"It's a topic recently explored on TODAY with Jenna & Friends, when a viewer reached out to Jenna and co-host Willie Geist about a Halloween social dilemma. The mother explained that her daughter had planned a matching costume with friends when another parent asked if her child could tag along. "My daughter was so excited to just be with her crew," the mom wrote. "What do I do?" In the segment, Jenna and Willie both looked uneasy about the predicament."
"'You want to be inclusive, but you don't want to force anything,' Willie said, while Jenna admitted she tries to 'back way up' and let the kids work it out. Still, she added, 'But if somebody asks to be included, you also want to say yes.' That tension, between stepping back and intervening, is exactly what Noëlle Santorelli, a clinical psychologist in Atlanta, says makes these moments so fraught for parents."
"'We've told parents not to helicopter, not to interfere,' Santorelli tells TODAY.com. 'But the result is that many have swung too far the other way. They're afraid to guide their kids at all.'"
Group Halloween costumes can create social stress and exclusion among children, turning simple traditions into emotional dilemmas. One child planned a matching costume with friends when another parent asked to join, prompting uncertainty about inclusion and fairness. Parents often feel tension between encouraging inclusivity and respecting their child's preferences. Clinical guidance recommends quiet parental guidance instead of overcontrolling or complete hands-off approaches. Parents can begin with a private conversation asking children to consider how inclusion or exclusion feels. Children may keep boundaries, and parents should help them communicate those boundaries kindly and empathetically.
Read at TODAY.com
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