Katy Elliott

Nov 1, 2024 | scarymommy.com | Katy Elliott

My daughter’s birthday is a week after Halloween. And since she was four, I have used leftover Halloween candy to decorate her birthday cake. The idea didn’t come from something cute I saw on social media; it was purely out of desperation because I’m terrible at decorating cakes. I’m a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself, but baking? It’s too finicky for me. All my cakes have issues — uneven layers, icing too soft, the cake crumbs clumping into the frosting.

Oct 18, 2024 | scarymommy.com | Katy Elliott

When I travel, my biggest concern is my feet. Blisters and foot pain can wreck a trip, and a trip to Walt Disney World in muggy Florida offers its own set of challenges. It’s hot, humid, and sweaty, and you are going to walk *a lot.*When the Scary Mommy team recently had the chance to visit the parks, our group included a mix of moms from all over the country. The Southerners of the group were a little more used to heat and had different solutions to manage it all.

Oct 1, 2024 | scarymommy.com | Katy Elliott

It’s October, and I personally believe that that means it’s costume season. Don’t make your kids wait until October 31st. Don’t listen to the naysayers who’ll tell you we’ve taken Halloween too far, that the whole month has exploded into one giant holiday. I live in a town over from America’s Halloween capital of Salem, Massachusetts. Hocus Pocus and Hubie Halloween were both filmed here. And the whole area goes big. Honestly, I think we start preparing around August. There are pumpkins everywhere.

Sep 11, 2024 | scarymommy.com | Katy Elliott

I moved a lot as a kid. My dad worked in pulp paper mills in the 80s and 90s — not a great time for the industry — so we moved six times, chasing jobs. We spent at most four years in a town, which was long enough to feel settled but short enough that it never feel like home. I went to two elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools. I’m not from anywhere, and the only old friends I talk to now are ones I found over social media years later.

Aug 22, 2024 | scarymommy.com | Katy Elliott

When I was a kid in the 90s, we took home economics at school. We learned to scramble eggs, bake chocolate chip cookies, and make pizza dough. And I used those skills, too. The summer between 5th and 6th grade, I was on my own because both my parents worked. Like I said, it was the 90s, and things were just a bit more unsupervised back then. I was bored, so I started to cook. I made cookies, breads, and eventually stir fries because I was tired of my parents’ steak-and-potatoes dinners.