What to do
When we’re this close to rumors, people seem to only want me to talk about rumors. If I talk about something else it upsets a good many people.
But, when there are no new rumors it gets kind of old just posting a paragraph that there is nothing new about a cut off. Which there isn’t. Anywhere.
So let’s talk about Halloween Candy. When I was growing up my parents let me pig out on it until it was gone. My cousins’ parents only allowed my cousins to eat one or two pieces a day until it was all gone.
I did the one or two pieces a day thing with GG when she was little, but in the end I’ve decided the “pig out and get rid of it” approach works best for us.
My girls only trick or treat to neighbors we know, and they also go to my parent’s house and trick or treat to the neighbors over there that we know. One of my mom’s neighbors puts together a little gift basket for them. Last year it was in a really cool purse (with rhinestones and feathers) that they could play with later, and the purses had lots of candy inside as well as some little dollar store type toys. I appreciate the thought and the effort she goes to, but she really gives them entirely too much candy for one house. Of course, I can’t be rude and tell her this.
Anyway, they are allowed to pig out on candy, after they’ve eaten a meal, for several days after Halloween. On school nights there is a shorter time limit, but on weekends once they’ve eaten lunch they can then have as much candy as they want until about an hour and a half before time for dinner. And I stretch that out so there is plenty of time. I also put one thing of candy in their school lunch for a while, substituting the candy for one of the fruits they would normally get.
We don’t normally have candy in the house, so this is a special time. But, I think that this also keeps candy from being something that is forbidden. It’s something we don’t do much of, but when it’s around, they can (mostly) eat until they don’t want anymore. And I’m happy to say that they usually stop before they make themselves sick. GG hasn’t always done that, the first year she was allowed to pig out, she did. But now she just eats until she’s done and not to the point of having a tummy ache. And TT pretty much did the same thing last year, stopping when she didn’t want any more. I think that allowing GG to get to that point taught her the lesson much more than me saying “no, if you eat more you’ll have a tummy ache”. Now she knows it’s her responsibility to stop eating before her tummy hurts, and she does. Without being reminded. This will be TT’s second Halloween, so there is no telling how she’ll react this year, I don’t think she even remembers last Halloween.
So how do you handle Halloween Candy? Do you dole it out slowly and make it last? Or let them eat what they want so it’s gone sooner rather than later?
Is this a good way to teach self moderation rather than enforced moderation? As with most things, it probably depends on the kid.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I let the girls have a couple pieces a day, but only after a meal so they don’t ruin their appetite. I have to monitor the candy or else they’ll eat so much they’ll get a tummyache.
And there are several candies that I simply won’t let them eat because it’s so sticky I’m afraid it will give them cavities. Laffy Taffy is the worst. I throw those out. Same with Bit O’Honey.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:52 am
As a child we were never limited to the amount of candy we could eat. I learned quickly how much I could eat without getting sick. Today, I really don’t care or eat candy. I guess I got it all out of my system.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:55 am
When I was a child each of us chose what we wanted. My youngest brother inhaled his candy and the entire amount was gone within a week. Me, I wanted it to last as long as possible and it did…until Mom eventually threw out the remainder sometime after Christmas. I’m glad we were able to choose what works for both of us. Now…if only I could control my potato chip intake with the same self-control my waistline would appreciate it!
Have fun tomorrow night with your girls!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:07 am
The kid is pretty good about eating only a little at a time. Then, after a week or so, she forgets about it.
Mom, on the other hand, will raid anything chocolate. As often as possible. Yup, I steal her candy behind her back. Go ahead, flame on. I’m an addict. It’s a disease.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:12 am
My parents didn’t limit our candy intake from Halloween. We didn’t keep candy in the house at other times so when it was gone…well it was gone. The standard phrase in my house was “Well I guess you shouldn’t have eaten it all so quickly, should you?”
