1. You can give away non-candy treats and no one will egg your house . . .
2. . . . but waiting for the bell to ring is less fun without a little candy to dip into.
3. Teenagers invariably (and inexplicably) will choose Play-Doh from your selection.
4. Unlike extra candy, if you have toy treats left over you can save them for next year. Genius.
5. Extracting seeds from pumpkin guts (for roasting) is tedious, smelly and messy . . .
6. . . . but if you follow your daughter’s suggestion and add melted butter to the olive oil, it will all be worth it. (Genius again.)
7. You can reduce candy mania by giving kids their most favorite dinner – they’ll thank you for it and never suspect your ulterior motive.
8. You should follow the example of TLT reader Susan Tang (of Little Ladies Who Lunch) and next year set up a prosecco bar for the parents. (Beyond genius).
9. You must allocate at least one half hour for the post trick-or-treating sibling candy swap, which rivals the SALT II treaty talks in intensity of negotiations.
10. You’ll know you’ve trained your children well when they return from trick-or-treating and immediately hand over their Whoppers, without you even having to ask. 🙂
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NotCinderell says
Something I learned about myself this year: All that candy rationing over the years has gotten it into my head that fun-sized candy bars are best enjoyed a few at a time. I had about 4 or 5 and quit. We gave the kids 2 each. I don’t feel like a mean mom.
Amanda @ Tales of an Amateur Mommy says
Great pointers! I especially like the dinner for the kids and proseco for the adults suggestions 🙂
Gaye says
I had a Weight Watchers leader years ago who allowed her kids to eat whatever they wanted Halloween night. Then, when they went to bed, she told them if they left their candy outside their bedroom door, the Good Witch would come and exchange their candy for something better. Her boys agreed but her daughter kept her candy. The next morning the boys were thrilled with their new toys, while the daughter was hysterical that they got something good and all she had was candy she didn’t want anymore! From then on she always left her candy for the Good Witch. One caveat: my leader said to pitch the candy instead of hiding it to eat yourself later!
Catherine says
I do this and take the candy to work. My employees were all waiting for me this morning to get the first choice at the candy, lol.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
So funny! You have them well trained!
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Gaye – I’ve definitely heard of this Good Witch idea since I’ve been blogging (but never before.) It’s an intriguing idea and I know that many moms love it. Others, however, feel they need to keep the candy around in some fashion since kids are going to have to learn to navigate sweets sometime. This whole issue is so knotty that I feel confident I’ll never run out of Halloween candy-related posts for as long as I’m writing TLT! 🙂
Bri says
Wow, that ground lamb dinner looks WONDERFUL. I agree about giving the kids a great dinner — ours were delighted with their organic chicken sausage “mummies” and pumpkin bisque. We also took a little bit of the desirability factor out of the candy madness by letting them each choose a piece of candy to eat BEFORE dinner. They’d gotten a few pieces each at school, so we just acted like it was no big deal and told them it was fine to either eat a piece before dinner and a piece after trick-or-treating, or two pieces after trick-or-treating. They each went with the first option and there were no complaints.
The other big thing I learned this year was that I didn’t have to do my usual “candy cull” with them and control the amount they kept. We took our time on our route this year, chatting more with neighbors and visiting fewer houses. When we got home, I was surprised at how little candy, really, had been collected. I decided it was a good experiment to simply let the boys be happy with their stashes, and see how the whole thing plays out over the next week or two.
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Bri – you must post pix (if you have them) of mummies and bisque! Another friend called me that day and asked for Halloween related dinner ideas and I thought, wow, I’m such a an uncreative mom because that thought never occurred to me! I was lucky to get dinner of any sort on the table and eaten before they tore off.
Mary Lawton says
Send me the recipe for the ground lamb dinner. I don’t like lamb but that looks terrific!
Bettina Elias Siegel says
I think I may post it as a TLT’s Table post since a few people have asked. But if you don’t like lamb . . . it is lamb-y!
Midge Elias says
This blog gets better and better!
Impartial Mom
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Hmm . . . “impartial”? 🙂 Love when my mom drops by!