Dear My Real Review,
As Halloween approaches, between school celebrations, thoughtful neighbours and generous friends, I am very worried about all the Halloween treats that my kids will be given. I want them to be able to experience the fun of Halloween, but I hate the idea of all that sugar (for their tummies and their teeth). I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but this is really bugging me. What can I do?
Signed,
Scared of Sugar Highs
Handling the Overload of Halloween Treats
Dear Scared of Sugar Highs,
Your concerns are valid, and we want to assure you that you aren’t alone! We can personally relate to the frustration of a constant stream of Halloween treats coming into our homes in October, and we are sure many of our readers do as well! There is good news and not so good news.
The not so good news: There are some situations that you just can’t control – specifically, you can’t control what they are given at school, although keep in mind that their teacher probably doesn’t want a class full of jacked up kids so it is possible any Halloween treats given at school will come home. The same goes for Halloween night: while going door to door, you can’t control what your neighbours will drop into their bag, but try to enjoy the experience and remind yourself that it will all be going home.
The good news: Anything that comes home can be filtered by you! You can sit down with you child or children and go through the Halloween treats, perhaps allow them to pick one or two items to try at that time and then put the rest away for another time. Set a daily limit that you stick to each day so you can easily remind your child that they have already had their 1-2 pieces of candy for that day. Also, remind your children about the importance of extra careful teeth brushing after consuming the treats – no one likes a post-Halloween dentist visit!
Another approach to consider would be to contact your friends and neighbours (and even the school) to suggest that everyone try to provide healthy alternatives to the standard Halloween treats. Make sure that you set an example yourself: provide the type of treats for others that you would like your kids to receive.
Finally, at the end of the day, you are still the adult and you can make all the candy disappear, if need be. It sounds horrible, but the truth is once kids put the big haul away after the first night, they probably won’t remember exactly how much candy there was to begin with. If you tell young children that it is all gone, they might just accept that (and you can sneak a few extra sweet treats for yourself -admit it, we all do that!)
Another approach is to put aside the majority of your child’s Halloween treats and repurpose them for special occasions, rewards, or even reuse some in goodie bags for parties.
Our point is, while it can seem like an overwhelming amount of candy, it can be managed with the right approach and you can avoid spending the entire month of October with a child on a sugar high.
Love,
My Real Review
The post Dear My Real Review: Too Many Halloween Treats! appeared first on My Real Review.