Actually, it wasn’t that big a deal for my sister and I because there was a lot of candy that we just didn’t like and therefore didn’t eat. I bet a good 3rd of our candy was thrown out a couple months later. I’m still not a big candy eater, except for chocolate.
Also, sharing was big in our house. If mom and dad wanted some of our candy we better share it. After all we’re a family and a team, if mom and dad didn’t help us with our costumes and take us trick-or-treating we wouldn’t get ANY candy.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Chickensoup: “My name is luvluv and I to am an overeater of candy…” candy, chips, food in general. We had no candy limits as children, but I still eat it like crazy…Go figure. My teeth, well, let’s just say they are worth a small fortune…
This topic is related to kids… I know RQ will post when she hears something. I have to admit that vampire books scare the heck out of me, but if I don’t want to read about them I don’t. It’s your site, RQ, you can post whatever you want!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:13 am
RQ
Off subject – sorry but have you talked about concurrent adoptions in a while? I saw a thread from early 07. Is there any more recent post about how agencies and China are handling things?
Sheri
http://theshaniaproject.blogspot.com
October 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
luvluv,
Have you ever eaten potato chips with chocolate, together? Sounds gross, but it’s a little slice of heaven.
Why did this thread have to happen when I’m PMSing?
October 30th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Growing up we got to eat as much as we could as well, but
ended up throwing a lot away. My Mom would go thru it and look for candy that didn’t look quite right…but now come to remember I think a lot of the ‘bad’ candy were reeses or kit kats that happen to be her favorite!!! Huumm…
Chik’n soup–my Gramma used to keep chocolate covered potato chips and pretzels around the house, the combination of sweet and salt…yuuummy. I make white chocolate covered pretzels for the Holidays too.
I can’t believe how fast the Holidays will be upon us!!!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I’m a little more relaxed after halloween but I must say I like your idea, RQ. I think I will try it this year simply because I’m not a fan of enforced moderation and I’ve forced myself to do this, allowing 1-2 pieces a day when I could just let it go short-term and then we would not have candy around the house until Christmas! ha! So we’ll see how it goes and maybe we’ll run out of candy alot sooner. I am also a candy thief-my favorites are the laffy taffy, dots, and twizzlers-those disappear rather quickly out of the candy jar!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am
This will be our first Halloween with our daughter and her young age 26 months will make it easy for us to have to limit her candy intake. We both plan on taking tomorrow off and watching her in the parade at her school. We will take her to a couple of relatives to trick or treat and then home to our neighborhood for full scale trick or treating. Our neighborhood has been a longtime desirable spot for families to visit due to the relative lack of traffic and long straight flat terrain to walk.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:01 am
My girls are totally into candy because, like RQ, we don’t have it around a lot. We really only use it as a reward for potty training, however, the grandparents spoil with it!
As for Halloween candy, the girls are totally digging this concept. I don’t think at 2 (almost three) they have the self-control to stop, so I will probably limit it. I did hear on the radio today, though, that dentists prefer the “eat it all at once” method, because otherwise, the sugar has days and days to build up versus one fell swoop. Who knows?
Seriously, who are we fooling? It’s the PARENTS that love the candy….hehe ME INCLUDED!
October 30th, 2008 at 10:14 am
luvluv – yeah, I know I can post what I want, and for about two weeks of the month I do post whatever I want. But the week leading up to referrals I try to leave for just rumors, then we have the Babies! post during referrals, and then the three or four days after referrals are mostly for analysis posts. And right now I’m hoping we are in the week leading up to referrals. I remember how it felt to just want rumors and nothing else at this point, so I try to respect that.
—————
As for the candy thief’s out there:
I swiped candy when GG was one and two, but stopped when she was three. She’s got a good memory and I didn’t want her to realize what I was doing. Now I ask if I may have something, and she either tells me yes or offers me something else. She also knows my favorites and often offers them to me without my having to ask.
Last year I went through TT’s and got rid of everything I thought was a choking hazard (after she went to bed on that first night), and I’ll have to do the same this year. She never missed what I pulled out, thank goodness.
