See, we are very hard core about NOT letting our kids eat junk food (you know, because it is toxic, causes disease, and is just not all around good for their growing bodies) throughout the year. However, we do let them eat all of the candy that they want on Halloween. So, all year long, before Halloween, whenever they come into contact with candy (a sucker from the lady at the bank, being thrown out at a parade, whatever), they will put it into a bag which will be kept until Halloween. It seems to work quite well to circumvent them from eating candy during the year because... "Candy is for Halloween."
Plus, I like the tradition of Halloween. I LOVE going to Halloween events. I like the activities. I like all of it. We have gone to a total of six such activities this year (The Scarecrow Festival in Arvada, Safe Street in Northglenn, something at Stonehecker Farm, Trunk-or-Treating at a church in Arvada, a Harvest Festival at another church, and trick-or-treating on Pearl Street in Boulder) and they have kept their candy from all of it, waiting for Halloween. And they are so happy with their candy... during the month of October, they will play with it, take it out and smell it, sleep with it, etc.
So, then comes Halloween. And they eat a ton of candy (but it doesn't really even make a dent in it because they have so much). They eat for over an hour straight. Their stomachs become hard and distended.
Ocean talks about feeling sick, but Ezra says, "I'm not going to throw up. This candy makes me happy."
But it is a fun and interesting tradition, it works for us, and I am surprisingly okay and happy with it. In previous years, we had tried doing a candy store where we would buy the candy from the kids in exchange for a toy. But that was kind of unfulfilling for the kids because they wanted the candy more than the toy.
So, now I'm just embracing that fact and going with it. And I think I feel differently about it now that the kids are older. Like, I don't want Peace eating ANY candy (even on Halloween) until she's at least four. Her little brain still has many neurons that are working on connecting and forming and I don't want to mess that up. Plus, she doesn't know what she is missing yet (they don't tend to figure that out until they're older).
I used to think that my kids wouldn't even like sweet food. Awhile ago, I read a nutrition book by Dr. Sears
, and he said in it something about how his kids would scrape the frosting off of a birthday cake because it was too sweet. I thought, "Oh, that will be my kids. My kids have avoided sweets all of their lives. They will be just like Dr. Sears kids and not even crave it."Sooooooo not the case. My kids love sweets. (Did I mention that they SLEPT with their candy bags the night before Halloween?) So, thanks for nothing, Dr. Sears (except for all your great advice about co-sleeping, babywearing, extended breastfeeding, and essentially revolutionizing a movement across the nation).
Here's a pict of the kids with their stashes (the reminder of which will be donated to the food drive at our church):
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