on being the red Power Ranger.

But one thing remains constant about children and the spooky holiday -- no parental supervision on Halloween may spell disaster.

Everyone has heard the stories about razor blades in the popcorn balls and pins in the caramels. Carol Peiffer, pediatric nurse manager at Southeast Missouri Hospital, found pins in some candy she X-rayed several years ago when hospitals offered the Halloween service.

More parents don't allow their children to eat homemade treats from strangers, so the number of children injured by pins or blades has dropped. Now the danger comes from other sources, and potential trouble is easy to spot.

"Parental supervision is the key, not just with going out, but with looking at the candies when they get back," Peiffer said.

Parents should make sure their children's costumes allow the kids to see and be seen. Vision-blocking masks are out of the question, Peiffer said, but makeup is great.

Costumes should be reflective and not too big. Big, floppy costumes may cause falls.

When checking candy, parents should remove any small, hard candy from young children's bags so they don't choke and check wrappers for any signs of tampering.

Children have the best chance of being safe when they trick-or-treat in their own neighborhood or only go to houses where they know the residents. Also, they can trick-or-treat from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at West Park Mall, where merchants will hand out candy.

So far, Cape Girardeau's children have been fortunate. In his 13 years on Cape Girardeau's police force, Crime Prevention Officer Kevin Orr only responded to a few isolated Halloween-related incidents. They were usually just vandalism or tampering.

"Kids are told what to do and what areas to stay in," Orr said. "Most of them have good, proper supervision and aren't just turned loose."

Of course, Halloween isn't all worrying and checking; for most people, the point is to let their children pick a costume and have a good time.

Big department stores like Target and Wal-Mart put out their Halloween wares not long after putting away back-to-school displays. Costumes sold the quickest when they first were put out, and candy sales picked up last week, merchants said.

"A lot of people who wait until the last minute don't get to pick and choose their costumes," Target team leader Lisa Sutton said. "We've had some get upset because a certain costume was sold out."

Big sellers at her store were Batman and Two-Face for boys and Pocahontas for girls. But Steve McLemore at Wal-Mart said Power Rangers still beat out everything else for boys in his seasonal merchandise department.

The girls wanted to be Pocahontas or Sky Dancers.