Halloween night we set out around 6:10, a sick kiddo in tow (don’t worry, I pumped her full of Tylenol to bring down that 101 fever so she could at least hit up a few houses before heading back to bed, because that’s how I roll).
An hour later, we returned home with this:
Yes, we now have in our possession enough candy to rot the teeth of all children ages 1-18 residing in the southern portion of the United States.
My children, stoked.
Our dentist, smiling, dreams of yachts dancing through her head.
My husband and I, to say the very, very least, quite fearful and, well, sick and tired of hearing, “Can I have a piece of candy now? Please? Please!” Stomp, stomp, stomp. “But I’ve only had five today!”
Do you know what it’s like to have a child who, as a toddler, scoured candy at the checkout line, picked up a few bars, and sniffed it the way a hunting dog tracks the ground?
And now, to have in our possession, a hundred bars of chocolate?
Not good.
Typically I toss out candy handful by handful until it is all gone, but this method takes way too long and in the interim we fight almost daily about how much candy she wants (8 pieces) versus how much I will allow her to eat (1).
Yet I don’t want my children to feel completely deprived.
Sharon Stone, director of operations at MindStream Academy, a co-ed health and wellness boarding school for teens who want to get fit, says, “One of the most important things to keep in mind is that keeping Halloween healthy can’t be about deprivation. If you keep your kids from candy altogether or are too tight-fisted when handing it out, your children’s desire to gobble it up will only intensify. It’s the classic forbidden fruit principle. Instead, make Halloween about enjoying treats in moderation. Try to achieve a balance between candy, healthy foods, and activity.”
So what can you do to strike a balance between a few bars and an entire semi-sized slab? Here, a few ways to dump the candy crack and return to a state of normalcy after Halloween:
- Enjoy in moderation. Let your kids choose their favorites from their pile and make a deal about how many pieces per day can be consumed for the first few days, when the memory of Halloween is the freshest in their minds. We do two pieces. And we do this for only three days. After that, the candy bag is hidden and I try to deter them from having daily treats.
- Balance eating with exercise. Says Stone, “After the trick-or-treating buzz has faded, make it a rule that no one gets to consume candy calories without first burning them. In order to eat a leftover treat, your kids will first have to play outside or participate in some other type of physical activity. This is a great time for some family bonding time too—play a game of kickball together or get everyone rounded up for a lap or two around the neighborhood.”
- Freeze it. Yep, that’s right! JJ Virgin, host of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, says the beauty of frozen treats are you’re liable to break a tooth off if you try to take it out and eat it right away. (Explain this to the kiddos first, please, so they don’t give it a try.) Freeze the treats you’ve collected and only take out a few when you want. This way you and your children can’t walk by and grab a handful several times a day (or an hour).
- Welcome the Great Pumpkin. Now that Halloween is over and the kids have gorged on some sugar, it might be time to begin ditching the treats. You can do this a bit at a time, as I’ve done over the years, or, and I love this idea because my kids are still young enough to believe in it, you might introduce the Great Pumpkin. Remember the Great Pumpkin, who flew around delivering toys to girls and boys? Stone offers this idea: Have your children choose a few treats to keep at the house. Then leave the rest outside for the Great Pumpkin, who visits the home and exchanges gifts for the candy you’ve left.
- Find a buy back program. A dentist in our town offers wooden nickles that can be exchanged for toys. Some give away a dollar per pound for leftover candy. Find one in your area and trade it in for cash or prizes.
