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Tia Mowry Refuses to Rob Her Kids of Their Halloween Traditions

From Woman's Day

Tia Mowry and her family love Halloween. From visiting pumpkin patches, to watching Halloween movies, to donning themed costumes for trick-or-treating, the Mowry-Hardricts makes the most of Oct. 31 (and the days leading up to it) every year. But, like most families, their annuals plans were impacted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Halloween safety guidelines. That meant no pumpkin patches, no costume parties, and no haunted houses. But that doesn't mean no Halloween magic, according to Mowry.

"Tradition is really, really important, and the holidays are definitely a part of those traditions that I've created and kept going with my family," Mowry tells Woman's Day. "Just because we're living in a pandemic right now, I didn't want to rob my family from tradition."

It required a little finagling, but Mowry and her husband Cory Hardict have managed to recreate the magic of Halloween during COVID or their son Cree, 9, and daughter Cairo, 2. In lieu of visiting a pumpkin patch, the actress brought the pumpkin patch to them, so to speak. "I have so many pumpkins in the front of my house, around my house," she says. Every morning, like clockwork, Cairo tugs on her mommy's clothes and says "pumpkin, pumpkin," signaling that she wants to go outside to her very own pumpkin patch. "She wants to sit on the pumpkins," Mowry says. "She wants to hold the pumpkins. We've taken several pictures around the pumpkins."

And the All Hallows' Eve family fun doesn't stop there. Mowry and her family have spent every weekend in October marathoning Halloween and Halloween-adjacent movies. "I love watching movies with my son and my daughter, movies that I grew up on," she says. "My son will come into my room, and he's like, 'Mommy, what are we gonna watch today?'"

The movie marathon will be taken to the next level on Halloween, when the family plans to don their costumes and indulge in some Halloween treats. "I'm gonna make some cookies with some cupcakes -- and I do some really fun Halloween sprinkles on the cupcakes -- very kind of Halloween-esque or themed desserts." Once they've gotten all of their treats, they're going to watch Beetlejuice, Twitches, Twitches Too (because, obviously), The Witches, and finally, The Addams Family. "It's gonna be Halloween fun with the whole family," Mowry adds.

As for their costumes, which are always decided by Cree, the family will be leaning in to the 9-year-old's current Star Wars obsession. "Cory's going to be the StormTrooper. I'm gonna be Rey. Cairo's going to be Ewok, and Cree is going to be Darth Vader's son," she says, adding that dressing up as a family "puts a smile on all of our faces, and we have a great time."

In addition to making Halloween fun for her family, Mowry has partnered with Butterfinger to make it fun for other families through the Turn Yourself In sweepstakes. The contest, which runs until Nov. 6, encourages parents who sneak their kids' candy to turn themselves in to the "Butterfinger Investigators" and confess their confection crime for a chance to win $25,000. "I am definitely one of those parents," Mowry admits. "I've had my share of hiding in the kitchen pantry and chowing down on some Halloween candy."

If you're struggling to figure out a way to give your kids a memorable Halloween, consider taking a couples pages out of Mowry's playbook and bring the festivities to you, like having a family Halloween movie marathon or making yummy Halloween-themed foods. She's found a few ways to celebrate All Hallows' Eve with her kids, despite everything going on, because she wants to make memories with her family whenever and however she can. "[It's] just what's really, really important to me," Mowry says. "Kids grow up so fast, and life comes at us fast. Before you know it, they'll be out of the house. So, I'm soaking up every moment that I can."

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