Oh, and last year the girls swapped out. After a few days of eating so they knew what they wanted and didn’t want, they both pulled things out of their basket they didn’t really want and then used those piles to swap.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
……My thoughts are let them have their candy…it won’t hurt them…kind of reminds me of a Jay Leno’s monalogue about how we “survived” childhood…..without car seats…etc…etc…..
…….his last line is “Kind of makes you want to run throught the house with scissors…”
October 30th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I was raised with the “pig out” approach. We didn’t get it often and learned not to use candy as a reward. My husband insisted on doling the candy a few pieces of day with our first daughter. It caused her to beg and give us grief. I asked him to please try my approach after a year or two and it works so much better.
I also read an article last year that the negative dental implications are a lot less if the children get the candy eating over in just a few days.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Actually I think you may have lightened up the mood a little with this post, I’m OK with that!
When I was a kid, my Mom just let us eat it whenever we wanted. We didn’t get it often so we knew it was a real treat. I used to hide mine and eat a little here and there to satisfy my sweet tooth….until my brother and sister would find my stash!!!
When I look back at how that may have affected my life. Well lets just say it became a habit and to this day I still have a sweet tooth…really bad! What would I have done differently than my Mom? ….I think I’d have put a time limit on their treats like a month and then take them away. I think that’s fair, then they could chose to eat it and get it over or moderate…gives them a choice and teaches them to customize their options.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:21 am
RQ, your candy philosophy is EXACTLY what mine is. My (older) kids are allowed to chow down on as much candy as they want on Halloween and for as long as their candy lasts after that. They are a little older now (13 and 11) so it isn’t nearly the thrill it used to be, but I’m convinced that its because candy was never some forbidden treasure that was strictly limited and controlled when they were younger. Now with our younger dd (22mos) I won’t let her pig out of course, but she will get her fair share of appropriate candy when the older kids are eating theirs.
Last year I finally convinced my sister to try this approach with her twins who are now 8. Up until that point they had been strictly controlling and dosing out like 2 pieces of candy per day after Halloween. Her boys were like desperate beggars they wanted it so bad, and would beg for more constantly! It would be almost christmas and those boys would still be begging for more candy! Last year she finally gave in and tried our approach (her hubby was the holdout for the controlling tactic), and she called me a couple of weeks after halloween and told me she was amazed at the difference. The candy wasn’t so special to them anymore and they weren’t obsessed with how much they had and when they could have it and whether they could have an extra piece, yada yada yada. They forgot about it after about 4 days, and only asked for it ocasionally after that. It totally took the magic powers away from the candy!!
Yep, I say let ‘em chow down for a few days and they’ll get bored with it quickly!
October 30th, 2008 at 11:26 am
When my three boys come home the night of Halloween-
(we are with them)- we look through the candy- then I let them eat pretty much whatever they want that night. This Halloween will be easier with it being on a Friday night- as too much sugar can keep them up all night- and that is BAD on a school night. I then dump all the candy into one bowl and each night after they can have a few pieces. After a week I dump the candy. My youngest has a small weight issue and I do not want to forbid the candy on special holidays- but I do not want to allow him to get into the habit of eating candy every night. This works well for our family.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Our daughter is not a HUGE candy fan. She’d rather each fruit (I know I’m lucky and hope it won’t change). On top of that, if she wants candy, she’ll ask if she can have a piece or a few jelly beans in a bowl for a snack or something like that. We do let her have it, but also monitor it and keep it within reason. DH on the other hand is another story – huge sweet tooth – LOL!
October 30th, 2008 at 11:42 am
This will be the first Halloween I let my three-year-old go trick-or-treating. The first Halloween she was only 15 months old, so we went to the Main Street Halloween parade in our town. Last year we joined the other moms and kids in her playgroup for the Halloween event at the local zoo. I’m glad for this thread topic because I’ve been trying to figure out how to handle the candy issue. We usually have candy in the house from birthday parties and doting relatives that never gets all eaten up, because my policy is to let my daughter have it only after dinner and only after she’s eaten a “good” dinner, which doesn’t always happen. She is still working on the huge bag of jellybeans her great-aunt bought her for her birthday (in July!).
