It’s that most blessed of holidays, when tonight our kids will adorably dress up like their dreams, neighbors come out in mutual camaraderie, and we all crash from a massive sugar high and feel like death warmed over the next morning.
Kyle and I often greet each other with a, “Happy Candy Season Eve!” on October 30, because starting today, and pretty much through Easter, it’s hard to avoid the amassing of candy at All The Holiday Events.
I’m fine with candy when the celebratory event warrants it. I don’t, however, love dealing with the onslaught of sugar for days/weeks/months on end.
We’ve done a variety of tricks to handle the candy: everything from limiting their collection to whatever can fit in a quart-sized mason jar, to letting them eat as much as they want the night of October 31, then keep only 10 pieces to eat later.
We haven’t settled on a one, true We Do This situation. So, I asked you guys.
Here are some responses from both the AoS writers and from those of you on Twitter.
@tsh They can keep and eat whatever fits in a mason jar. Wait, did I get that from you last year?
— Shawn Smucker (@shawnsmucker) October 27, 2016
@tsh divide some out and they take to their rooms, the rest goes in community bowl which I put up and use lots for holiday baking 🙂
— Jen Schmidt (@beautyandbedlam) October 27, 2016
@tsh they can eat a set amount, but then can “trade in” pieces for other things (addt’l screen time, money for a toy, etc.)
— Adam Bouse (@adambouse) October 27, 2016
Nina Nelson: “I ask the kids to take out a ‘parent tax,’ which they decide on (they’re usually pretty generous. Then we eat it for a few days and when I’m tired of how much candy we’re all eating, I have my husband take the rest to the ambulance station the next time he’s on duty.”
@tsh I use it as math manipulatives for graphing,then let them eat a few,then put it in the trunk of hubby’s car &never ask what comes of it
— elizabeth foss (@elizabethfoss) October 27, 2016
@tsh I usually end up stuffing our Easter eggs with forgotten Halloween candy. 😉
— mrscamacho (@mrscamacho) October 28, 2016
@tsh we repurpose it and use it to fill birthday piñatas!
— Parentingisms (@parentingisms) October 27, 2016
Alysa Bajenaru: “The kids pick out a small jar’s worth of their favorite candy. The rest we take to a dentist who pays cash per pound and sends the candy to troops overseas.”
@tsh Ration a few pieces a day until I realize I’m eating it all and then either bake with it or throw it away. ???
— Becky L McCoy (@BeckyLMcCoy) October 28, 2016
@tsh half goes to the candy fairy who trades for a present that appears the next morning. The rest is eaten slowly. I eat the good CF candy
— Nat Waddell-Rutter (@BusyNatalie) October 27, 2016
@tsh I was looking into this: ronald McDonald houses take donations ??
— JoAnn Hallum (@joannhallum) October 27, 2016
Nicole Bennett: “Our kids pick five, we eat our favorites, and David takes the rest to work or we serve it to our community group.”
@tsh We actually combine and share most of our Halloween candy amongst all 4 of us. Dad sneaks in and eats the majority while kids sleep.
— Laura S. (@lauralouwho2) October 27, 2016
@tsh Pool it all together, divide in half, send 1/2 to work w/dad, & let kids take turns “drafting” pieces to keep. 1-2 pcs a night until gone.
— Kristin Cannelora (@k_r0ck_) October 27, 2016
Kat Lee: We mostly eat it (although we don’t get a ton.) My kids have a stock exchange-like event each night – bartering with each other and paying parent taxes to us.”
@tsh They don’t know that some kids eat it all at once, so we’re still nursing the candy they got last year. ?
— Kendra: Lazy Genius (@hiitskendra) October 27, 2016
In the comments below, add your $.02 about what you do with all the Halloween candy. And what are you or your kids going dressed as? (I’ve got a ninja, Luke Skywalker, and Stitch the cute alien, and I’ll be donning my boring mom, super low-key witch hat.)
