These are some pics of our Halloween's past! We've got Jessie from Toy Story, Harry Potter, Sleeping Beauty, Firefighter, Eeyore, Elmo, and Dora!What would you be thrilled to find in your trick or treat bag?
This one was WAY too easy for me. I would love to find a coupon for a lifetime of dinners, prepared and delivered to your door. Or a chef would work nicely too. As you may have read on my 100 list, I hate planning dinner. I know I should do it better, and that it would provide much family bonding, but it is one of my many flaws. SOMEDAY!!! As with anything, I am open to any and all ideas on this subject. I'd also take a housekeeper, professional organizer, and personal accountant! Oh, and a full time personal photographer....just like the JFK family had!
On another note...I figure this is a good post to talk about something else that has been on my mind. I've been having a dilemma lately and maybe you can all help me out here. Ella (my oldest - 7) probably didn't have candy until she was 3 because it was easy to keep away from her. It has gotten progressively earlier with each child. When she was little and we went trick-or-treating, I kept the candy and let her have a piece here and there. Well, as the kids have gotten older it has been harder for me to be in charge of yet another thing. I hated being the "gate keeper" of the candy and I felt like it was another way for me to be the bad guy. I also hated how it made the whole holiday linger around. I know that sounds very un-festive, but I love to be done with things and move on!
So, last year I thought I would just let them be in charge of their candy and do as they please with it. I feel it worked out quite well as the boys were done in a matter of a couple of days, and Ella kept her stash and shared it over the next couple of weeks. I told this to someone recently and they were appalled that I would let my 3 and 5 year-old boys have all that candy in one or two days. I agree it's not the healthiest thing, but at least it was gone! If they got sick, then that was the natural consequence right?!
So, now I leave the question with you. What do you do? Do you have any ideas for a lazy mother like me?
Just so you are aware...YES, my husband is a Dentist/Oral Surgeon. NO, we don't hand out toothbrushes. YES, our kids can have candy. YES, I chew ice and suck on lemons. Yes, I have been known to open things with my teeth. Why do people think that since my husband's profession revolves around people's mouths that we would be immune to the above afflictions? I'm human, and I have good teeth. I never had a cavity until college and still have only had a few and no root canals/crowns etc. Sorry that was really off the subject, but I'm still surprised how many times I hear, "your husband will let your kids have that sucker?"
ANYWAY, just some more incoherent random thoughts that are running through my head!! I've had a few friends ask me how I can post so often. First of all just look at the number of July posts there were! Second, I probably write about 20 posts a day in my head and only get a fraction down in the blog. I'm on the computer a lot everyday anyway with my real life, so I'll just sign in, type, and post. That may explain why my writing isn't very witty, and my thoughts are not always so coherent. Oh well, I figure it will serve as a journal that shows the real me!
16 comments:
I'll take an extra of your trick or treat bag any day. I seriously would eat anything anyone delivered for me as long as I didn't have to make it.
As for the trick or treat candy, I get off easy. My kids don't like chocolate (they so didn't get this from me) so that gets rid of 75% of the treats and then I just let them pick a few treats here and there and then finally throw the rest away after a few weeks. I think if you don't make a big deal of it, they don't feel like they have to sneak it or obsess about it.
Kara--I wish you lived next door to me! Then you and I could dinner swap! I'm not a great cook, but I do like doing it. I would help you cook dinners, if you would teach my kids to behave like it seems like yours do. We had a great talk yesterday before we ventured to the post office. They knew what I needed from them, they were going to cooperate and not spin the racks and pull things out and run away from me. Anyway, I got one of my 3 packages mailed and started crying when I got to the car. Seriously, they're going to kill me.
Well back to your question, I let my kids eat whatever they want the first day, then I hide half of it during the night, and the next day they have only a little bit to finish off, and after that it's all gone. My reasoning is that Brian tells me it's better for the teeth to have lots of sugar at once, and with a good brush afterwards, than little amounts that last over a long time period. Of course no sugar is better, but they're kids and it's Halloween! I'd never take that away from them.
I love your "incoherent random thoughts." I feel like mine are like that too. I know I post a lot too, but I would journal that often if I could anyway.
PS Of my three packages I was mailing--you're was the only one that made it out! Enjoy!
Well, as a dental hygienist and a hubby as a dentist, we give our kids their candy and let them do what they want with it. Most likely it is gone within a few days and then we can be done with it and move on (as I like to do too). In the "dental" field, the least amount of exposures to sugar the better... therefore, eat all the sugar at once and then no more- I am sure Paul has told you that.
So, go for it agian and let "them" be in charge. Halloween only comes around once and let the kids enjoy the fun in it. Good Luck!!!
I can't tell you what I do with the kids I don't have...but I'll tell you what happened at my house. Sara kept her candy for what seems like the whole year! I ate all mine within a couple days. I think we both have good teeth, and we're both pretty healthy. Besides, Halloween only comes once a year! :)
we have a candy fairy. the kids eat all the candy they want the first night. (i cut em off if i think they are eating way too much)
and then they get to have four pieces (so they better make it their favorite) a day for the next few days. then the candy fairy comes and takes the candy and replaces it with a small toy. how many days we wait to do this totally depends on how lazy the "fairy" is to go out and get the toys. so if you do this i recomend just getting the toys and being done with it before halloween while you're doing your grocery shopping. now, i'm going to go and take my own advice. have a great day!
p.s. sometimes we throw the candy away and sometimes we eat it :) or surprisingly we have found other parents that actually want it.