October 30th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I used to give our daughter M&M miniatures which she loves in place of candy collected. I told her the candy she had collected was for bigger kids and not safe for her. The collected candy will end up feeding my co-workers for a while and I let everyone know it was acquired through trick or treating.
Our daughter is now 5 and the “not safe” story may not fly. This year we are going to a party and I’m sure they will be many goodies there, but thankfully (for me) there will be no trick or treat.
We always give her a gift bag with Halloween/Fall themed toys, pencils, notebooks, crafts and the like. She is still getting that this year. It was very funny, she asked who left the gift bag, Santa? See the bag is left overnight so the delivery was a bit of a mistery. I explained that Santa only has jurisdiction on Christmas and that mom and dad leave her the bag.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
chickensoupforchina
my friend owns a Chocolate Shop with homemade goodies and one of her best sellers is chocolate dipped chips and another is popcorn. They ARE delicious! I have to keep myself from going in there, because if you want it, she usually has it! Mouth is watering. Now I will have to go and see her this afternoon. LOL
October 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
HA! Chips and chocolate, a new thing to try. Chips w/ catsup and mustard..done that.
Sorry meant, “I TOO” not to.
Thanks RQ for the fun today!
October 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
My Mum let me eat the candy when I wanted but I do remember her going through it to look for suspect items and yes many of them were the nice chocolatey items…hmmm.
Our girl did the trick or treating a little last year (she was not walking) but was more interested in the people and not so much the candy. This year she is loving the whole costume and party scene so I think she is going to love trick or treating. For her I think it will be more about the adventure than eating the treats…but the plan is to remove anything that looks like a choke hazard (she just turned 2) and let her have at it!
October 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I’m in the “let them pig out” at least for a little while camp. What I often find is that they will take a bite or two out of a piece and then open up another. It’s a bit of a waste, but I have no problem with that. I end up throwing out alot of half eaten candy. It really doesn’t last as long that way. My kids know that there is candy around most of the time. It isn’t such a big deal to them that way.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Where I was orginally from we did not have halloween.
My dd and ds do not like candy all that much. Their candy lasts forever. Our new sweetie does have a sweet tooth.
Anything with salt and sugar together tastes good. When my stepsons were little they always liked to dip their fries in their thick shakes. My dd is going as a Power Ranger girl, ds is a Ninja, and the little one is going as a snow fairy.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I favour the “let them pig out for a week and then throw it out” method, but I have to say that this is more for my waistline and than for my kids’ health. My 10 year old son and one of my 7 year old twin daughters have sweet teeth, but my other daughter could have one treat a day for months, and therefore she doen’t get nearly so much candy as her siblings do using this method. It isn’t really fair that they have their candy taken away because their mother is an untreated chocaholic! I have a friend who let her children pig out for two days and then talked them into trading in their candy for a Webkin. I am considering this, but still haven’t made up my mind
October 30th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
We never really had to limit ds with his candy. He’s not a big sweets person, although…if it’s dark chocolate, it’s his! We just don’t have a lot of candy hanging around the house. Since there’s just the 3 of us we pretty much just share the candy. We do have our individual faves, though. Any candy that’s left over no longer gets thrown out…dh’s friend usually takes a bag of candy home with him. He’ll eat anything!!!
As far as chips…THEY’RE MINE!!!! Especially when I’m pmsing!!! There’s nothing better than Pringles and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies!!!! MMMMM….going to the store after work for some. I have the right….I AM pmsing!
LOL!
Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!!!
Nancy
LID 1/30/07
October 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I read somewhere that it was better for your teeth to pig out once and then be done with it. However, I learned while hosting a party one year, that my daughter cannot do this–she will throw up if she has too much sugar.
