17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Monday, November 13, 2006

Curse that Halloween candy!

Even though my kids are young, we end up with GOBS of Halloween candy! What on earth do you all do with the stuff? It drives me nuts. FIRST the kids are always begging for it. Constantly. Really gets on my nerves. SECOND it is sweet yummy stuff just begging to be eaten...by me! And I will!


Last year I ate so so so much. When a friend would comfort me and say it's because I was pregnant I would sincerely deny it because I really do have a sweet tooth. But, this year I haven't had NEARLY the desire to eat the stuff. So, I guess I can happily say it was pregnancy. Though I do admit to recently swiping a few almond joys and butterfingers.

This year, I came up with a new plan out of desperation. I did not want to have candy-begging kids for the next month. I decided each day both kids would get 3 tickets no matter what. (A couple times I have used tickets as a reward for helping around the house.) We had fun sorting the candy together and I decided on 1, 2, 3, and 4 ticket prices for the piles. The kids think it's fun to "buy" something each day. Sometimes they even actually save a ticket for later. I try not to be picky about when they buy their candy--though I don't give it right before breakfast or right before dinner (unless it's a penny-size tootsie roll). I must say that it's gone very well. Though our "store" is going to have to go soon because I'm getting tired of the shoe boxes taking up so much table space.

My husband's mom used to get rid of the candy by buying it from the boys with real money. They saved a few, then got cash for the rest. She then chucked it. I think I'll do that when they're older. Though I'd try to give it away somehow--I just can't throw away good candy!

What do you do with that devilish candy that I love and hate all at the same time?

posted by Katie @ 11/13/2006 12:20:00 PM   add to kirtsy


13 Comments:

  • First I sort it. I throw away at least half of it, and then do DH and my faves in one pile, and the kids faves in another pile.

    Then I put it in a cupboard.

    I did this the night after Halloween, then put away all evidence of halloween: toys, pumpkins, decorations, costumes.

    It's like it never happened, my daughter does not ask for it. It is just sitting in the cupboard. Oh, the DH and my pile is long empty, and I am saving the other stuff for when potty training begins in the spring...sorry about your troubles....I guess for my kids it is more about the party and the costuming than the candy.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 11/13/2006 10:12:00 AM  



  • Um, you know. I let them EAT it.

    I'm diabetic, and I have a huge sweet tooth, if sugar's around, I'll eat it. So my kids have been raised without cookies, cake, donuts, twinkies, ding dongs, etc, (all the good stuff I was raised on---wonder how I got diabetes?) in the house.

    But not letting them eat their Halloween candy? That's like blasphemy. Of course, since my kids have been raised with very little sugar, they never end up eating it all.

    Sometimes I feel bad that my kids don't even want cake on their birthdays. What have I done to them?
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 11/13/2006 10:22:00 AM  



  • This has been such a dilemma for me this year. My four year old son is type 1 diabetic and while I want him to share in the excitement and fun of Halloween all that candy and sugar does affect his blood sugar. And then there is my nine year old who doesn't have diabetes. He wants to enjoy all those goodies and candies. And since these goodies are not around all the time, it is quite the treat when they are. I have come to the conclusion that next year I will buy the candy back from them and take them to their favorite toy store with their "gift certificates." But I would love to hear other ideas.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 11/13/2006 12:23:00 PM  



  • I really like the ticket idea!
    posted by Blogger Jen at 11/13/2006 12:51:00 PM  



  • We also had way too much candy after this halloween. For the first couple of days after Halloween, I pretty much allowed Princess to eat what she wanted when she wanted it. Surprisingly, she didn't really eat that much and always asked before she ate it.

    THen after a few days, I was sick of having it around and so was dh who has been trying to be more health concious, so we took the advice that we read here or was it here and let Princess trade her candy for a $10 gift certificate to Target. She happily handed over her candy, picked out a new toy from the store and that was the end of that.

