Halloween comes each year at a time that I am especially tired. There is no longer warm temperatures and sunshine to energize me. It has been replaced with multiple layers, heavy coats, gloves, and hats. It is also the end of football season. We have been going strong since summer and I need a break. My brain has been running non-stop trying to organize all of our schedules. I’m running like crazy trying to get the kids where they need to be with all of the supplies that are needed. Just where is that darn cheer leading hair bow? Is the teenager’s girdle clean? (I love that football players wear girdles. Giggle.) Not those shoes…………your other shoes. Does any of this sound familiar?
Most of our meals have quick cook times or come out of a crock pot these days. Time is not something I have a lot of, but I do have plenty of hunger to contend with. Let’s just say we have been eating a lot of breakfast for dinner. That is the quickest meal I have in my arsenal of quick real food meals.
So what does this rambling about football season and being tired have to do with Halloween you ask? I’ll tell you. Non-real food eaters are making me cranky. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. “Halloween is just once a year!” People are really concerned that my children are not going to get their fair-share of sugar. Really? Don’t you worry……they get plenty. I just can’t believe in this era of record levels of childhood obesity that people are seriously worried about my kids getting enough sugar. Maybe that’s why we have a childhood obesity epidemic??
Halloween is not “just one day”. They collect months of candy while out trick-or-treating. There are the numerous Halloween parties they will attend, with candy at each one. Even our dance teacher hands out cookies for a little “party” at the dance school. You know the place my daughter goes to get some exercise. Can you imagine them handing out cookies at the gym?
I am not an old curmudgeon. Really, I’m not. I love celebrating Halloween with my kids. We all love to dress up and be something we are not for a day or two. I fill up my house each year with family and we have a great time. I do let my kids go trick-or-treating and collect as much as candy as they want. Last year, we made a deal. They could eat whatever candy they wanted for a couple of days and then if they were in agreement, I would buy their candy off of them and replace it with a toy of their choice based on the amount of candy they gave me. The idea is that they should be rewarded for their “effort” trick-or-treating and the more they gave me, the bigger their toy would be. To my surprise, the teenager who has been eating Halloween candy till Easter for years, jumped all over the offer. He really wanted a Nerf gun. I didn’t know if it would work or not, but in the end………they all ended up with toys.
There are plenty of non-food treats you can send to school, offer at Halloween parties, and hand out for trick-or-treating. I did a quick poll on my Facebook page today and we came up with some great ideas. My Facebook friends thought that glow bracelets, spider rings, and vampire teeth would be super fun. Glow sticks were also a popular idea. I like to purchase glow sticks for my kids each year just as a safety feature for them. Kids love them and so do parents. Another creative idea was toys and other items that you would find in a pinata filler bag. I really don’t think kids will feel like they are missing out on anything when they find these in their bags. I can just imagine the fun they would have………….. and isn’t that what Halloween is all about?
Go ahead………tell me I’m crazy. Bring it on. LOL! Do you give out traditional candy or something else? How long do you let your kids eat their Halloween candy? Have you noticed how much other people like to give your children candy?
I can’t wait to hear from you. Leave me a comment here and I invite you to join the fun on our various social media. Just join us by using the various buttons at the top of the page. Lots more recipes, tips and fun to be had by all! If you are new to the blog……..I invite you to check out our Weekly Challenges. This is a great systematic way to to eat more of a Real Food diet and eliminate processed food. This is the approach my family took to overhauling our diet. Remember……small changes can create dramatic changes to your overall health. Good luck!
One of our local dentists does a candy "buy back" the day after Halloween. The kids are paid $1 for each pound of candy that they sell her. I usually match whatever they earn there so that it's real incentive to get rid of the junk. I do let the boys keep 1 sandwich bag full of candy of their own choosing. They get plenty of candy at other events throughout the year with grandma and other friends who don't hold to my beliefs about sugar. If I let them keep what they got trick or treating, it would last until at least the New Year if not into Easter. AND i do buy some of the UNREAL brand of candy to have around the house when a craving strikes.
I like the UNREAL candy for a treat too. I'm not against treats, but they are everywhere. It's no longer a treat. My kids get a lot of candy for Halloween since our houses are so close together. They really can cover a lot of ground. They would make out pretty good with your dentist. That is really awesome that the dentist does that.
I've heard that the "Candy Fairy" visits the homes of young children now, taking the candy and leaving a toy or even money. I love that this same kind of idea worked with your older kids – even your teenager!
It bothers me that people feel the need to bombard kids with unhealthy treats on any special day. While trick-or-treating is a fun tradition, there are creative things to give out – and no need to add to that pile of candy by handing out treats in dance class or school!
Thank you! I really feel like they kids are bombarded with treats. Everywhere we go, it seems like people want to feed them. Our cheer leading squad had so many girls that there were not enough games for each parent to bring a snack. To keep things fair…….there were two snacks for each game. Oh man! I have a hard enough time dealing with one snack. I understand not everyone agrees with my family's way of eating, but I didn't realize that eating healthy would put me in the minority. I've heard of the candy fairy this year. That is so cute! I was really surprised when my teenager agreed to part with his candy. This is not how he grew up so he has had to change the most. I'm really proud of the effort he has made.
I try to hand out other things besides candy for all children related events. The closest I've gotten is homemade apple spice and carrot cupcakes instead of chocolate. I love the idea of buying their candy. They didn't get that much this year and with me picking at it, probably won't make it till thanksgiving.
Thank you for sharing at our TGIF Link Party at A Peek Into My Paradise. I hope you will be back to link up another awesome post this week!
Cathy @ http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/