I recently heard there was a YouTube of the parents taking the Halloween Candy away, and the kid crying hysterically. And that’s our fear, right? If we take the candy away, the kids will go nuts. But what if I thought of a way to make that happen with your kids consent? Would you consider it?
When I think of Halloween, I think of the many years I dragged my kids (or should I say they dragged me) door to door collecting candy. And as the years went by, and the kids ate candy for weeks afterwards, the idea dawned on me, that I should be in control of that….. set some boundaries.
So here’s what I did and that worked:
I gave them Halloween as a day of MASSIVE candy consumption. Then on day two I said: “Ok kids, pick a handful more and I’m taking the rest to the office”. What this did is limit them to only a couple of days of sugar. And this concept worked. One kid eats sugar only twice a year, and the other shy’s away from it as well, saying she doesn’t feel like it processes right in her body. But what I hadn’t counted on, (for one of my kids) is that it taught the concept of binging.
He’ll eat sugar on Halloween and his birthday….. to the point of vomitting. lol No really! And the most amazing thing is that in his older years, he is now learning portion control and what amount of calories are in everything he consumes.So now he saves up bite size candy and binges on that because he enjoys it more, and gets a lot less calories.
If I had it to do over again, here is what I would do:
Follow the Chef Marian ‘game plan’ but SELL it to your kids: “Boy you got a lot of candy this Halloween, yes? Let’s look at it. If I were to ask you what your 15 favorite candies are, which would you say”. Have a bowl in hand. “Let’s put them in here….. ok, mounds, tootsie rolls, gummy bears, apples with razor blades… (just kidding), dum dums, etc”.
“Ok, so now I see what your really favorite candies are. Now, can you look through what’s left, and pick your TOP 5, that you may have overlooked”? The kid picks 5. “Now just in case one, or two or three of the ones you already picked aren’t really what you wanted, can you pick 3 more, of only the very best you would want to eat”? Let the kid pick three more. “And I am going to give you one more choice. Pick just one more you really, really want”.
At the end you say: “Wow this is a ton of candy, and it’s all the pieces you really, really wanted to eat. There are kids that didn’t get candy this year and I would like to bring the rest to them. Good idea”?
I think it would be less damaging. And once you do it your first year, they will know what to expect every year. Good or good?
If you still have candy in the house, get on it!
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian