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Two Pommie Sheilas - Natalie RichardsThe West Australian This week, almost every city in the Western world has one thing in common — parents knee-deep in black and white face paints, fake

blood and orange vegetables. Halloween — it’s like prom night for devil worshippers — competitive parents trying to make sure dear little Noah’s hand-sewn Satan costume trumps Emily’s Red

Dot witch’s outfit. They must hope like hell the make-up tuition Madison’s mum picked up from Facebook videos pays off and makes the rest look like they’ve failed at parenting. And how will

they cope with the shame if the Browns from No.7 dress as The Incredibles again this year? Forget competitive parenting. If you were a kid in the north of England, there were only two things

you needed to run your mini-protection racket on trick or treating night — a bin bag and a turnip. Let your dad at your turnip with his Phillips head, cut a head hole in that bin bag,

decorate your face in mum’s best eyeliner and you’re away. A few walks around the block and half the village knew who had the posh toffees and who was giving away quids. No one cared whether

you’d put your coat on backwards to be a “headless man” or trumped the council estate kids with a ghost costume made from your mum’s Egyptian cotton bedsheets. As long as you left with a

Co-op bag full of sweets and a few 50 pences from those who’d forgotten to stock up, you could count it as a success. So, fear not, stressed parents, and get the posh toffees in. For more

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