If your kid is too young to know about the pleasures of candy, you’ll have no trouble restricting her intake on Halloween. You might really enjoy watching her slobber over her first mini-Snickers bar and that will be the end of a very nice evening.
For those with toddlers and preschoolers, however, there may be some anxiety and power struggles over the candy situation. I once had a visiting 2-year old melt down in my entryway on Halloween night.
My son and I have a deal going. I’ll let him eat some candy along the way as we trick or treat. Then, when we get home, he gets to keep five pieces in the fridge, and the rest get set outside his bedroom door. Overnight they will magically turn into a toy. (We did this last year, too.) The remaining five pieces get consumed over the next five days, and then we’re on to the next thing.
The nice people at the company who make Pirate’s Booty sent me a few other tips. They encourage us to “be kind to other parents” by passing out a healthy low-fat snack (like, um, maybe Pirate’s Booty?) or a non-food item like glow sticks. (I love this idea!)
Also, pump your kids full of healthy food before they go to any candy fest neighborhood event. We had this kick-ass skeleton veggie tray last year.
And finally, if your kid is otherwise healthy, plays outside, eats fruits and veggies sometimes, you’ll just have to rest assured that it’s no big deal to have a few candy overdoses each year. When they’re older, Halloween will be a night filled with aerobic activity as they run around egging houses and stealing pumpkins.
You’re right Whitney– if you lead otherwise-healthy lives, once a year is doable for kids to OD on sugar. Then again, mine will be slobbering all over the Snickers bar this year. I might feel differently when he’s throwing himself on the floor in a tantrum for the entire bag…
I love the veggie skeleton! What a cute idea.
My baby is too young to trick or treat so I’m safe for another year. However, the candy fairy idea is fabulous and I will be using that for sure. I like to buy Halloween pencils and mix them in the candy bowl so the kids can decide what they want. You’d be surprised how many choose the pencils!
Adorable.
Is it okay for me to laugh hysterically at the veggie skeleton’s mushroom, uhhh, crotch? Because I may have. 🙂
Re: Mushroom placement in crotch. I didn’t even notice it until you pointed it out. My brother (a 25-year old sous chef) assembled the veggies. Clearly that was his idea of funny. Well done, Uncle Jake!
This is an awesome idea! So cute!
Love these ideas. I’m lucky that my daughter is still too young for candy (or at least, still too young in my book). Still, I am starting to think about how I’m going to manage her Halloween candy consumption down the road. One trick I love: limit how much candy your kid can collect with a small bag or by only visiting a certain number of houses….http://hintmama.com/2013/10/30/todays-hint-3-tricks-for-curtailing-your-childs-candy-consumption-this-halloween/