What is your post-Halloween candy policy?
The day after Halloween, the big city newspaper ran a piece about different families' post-Halloween candy policies. What to eat the night of. What to keep afterwards. What to throw away.
After about an hour of walking around the neighborhood collecting candy on Halloween this past weekend, one of my boys held up his bag and announced he had enough. We headed home, checked all the wrappings and let them eat four pieces of candy. After that it is two pieces after dinner. None goes to school in the lunch boxes. In previous years, the candy lingers for weeks until they forget about it and I take the leftovers to my office. Usually a little after Thanksgiving.
What do you do? How do you manage the candy? Do you think that leaving it around leads to hoarding and/or stealing? Or do you think it teaches restraint?
Curious minds want to know.
7 comments:
With my older ones, when they were of trick or treating age, I did about the same as you: Collected the goods, checked the goods, ate the goods. I don't remember if we had restrictions on how much they could eat that first night. Thinking that if they made themselves sick on candy they just might not want anymore? Really, the truth lie in that both of them have/had some sort of internal monitoring system and quit eating candy when they were satiated...vs. when the bag was empty. Go figure. After the night of gluttony it was a one piece a day distribution. The collection went up high. After a couple of weeks they stopped asking and I ditched the rest of it.
NOW
With Andrew, I've taken a different stand. He has no internal monitor and would've eaten the entire bag of goodies on Halloween night if I hadn't stopped him. He's selective at least and only wants the chocolate. HOWEVER, it's clearly not good for him to be over sugar stimulated. So, after candy on Sat and candy on Sunday we are in candy free zone. It bugged him yesterday but today he hasn't even asked.
How's that for a comment as long as your post?
My curious mind is satisfied. Thank!
AND ANOTHER THING:
When Ian and Em were little I used to confiscate the good stuff (chocolates and suckers, etc) and throw it in the freezer to use in their Christmas stockings. I know, right? Cheap. But it was a great way to make the candy go further...
My kids would figure that out in. a. heartbeat!!!!
You sneak.
We let the kids eat one or two pieces a day. Within a week or two they stop asking for it and I stick it in a cupboard for months until I find it again and throw it away.
I buy the best stuff on the 75% off aisle at Walgreen's the day after.
I have no control with candy, so if it's there, I am likely to eat it. I usually bring it to the office and put it up front where I know I will exercise more self-restraint.
Growing up in the country, Halloween was usually a school party that evening in the cafeteria. Too cold, too dark outside, and too far between farm houses to make trick-or-treating the traditional way feasible. It was a lot of fun and a great way for parents to monitor how much their kids got. It worked for us!
I think it so depends on the child. C would get two pieces in his lunch box and a piece or two after dinner for a few days, but the bucket was always in reach. It never occurred to him to reach in. After a few days, he'd forget about the candy entirely. Around Hanukkah/Christmas time I asked if he still wanted it, and he usually said no and D took it to work.
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