Over the past few days I have been listening to various ideas about what to do with all your children’s Halloween candy. There have been a lot of different ideas they include;
1. The Candy Fairy– After you bring in the big haul you sort out some keepers and leave the rest out for the Candy Fairy. When your kids go to bed the Candy Fairy takes their candy and replaces it with a toy.
2. Candy Buy Back– Like before you sort out the candy and find some you want to hang on to. After that you sell the candy back to your parents/guardians. The junk food is now the parents to do with as the please, the expectation is that you would throw it out.
3. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind– Put the candy away. Tuck it far back in the cupboard, toss it in the freezer, whatever. After November 4th or so the candy stops flowing so much at school and kids stop asking for it. Then one day you can just toss out whatever remains.
I find these ideas interesting. We tend to be an out of sight out of mind kind of family. Partly because I am cheap, and partly because I don’t feel like introducing my children to another make believe toy giver only for them to discover that it was us all along.
But all of these ideas have left me wondering; why am I buying a giant box of mini-chocolate bars to give away to kids IF when the kids get home the bars are going to get tossed out?
To me this means I have a) wasted my money and b) there is a lot of extra and unnecessary garbage being created. Not to mentioned all the environmental cost that is involved in creating, packaging, and shipping these products all over the world. If most of the Halloween candy we buy and give out is just going to be tossed out that is a tremendous waste.
Here are my questions for you; Do you think it is time to put an end to trick-or-treating? Is it time instead to move into community spaces and have community parties where the junk food flows for the night but then ends? Instead of trick-or-treating should we enjoy safe spaces and where we can once again eat candy apples, play a few silly games, wander around a haunted house, and then take home very few treats?
What do you think? Should we binge eating junk for a few weeks after trick-or-treating? Should we keep buying and then tossing out candy into the garbage? Should we put an end to trick-or-treating and enjoy community celebrations? Or are we able to teach our kids moderation helping them learn to eat their treats at a reasonable rate?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
modernmanofthecloth.com 
I implement a Mama Tax… or something. So, I get lots of their candy. 😉
Honestly, I think these things are a little silly. I hoarded my Halloween candy for months. I kept it in my bedroom closet. I had some serious self-control. I LIKED that I had control and autonomy over my own candy. And while I may be addicted to sugar now, I ate my Halloween candy very slowly and deliberately.
I sometimes feel like we try to take all the fun out of stuff. Sigh.
Yep… I agree with you Laura 🙂
We really can take all the fun out of it can’t we
We are an out of sight out of mind type family as well. We go through the candy when it comes home and the only stuff we tend to get rid of is gum and little candy/toffee type things (including normal suckers). We keep all chips, chocolate bars. We also only give out things that we would keep (this year is granola bars, cheesies and goldfish crackers for big kids and mum mums and baby fruit leather for the little ones).
I definitely don’t think it’s time to stop truck or treating bc it is a great memory and fun family event that has gone on for years. I love it probably more than my kids do atm (lol they are only 3.5yrs and 12mths!)
I hear you I love it too! I had a blast running around with the kids tonight. But it sounds like a lot of people are trick-or-treating and tossing which seems wasteful to me.
People get rid of their kids Halloween candy?!? Oh the horror!! Why? Why would they do that? Those kids worked hard going door to door and yelling “Trick or Treat!”, why couldn’t they eat it? Now, if you don’t want them to binge and eat it all in one night, you parcel it out, you let them know that there are boundaries and if they are older – let them hang onto it – some kids can make it last for months!
I’m just floored that people get rid of candy! I must take this information back to my people and see if any of them do that!
In the mean time, I’ve bought our candy, since my son is too old to go out – and several bags of pretzels to hand out tonight!
Make sure you tell me what your people say. From what I have read/heard it sounds like this year it will be trick-or-treat & toss for a lot of people.
Fortunately most of my family and friends are letting their kids keep the candy – minus the Candy Tax that each parent has to collect! Whew! I was worried for a bit, but everyone came through. They do “ration” the candy so that their kids don’t OD on all of it in one night, and they do take pieces from their kids – cause we all need candy! But no one is throwing it away! Faith in humanity restored!
I did love the blog – even though I don’t agree with throwing away candy, it was interesting and I learned that I have awesome friends and family! LOL
I don’t agree with throwing away candy either, maybe all the things I read were smoke and mirrors since it doesn’t seem like anyone here was planning on tossing out and treats.
NO I think Halloween should stay . What our family does with the candy is we sort it and we share it . Everything gets eating over time . It is giving out as snacks and recesses for the next few months and then it is gone . Pretty easy really . If you think you bring home to much candy , don’t go to so many houses. Only gather what you intend to use .
Good call Pam.