    I like the idea of boxing up all the leftover candy and sending it to someone stationed in the military, but I ended up giving it to a woman in our ward who teaches undergrads. She said her students would be happy to get rid of it for me. At least I know it went to a good home because I also have a hard time just throwing away good candy.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 11/13/2006 02:02:00 PM  



  • Carrie, I guess I don't quite get the gift cert. idea...it's not like they EARNED all that candy...it's just a free-for-all....well, maybe they earned it by walking around the neighborhoods...but I guess I just look at it more as the experience of the day being where the fun is, and not all the candy or traded-in-for-Target trip that comes later...

    I might be ok with trading in A grades on a report card for a g.c. to Target, but not Halloween candy...?
    posted by Blogger Kage at 11/14/2006 04:21:00 AM  



  • Melinda, that is so funny and gross!

    Susan m, I know, it's ridiculous to be too controling of candy, but when there are 8 pounds of it between a 3 and 5 year old, something must be done, no? :) I'll definitely give my kids more free reign when they're older. (with the possible buy it from them option). I remember having my candy when I wanted it as a grade-schooler too.

    Oh, we did put a bunch in a care package for my bro-in-law who's a doc for the military in Iraq for a a year. The kids put SO MUCH in his box--all on their own.
    posted by Blogger Katie at 11/14/2006 05:43:00 AM  



  • Kage,

    Of course they didn't earn the candy like one might earn grades or earn money. But I do feel as she gets older that I need to at least halfway respect that the candy is hers, and not mine to do with as I please.

    Maybe if I could have just made it all disappear the day after like you did without her noticing at all, I would have done it. But Princess is beyond that now. I could have taken it away a little at a time without her noticing, but the trade was the quickest and most effective way for us to get rid of all of it, quickly, with no questions asked. She now knows there is no candy left in the house and it was her decision to trade it all in. And with the history of bad teeth in our family, the $10 was worth it to me.

    And in no way did this trade make Halloween all about getting a GC to Target. I assure you that she enjoyed the experience of the day just as much as your kids but getting the candy was indeed a part of the experience for her this year (unlike last year).

    Just go what works for you but just know you might have to rethink your plan in the coming years.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 11/14/2006 07:40:00 AM  



  • C-"She now knows there is no candy left in the house and it was her decision to trade it all in"

    I like that part of it....kind of like DEAL OR NO DEAL...I think...I have only seen previews of that show.

    And fyi, I have no plan....so this post is good b/c I am putting away these seeds of inspiration for future halloween predicaments.

    I think my kid is just a little behind b/c she can't even remember that she had sacks of candy one day, and none the next...or maybe she is like me...and inherited my memory...sorry kid.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 11/14/2006 10:12:00 AM  



  • oh and btw...we pulled out last years video of halloween, and princess yelled CANDY about 17 times...so I am pretty sure she was into the candy last year too!!! It was pretty cute.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 11/14/2006 10:13:00 AM  



  • I ended up with RIDICULOUS amounts of candy that my mom and sis put in a birthday box to me this year (I got it last week) and I have the worst self-discipline when it comes to sweets.

    I also felt guilty throwing it away, until I realized that candy isn't food. It's not nutritious, or even remotely neutral, it's bad for you. So now it's been thrown out.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 11/14/2006 12:45:00 PM  



  • Look, if you think your kids have too much Halloween candy, don't let them collect that much in the first place. Say they only can take one from each house. Go to fewer houses. If they do Halloween visits at your work, tell them you are going just to show off their costumes and not to collect candy. Use it as a teaching time that you don't take more of something than you need. I think throwing it away totally negates the generosity of those who gave it.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 11/14/2006 02:16:00 PM  



  • Good point Jane! I am in the camp that buys the candy from the kids with a GC...but as my kids get older it is getting more expensive (my problem for giving into it....). And where I live it is pretty ridiculous. We have trunk-or-treat with the ward on Friday and then Halloween on Tuesday. I recycled the candy the kids got from Trunk-or-Treat on Halloween. And then all the Trick-or-Treat candy goes to Care and Share (our elementary school project that helps to stock local food pantries). But clearly *over-indulgence* is the name of the game here and that is not what I want my kids to get out of it. Thanks for the suggestions Jane. That really has me thinking for next year and what I want to teach my kids!
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 11/14/2006 08:38:00 PM  



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