So, I will let her have a limited amount (more than she usually has, but before she gets sick), on Halloween, and then we’ll dole out the rest later.
As kids, we got our choice. I would try to make my candy last all year. My sister would eat all hers at once, and then spend the year devising ways to steal my candy, little by little.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
We let the kids have as much as they want on Halloween then at the end of the night they bag up whatever they are willing to get rid of and give it to my husband who trades them a prize. They are always happy to trade for something cool and longlasting but generally keep a dozen or so pieces of their favorites which they can have here and there within reason (so if they ask for a piece they get it as long as it isn’t bed/meal time). The toys are always small, this year tinkerbell movie fairies, last year was a my little pony each.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
As kids get older, they notice their parents over managing their candy…as in my house, growing up.
My sister developed a deep resentment towards our parents….and remembers, to this day, how my mom would hide our candy and then throw it out when she thought we had forgotten about it.
I don’t remember how we handled my son’s candy…I think we made him share some with us….we did not make candy a big issue…although we (my son & I) did check all the candy first and toss anything that looked suspicious.
We trick or treated with DS (now 21) for several years….I think the last year we went out with him, he was 14!!!! We always had a blast. Now, when I hand out candy, I always give the kids an extra piece ‘for that nice person in the driveway with the flashlight.’
We have really missed the tradition of going out, so tomorrow we are going to our friend’s house to go T or T with their kids.
ziegsma
Hopefully the last Halloween without our daughter!
March 2006
October 30th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I guess the pig-out method was poor terminology on my part. We didn’t ration out the candy. I often put some of the Halloween candy in a candy dish so that my daughter can have the candy as she wishes. She knows that she must ask if it’s alright to have candy, food, or beverages to make sure mom and/or dad are o.k. with it. I’ve found that many of the candy last for months this way and can be tossed after time.
I think there was only one time when my daughter overate candy and got a tummyache. She learned her lesson pretty quickly.
November 1st, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Our system: Pour all the candy in a giant bowl minus a few special pieces that are specific favorites etc.
Next each day, usually after a meal because we brush teeth & they’re less likely to be ravenous pigs, we let them choose one or two or three. They have over-eaten other things such as brownies or ice cream so they are already a little scared of candy (throwing up ice cream is awful). Allowing a little over-eating is a helpful teaching tool IN MODERATION! I don’t over manage it as they can ask for some anytime they want… I just don’t want them to use it as a meal… I want it to be a luxury or endulgence that is thoroughly enjoyed. We also eat candy together as family time…. it’s fun!
Usually the nasty pieces that no one wants gets thrown away very quickly & my kiddos always know we have candy somewhere in the house so they aren’t worried about throwing away something that tastes gross. They do get another piece if they picked a nasty one and spit it in the trash. Allowing them to always have sweets in the house & then use moderation, gives them the sense that they don’t have to over-eat because there is always more.
I’m one of ten kids & we hid all our candy in pillows & even slept on it. We were very starved little kids so we learned how to suck on things (even cheese) to savor and make it last longer. I’ve always had to watch my impulse to hoard & eat lots (lots of raisins = BAD… learned that one quickly). It was WAY worse having no sweets in the house instead of always having a little. We also became insane little “MINE” freaks about the candy… almost like that creature on Lord of The Rings… “My Precious!” No JOKE!
I’ve spoken with my children A LOT about excess consumption. I’ve worked very hard with an extremely calm voice to soothe my son who used to enjoy devouring sweets; now, he’s so funny! He shakes trying to control himself from eating it too fast. He closes his eyes & I calmly tell him to just enjoy, suck on it. Enjoy each piece.
I just want them to have discretion and actually enjoy what they are eating… not just eat it because it’s there or it is “supposively” good! We were so poor as a kid… I would eat the dog & cat food left out when we visited other people… seriously no discretion there. ha ha
November 1st, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Advice last night at a Halloween party: “We let the kids eat all they want, but if they get sick they have to clean it up.”