Halloween is fast approaching - what are you going to do with the mountains of candy that the kids bring home? (I guess that if you're Tempeh, you're smart enough to put it into the candy box.)As health professionals, a part of our job is to counsel our patients regarding proper nutrition. So how do you translate this into something you can take home, specifically to deal with the giant pile of sugar that your kids collect on Halloween?
For right or wrong, we've settled on this approach: On Halloween night, we check the candy (ever vigilant!) that the kids have collected. We then set a kitchen timer for 10 minutes and let them eat whatever they want until the time is up. The candy is then put away, to be brought out only if asked for. Subsequent visits to the candy bag are limited to "one big or two small" pieces. I've found that my kids tend to relish the hunt of Halloween night and often forget about the goodies within a few days - over the years, I've given/thrown away pounds of the stuff a few months later.
Would love to hear how other MiMs deal with this issue!
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photo credit: I wish I knew - this was sent to me in an email. Anyone? Bueller?
If only we could all give out toothbrushes and jumpropes for Halloween!
ReplyDeleteWow, jumpropes would be cool! Maybe I can find some cheap ones. I'll have to check Oriental Trading!
ReplyDeleteArtemis, actually that's a great idea to transfer the goods into the candy box! Hadn't thought of that yet since we didn't have this Pavlovian system last Halloween.
I must say this is the only time that I am glad my 5 yr old son has food allergies (eggs and peanuts). Between those two things, especially the peanuts, about which we have to be extraordinarily careful, we are able to weed out >75% of the candy. The same policy of no-peanut and no-egg candy applies to our two younger daughters as well, officially in the name of keeping our son safe but also to avoid mutiny. All of the "dangerous" candy goes with us to work to secretarial candy bowls, where it aids our co-workers in gaining weight that they can then pledge to lose on New Years Day! I know, not exactly a healthy approproach, is it? Sounds more like "not in my backyard." Well, we do the best we can...
save it for valentines day at school.. and give each kid in the class a little baggie of it. the cards are fun to make, and its nice being the most popular kid for a day because you brought the most candy. also, some dentists pay kids for giving up their candy.
ReplyDeleteWe have found that our children tend to forget the actual amount of candy they got on Halloween night within 1-2days. So we start slowly throwing it the night after Halloween. However, I too love the idea of a candy box (and treasure box) that Tempeh suggested. We may divert our candy there this year.
ReplyDeleteWe put everything in a tupperware container in the pantry and allowed1 - 2 pieces each night after dinner (depending on the size of the pieces). Other than that, no candy. We nearly always had some left overs to throw away about easter when the next batch of candy arrived.
ReplyDeleteAm I a bad mommy for saving some of it for Christmas stockings?
ReplyDeleteI let the gang have at it until I think it is so gross I can no longer stand it. Then I let them have 2 pieces after dinner each night until Thanksgiving after which time our candy goes bad.
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were little, the youngest was allergic to dairy and chocolate ...you can imagine how much fun halloween was!
ReplyDeletehowever ..we'd usually manage to get away with him only sneaking a few pieces of chocolate so the full body ecxema break out was mild compared to when he broke into the yogurt, cheese or milk (he drank a whole half gallon in the middle of the night while we slept when he was about 5, that was a bad break out!)
We'd pull out all the chocolate and then do the 2 pcs per night, with 1 chocolate given to older son. The rest of the chocolate (and much of the candy itself!) went to hubby dear