I can’t believe I did it, but the lack of high fructose corn syrup must have gone straight to my non-sugary brain: I bought pencils, puzzles and card games to give out to kids for Halloween this year.
Oh, yes, I did.
My friend Caitlin was on the fence about the candy-overload dilemma. Me? I took one look at the Halloween candy aisles (yes, plural) at Target last week, and nearly vomited up my vegan animal cracker. Too many treats, too many chemicals and artificial flavors. Too much junk.
So I went the way I never thought I would and opted out of candy-buying for this Halloween. What the heck, I figured. The kids will survive. They’ll get plenty of candy elsewhere, right? They may scoff at my offerings, but I’ll feel better knowing I’m not contributing to their dental decline.
And then I presented my case to my better half. Who simply said. No you didn’t. But, oh yes, I did.
Upon further thought about it, however, I regretted my decision. Isn’t this what Halloween is about? It’s not about pushing my anti-HFCS stance on poor innocent kids knocking on my door. It’s about the sugar high, the rush of counting out our candy stockpiles, trading with friends. Where would my lame-o Disney puzzles end up in the piles of Skittles? Likely on the floor or in the trash. And pencils? They’re worse than the pennies my grandmother used to give out of her plastic pumpkin.
So I caved and went for the full monty.
Because nothing says Happy Halloween like good ol’ fashioned Hershey bars, right?
Plus, the dentist told us chocolate was better than gummies.
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Hilarious. I bought mini containers of PLayDoh and have been treated like a pariah ever since–and that was just by my family. I’ll probably do what you did lest our house get egged or TP’d.
LOL….I love it when my kids get pencils, erasers, etc. for Halloween. But yeah you’re right, great memories of candy-filled moments when I was a little girl. I’d like my kids to have experienced some sugar high moments as well.
Seem like you are about to have a baby soon. How exciting!
BTW – I’ll be there on Dec. 3rd to watch you! I can’t wait. Beth F. told me all about it. Woohoo!
You sound just like me! I can’t wait to raid my kids’ candy for the bad stuff and save it for ME!
What’s Dec 3?
Steph
I’ve had kids come back for “seconds” when offering some healthier items they still think are treats: cheese sticks or individual-serving paks of microwave popcorn.
Kim- that is so interesting! I’m guessing because it’s still a “food” item rather than a crappy toy like I bought! Thanks for the idea.
Not a fan of all the sugar either, but it is one time a year (ok, excluding other candy holidays) and I tell myself it’s a good opportunity to teach my kids about moderation and healthy eating.
And frankly I am less thrilled at my 2 year old getting pencils than candy… not that she gets to eat more than a piece or two of candy. A piece of candy is just another in the bag… but a pencil is different, draws immediate attention and quickly viewed as an amazing weapon. (If my poor dogs could talk.) Then I am the bad guy for taking it away from her before it hits her bag.
I like the small Play-Doh containers and some of that stuff, but it is not cheap! And I am with Kim… last year my son devoured the cheese and crackers packet he got immediately. Another neighbor started handing out apples when she ran out of candy midway through our group – the kids all started yelling, “hey, I want an apple!”
For what it’s worth, I took a slightly different route – though it was one that also made my husband say, “no, you didn’t.” I purchased a couple of bags of fair trade chocolate to throw into my regular stash of chocolate.
Hey, my 4 yo hates candy. last year the only thing she ate in her halloween bucket was an apple given out by the local grocer. She loved the playdoh. I may give her some halloween pencils as a treat! she’d LOVE that! And I love the cheese idea. really.
I haven’t been allowed to by Halloween handouts for years. My husband was horrified one year, so he took over the task. Now he waits for the Costco coupon book to show up in September. He takes the candy coupon and comes home with boxes of full-size candy bars. I’m worried because now he has set that expectation for the neighborhood. Some year we won’t be home on Halloween and our house will be “tricked.”
I had the same debate! Ended up buying a combination, so kids can pick which they want (ro their parents can, depending on age). I bought skittles, and then i bought little parachute guys, and then i got spider rings and skulls. And I felt really good about myself until I realized that the skulls were totally chokable. You can’t win!