We had even fewer trick-or-treaters than Omegamom. The same characteristics of our location that make it difficult for pizza delivery people apparently also deter candy seekers, though we have had a couple in past years. We turned off the porch lights when we went upstairs to bathe Zebediah and put him to bed, but at that point in the evening the most likely visitors would be teenagers anyway.
From Ellyn Satter’s Child of Mine:
It was worth the trouble because the interview gave me my very first disclaimer. “The views of the interview are not necessarily those of the station management,” they wrote across the bottom of the screen as I was holding forth. What had I said that was so alarming and revolutionary? I said that trick-or-treating and eating Halloween candy was a part of being a child and that children needed to be allowed to eat their candy without a lot of interference from their adults. Then I suggested a routine: when the child comes home from trick or teating, let him lay out his booty, gloat over it, sort it, and eat as much of it as he wants. Let him do the same the next day. then have him put it away and relegate it to snack time and mealtime: a couple of small pieces at meals for dessert and a couple of small peices for snack time won’t crowd out other food and will give him a way of using up the precious stuff.
When I read about elaborate plans and policies some parents have to keep their kids from eating candy after Halloween, I hope I can get away with the relaxed method, because I don’t think I have the energy to get the candy away from the kid. If one doesn’t believe in kids eating sugar, it seems like one should opt out of trick-or-treating entirely, like the people who don’t do Halloween because it is supposedly dangerous for the soul.
Of course, Zebediah doesn’t even eat solid food yet, so what do I know? And it’s different if you’re dealing with allergies, like Jody.
What I remember from my childhood:
We didn’t buy Halloween costumes (I don’t think they had all the cheap ones available yet), but I don’t remember elaborate sewing or crafting being involved. We went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, and the parents checked for razor blades, but aside from that I don’t remember rules about when and whether to eat it. (I was going to write “mythical” razor blades, but according to Snopes, those stories are true, except when they aren’t.)
November 1, 2007 at 8:36 pm
When the kids were little, they didn’t have much interest in gorging themselves, and it was easy to divert them with a balance of healthier snacks. Which was always my main concern: that they not eat so much candy, their tiny stomachs wouldn’t have any space left for other food. I get the jitters when I eat nothing but refined sugars, so I assume they might, too. (Then again, maybe they don’t have insulin resistance. Yet. Ack.) Now that the kids are older, they want to eat MORE. And I let ‘em, because it’s really a small thing to say yes about it, in the grand scheme of life. And I’m trying to say yes more, because I’m so damn cranky all the time, and forever saying no.
They were all still satisfied after three pieces. Seemed to think it was better to stop then. So I feel like, so far, we’re doing fine.
November 1, 2007 at 11:33 pm
The funny thing about Satter is that she’s a lot more worried about juice than sweets, maybe because people used to think juice was fine and overdid it (the opposite end of the spectrum from worrying about candy)? I never even thought juice could be any kind of problem until I started seeing references on mother’s blogs to it.