I just love October. The weather (well, maybe not so much this year), the amazing leaves (incredible this year), the hint of the beginning of the holiday season (I'm one of those crazy people who loves that radio stations start playing Christmas music earlier and earlier) and the sneaking of candy from my children's candy buckets.
Yes, you read that right. I happily take my favorite candy from their stash. I tend to do it at nap time so I'm not sure that even technically counts as sneaking. It's not as if I'm hiding in the laundry room eating a Milky Way. Ahem.
In the past, their Halloween stash hasn't really amounted to much. They either didn't know exactly what was happening or they were too tired to be very diligent about collecting much candy. Times have changed.
My two oldest are very much aware of what trick-or-treating means and this year they are motivated. I can practically see the visions of sugar plums dancing through their heads. Okay, not really, and I've got the wrong holiday, but you get the point. It's probably more like Nerds and Laffy Taffy, but whatever.
I'm taking a long time to get to my point which is this--that white refined stuff is evil. Perhaps I'm exaggerating a bit. After all, we do eat our fair share of sugary goodness around here, but what in the world am I to do with all the candy that is soon to be heading our way?
I know I can tell them a piece or two a day after a meal is all that is allowed, but truthfully, I don't even want them to have that much. They get plenty of sweets without me doling them out each day. I also know that the excitement will wear off and they may even start to forget about the candy. Yet, in the meantime I've still got children asking for candy and a mound of it taking up residence in the pantry. That's why I'm leaning toward a different option.
This year, I'm considering a tip I stumbled across on the internet last year. I read about a clever mom who has her kids leave their candy out overnight and she replaces it with a new small toy for them to find in the morning. Genius.
So, this year I do believe I might be spending a bit of money on a few little toys so that I can save some sanity. That is I'll be doing that right after I sort out the good chocolate.
How about you? Do your kids trick-or-treat? If so, how do you handle the massive amounts of candy that greet you at the end of the festivities? Do share.