Kara,
I was going to say the same thing about the exposure to sugar....i say all at once is better than dragging it out. Personally, we weren't allowed to trick or treat growing up b/c my dad really didn't like the "evil" side of Halloween and I hated that I always missed out on it. So Wyatt got to trick or treat last year at 20 months old and eat the candy--i didn't bother to wait until 3 years old. So I say let the kids eat as much as they want the first few days, but instead of throwing the candy out, couldn't you take it to some type of food pantry or shelter? I know it's not the greatest food, but I hate to just throw away food when there are people who are starving....even if it is candy!
Good luck on your race this weekend...is Paul running with you?
Hey two quick comments -
First, once I get a long stretch of time I will email you or post to you my ipod list - I was sick over the weekend and couldn't get around to the computer.
Second, did you already get the Fannie Flagg book for your book club? If not, I would be happy to mail you my copy if you want it. Fannie Flagg is honestly one of my favorite authors because her books are so uncomplicated, smart, funny, and happy. Let me know.
shannandesh@msn.com
Kara-
I also know some people who do the "Halloween Witch" thing (similar to what Stacy said) and replace the candy that evening with a book.
Personally, I think life is too short to worry about the candy your kids are eating on a holiday that rolls around once a year. Leave the worry to when they become adults and start the counting calories nonsense that we all too often consume ourselves with.
Trick or Treating and candy are a big part of Halloween (like it or not) and I say let them enjoy it!
Kara! Do what YOU want to do! Your the mom, and a very good one at that! The way one person does it doesn't make it the right way for you and your family. I really don't think it matters if you give it all to them or limit them. Candy is candy. The most important thing is to have a great Halloween. And enjoy every memory from it!
What is the point of trick-or-treating if you can't keep your loot?
We got to keep all our candy and it was all eaten by us or the dog within a couple weeks. We almost never got sugar, and I think Halloween served as a sugar release-valve. At least until Christmas.
Let them eat...sugar!
My dad's an oral surgeon too and I got to eat all of my candy -- and I used a pillow case for trick or treating! After the first few days of consuming way too much sugar, the novelty wore off and I just didn't care as much.
I think if you hide it and monitor it too much, they'll just want it more. I like the idea of letting them eat as much as they want (within reason) the first few days, then cut back. That's sort of what we've done and after a few days they are not as interested in it. Good luck!
The Harry Potter Baby is killing me. I love it.
Cheers for moms who aren't psycho about candy! Let's be mean elsewhere, like drinking or lying!
Kara, we let our kids be in charge of the candy too...except that I sneak out as many Twix or KitKats for myself that I can. Oh, call me crazy but I love the 3 Musketeers too.
Ha ha! I was totally laughing about how you found it easy to control the sugar with the 1st--Ella--and then the candy issue starts earlier with each child! SAME HERE! Max (now 8) didn't have ANY junk 'til age 4. NONE. I prided myself on it.
Mimi has ice cream for breakfast.
How's that for ya?! It's all about survival.
Besides, don't you remember dumping your huge halloween stash out on the floor and pigging out? That's childhood. :)
Count me in on one of your Halloween trick-or-treat bags!
I'm probably one of those people who think that dental families do everything right when it comes to their teeth. However, it actually should be totally oppisite since you get your dental work for free. It's people like me who have to pay out of pocket that should watch the sugar intake.
As for the whole candy thing, I've drawin the conclusion that in most cases whatever you deprive your kids from, they only want it more. I swer when I act like I could care less they usually choose to leave it alone. I say, they earned the candy through their hard trick-or-treating efforts so go to town. Come on it's only once a year. They will soon learn that if they eat too much they get sick. Ryan still can't even look at a Soft Batch cookie due to his overdose when he was a kid. You have to be careful with some personalities, deprevation is sometimes their biggest drive and they only want it more and will find a way to get it. Not to make it sound like I'm a free for all parent on everything. We are just taking about candy.
It's fun to read everyone's thoughts on the candy dilema. I am in the camp of not taking it too seriously. In my family it was fun to see how the different personalities rationed their candy after Halloween. Some share, some are really good at saving and letting it last until Christmas, and some just devoured what they could and were over it in a few days. Hey, they might just learn some life lessons from candy management. :)
On another subject, your trick or treat bag. I love it and want one too. Have you ever heard of Dream Dinners? I bet they have them in AZ. They are lifesavers! You just go, assemble your meals with all the ingredients right there in a clean workstation, put them in a freezer bag and you've got dozens of meals ready to cook up whenever you need it! Plus they are really good! (I've heard My Girlfriends Kitchen meals aren't that great) I've gone with my friends a couple of times and I love it. It ends up being about $3 - $4 per serving, but I figure it evens out with all of the groceries that I waste because I never get around to using them before they go bad. They also have dinner "nannies" that will assemble the meals for you so you just have to pick them up (for a small fee of course!) Anyway, just thought I'd pass the info along because I don't like to plan meals either! www.dreamdinners.com
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