I don’t know that I like any of those ideas. Trick or treating is a part of our culture and I don’t believe it’s going anywhere. Logan is too young this year but I will take him when he’s old enough. I will allow him to eat his candy (not all of it in one day mind you). Mommy and Daddy will get a taste of course, I mean that’s only fair, I had to go out with him after all :p
I don’t think the issue is that kids binge on candy once a year at Halloween. I think the issue is that we have allowed them to to binge on a regular basis. I feel if we as parents ensure they are healthy the rest of the year, let them have their candy.We are still the parents and can be sure they don’t eat the whole bag that night.
I totally agree. We never buy our kids chocolate bars, and very rarely candy. So Halloween really is a big treat. Simeon talked about last Halloween more than Christmas.
It’s so fun! You get home and dump all your booty and sort according to category, try to do tradsies with your siblings, keep an eye on your parents eyeing any stray packages like hyenas watching a zebra that’s out of the herd 😉
In our house, the boys are still smallish (8, 6, & 6) so we still control the distribution. The loot goes up on the top shelf after an initial gorging and they get the chips-type things in their lunch bags for recess and the sugary stuff stays home to eat after a healthy snack or meal. It’s interesting to see what gets eaten first and what gets ignored until the bitter end.
I believe in ‘everything in moderation’ and sometimes that’s looked at over the whole year. What I mean is that other than with their tooth fairy money and grandparents, my kids rarely get candy. I am comfortable in a yearly binge knowing that their muscles are strong, their bodies are active and their health is good.
Also, I’d rather my kids eat some fleeting junk than spend my money on another toy that they have to clean up.
I thought the same thing, we have way to many toys
I think all the hullabaloo around candy gets a little ridiculous. I have always loved the tradition of trick-or-treating and hope to see it continue. I think holidays are supposed to be times of indulgence and I don’t really worry about it. If there is candy left over from the binge, it’s not hard to set some boundaries around when and how much can be consumed. This, of course, isn’t to say that community events wouldn’t be fantastic. That would be more in keeping with the original tone of the Celtic celebration anyway 🙂
Well said, we can be responsible in controlling the candy distribution.
We always give our over-abundance of candy to the Boy Scouts for the holiday parade to throw. But, I like your idea of getting rid of trick or treating all together. I don’t love it and we live in a different world than when we were kids. Its too dangerous on many levels. I love the idea of a big dress up community party with food, music and games…sounds more fun to me than trick or treating.
I love community parties… but you give away candy?!? You don’t like trick-or-treating! You are killing me here!! I had no idea… I must go process this new information.
We can still be friends I promise. 🙂 In part, my disdain is because it’s always so freakin hot here on Halloween! Also that my neighborhood is not bustling with kids but I insist on supporting our underdog neighborhood and won’t shuttle over to the high activity one.
Oh thank goodness! I was so worried! 🙂
It does sound fun, I know I would go to one. Maybe I will throw one next year and see what happends.
Also where do you live that it is hot in October?
Northwest Florida. It was muggy tonight! Hoping for cooler temps soon
Ah yes that would make sense
Trick or treat…let them eat what they want( within reason) for a few days…then get rid of it! I work in childrens health and the impact of this much sugar and candy ( chemicals etc) is really not good …in fact very negative…on young teeth and bodies. And when this goes on for a long time the negative impact is worse. Suckers etc are the worst as they bathe the teeth in sugar for extended periods of time.
See it is the getting rid of it bit that makes me thing going out and getting it is wasteful. Think of all the garbage, all the wasted money. If we are going to just toss out our candy ought we not think of a better way to celebrate Halloween?
I agree with your Christopher, the getting rid of it is RIDICULOUSLY wasteful. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween and trick or treating is my favourite part. I just have no idea how I’m going to justify a) buying that much packaging for trick or treaters when we have a house and b) I would NEVER throw it away.
What about donating some candy? Lol, not sure who would take the candy- I know last year some dentists were doing a buy-back candy program, but I feel like children would benefit more from chosen (from your pre-chosen options) a place to donate their candy without monetary gain. Perhaps the IWK has a place that they give out treats, or maybe Briony House or another women’s transition house where the kiddos weren’t able to go trick or treating.
(I really am not concerned about the candy intake, as ppl have pointed out it’s once a year).
I agree, the intake is not my concern either. I feel that is part of my role as a parent to help teach that you can only eat things like Halloween candy rarely. But the idea that hundreds of perfectly good candy/chips/chocolate bars/etc will simply be tossed in the garbage along with their wrapping doesn’t sit right with me.
A friend of mine pointed out another obviously solution I missed. If you don’t want your kids to have that much candy don’t go to as many houses trick-or-treating.
In my part of the world, we don’t do trick or treat, nor we do ‘celebrate’ Halloween. But, I think the tradition can be kept alive, and the adults can rethink what they hand out. Could they substitute some of the ‘bad’ stuff with slightly healthier, but still yummy goodies? (do those exist, hah!) Or could this time of year be used for a good cause? A friend of mine wrote about We Scare Hunger, where kids ask for food/ cans to be donated to food banks, in place of candy. I like that idea a lot.
I agree, a lot of groups are out doing that as well. Very good work for sure.