I snuck one out of Gabi's plastic pumpkin last night when she wasn't looking, tasted its heavenly goodness, and then dived right back into the pumpkin trying to find more with no further thoughts about trying to be sneaky. If there were more, they were going to be MINE! Except, there weren't any more. Drat! And I totally got caught. A four year old can raise quite a ruckus when threatened with candy loss.
I would go buy some (people, we're talking about pretzels and caramel and chocolate and a cookie crunch here), but it's just not the same when you have to buy your own chocolate at the store. I mean, you spend a bundle on the candy that you pass out at the door, but it's not the same as the FREE candy you get when you're trick or treating.
Ahem, my mistake. That your CHILD gets. Though we all know that parents are totally digging their hands into the candy loot after the kids go to bed, picking out and eating all their favorites then hiding the wrappers deep in the trash to avoid detection. Kids aren't the only ones going to bed in a candy coma on Halloween night. Right?
I certainly did. Even though there weren't any more Take 5s, I had my fill of M&Ms and Twix bars. I also tried the Oreo Fudge stick things. Pretty good!
Today I tried something new. Instead of doling out the Halloween candy piece by piece over several weeks and fighting constantly about how much she gets and finding her at random times hiding in the pantry with her plastic pumpkin in her lap and chocolate smeared across her face, I decided to let Gabi gorge on candy all day long, to her merry little heart's content, and then THAT'S IT. Whatever's left at the end of the night is going in the trash or my stomach (more realistically my stomach).
It might've already backfired on me, though. Gabi's upstairs napping after crashing pretty hard. Naps aren't usually a bad thing, but it's dinner time, and we're going on two hours of sleep now. There's no telling how late she'll be up tonight.
I might need a whole new strategy for next year. (I'm open to suggestions.)
To ween us off the candy, I'm baking a cherry pie tomorrow. With homemade crust. It just seems to make sense.
OK- here is my suggestion...and just a disclaimer, I am not a mom (which you very well know) but I saw this on someone else's blog a couple of weeks ago (so I am sorry to someone if I am stealing, but I thought it was a great idea!) ANYWAY--They said they let their kids pick out a certain amount of candy--like their 5 favorites or 10 or however many you think she should keep and then the rest has to go to the garbage (or to those poor kids who didn't get halloween candy--wherever they may be) and then you secretly stash it for you, haha! ok just kidding, i could be dangerous with candy hanging out! anyway I thought that itwas a good idea! Would that actually work? I dont know! haha! Im glad you guys had a good Halloween!!
ReplyDeleteI am not looking forward to the day when this will be happening here! Luckily we just hit up a few houses and made sure we handed most of ours out! Can't wait to hear what others say...
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sorry your plan kind of backfired! Lol! I must admit, if my mom had let me eat all of my candy in one day? Lets just say she would have made mom of the year in my eyes :)
Okay Mommacita you and I both know we can SOOO over do the chocolate thing.... I sort of did your "let them eat cake" thing. I let the kids, OMG, have CANDY for BREAKFAST this morning. And when my mommy peeps were over 2nite for our big "house party" thing the kids hit the sugar hooch while we mommy's had our appletinis. I haven't had ONE nip of the sugary chocolate coated dope (e.g. Twix)! I'm SO proud... and the kids.. well I just offered candy as the before bed snack and was asked for an APPLE instead!! WOW!!! Maybe the whole too much of a good thing, thing, works?! Not on the appletini front though.. lol
ReplyDeleteI did a post on this early in October--my kids give their candy to the Great Big Pumpkin.
ReplyDeleteHere's the details:
http://verybusymomwith4.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-get-your-kids-to-give-away-their.html
Hope you kick that hang over quickly ;)
You know, letting Gabi get over it in one big blitz might not be a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Moms that let their kids pick out a few pieces, and then they hang their trick or treat buckets on their bedroom door when they go to bed. In the morning the "candy fairy" has taken all the treats and replaced it with one cool new toy. :-)
When I was a kid, we all hid our candy in our rooms (I think I already explained my mother's love of sweets ;-)). My brothers' candy was gone in days, but my sister and I could often make ours last until Christmas...at which point we'd replenish the stash with the goods from our stockings...which would tide us over until Valentine's Day...you get the point. ;-) We did pretty good at rationing ourselves.
Call it Parent Tax:-)
ReplyDeleteI let Athena eat 4 or 5 things last night and then she left the rest for the "halloween fairy" who left her a present, and even 2 pieces of candy (that I selected). It works like a charm over here but she is definitely not used to eating candy so she is pretty happy getting any. I'm not sure how long this will last though. Maybe when she is older, I'd let her just eat as much as she wanted for a day and then tell her it was going away. I'll think about that when I have to...
ReplyDeleteJust give her some and hide the rest! I remeber when I was in US in the begining of the year, in january Kyle's step mom still had a pumpkin full of candy and Kyle, his brother and me finished during a movie or something like it! :)
ReplyDeleteYou should put pics of Gabi in her halloween outfit! :)
hugs
Cherry pie is my favorite in the whole world. Are we related? :)
ReplyDeleteMy friends do this thing called "the switch witch." The child names the toy she wants, and the parent says, "Okay, but as payment the switch witch needs (X) pieces of your candy." Of course, that involves actually spending money. ;)
As for us, we're still on your Plan A--the one piece a day, crying, wheedling, sneaking phase. ;)
Pie sounds perfectly reasonable to me!
ReplyDeleteI'm SO with you on the have-at-it candy plan. We started that last year. I get sick of trying to be the candy nazi for WEEKS after the holiday has passed...so I just let 'em at it. ;) With 3 kiddos it goes pretty fast!
Get a small ziptop bag. Let her put all her candy on the table. Then she can only keep what fits in the ziptop bag. Tell her - The rest goes to "the needy" Then take ONLY a hand full for your self. Take ALL the rest to work and "LEAVE it in the break room" And keep away from it. At home let her have two a during the day so she will burn off that sugar befor bed time. Before you know it it will be all gone. You can not take any out of her bag ( she can count )
ReplyDeleteWe eat it little by little until it is only the stuff we don't like left then C takes it to work. That is our plan. IDk if it really works well, but hey, I wisng it mostly in this parenting gig!
ReplyDeleteWe don't do the trick or treat thing with our kids but I do have a total BLAST handing out candy to the kids that do!! So, no good advice from me - though, your method sounds pretty solid. One possible bad night and then it's over :)
ReplyDeleteThe cherry pie.... we're totally trackin'! I have my ingredients all ready for a pie tomorrow. Yum! Enjoy yours!!!
-Andrea
Cherry pie sounds yum!
ReplyDeleteMy parent used to check every piece of candy when we got home from trick or treating. Amazingly only about half of what we brought home was considered good.
ReplyDeleteLOL
You know all of the gid stuff is usually gone after the first day anyway... all that is left is the filler crap & she probably won't miss it anyway!
ReplyDeleteLOL - you're brave to let her do it all in one day!! Maybe it will work, I'll have to see if you update us :-)
ReplyDeleteWe throw out a lot of junk, then keep some of the good stuff and let the boys have one or two small pieces a day. It lasts for a while, then as they forget about it I have to throw (or give) it all away b/c I would SURELY eat it all.
And, yes, I'm one of the moms on a sugar high!!!
i have no plan for you and the candy.
ReplyDeletebut i am wondering what time the pie will be ready??
There have been a lot of good suggestions on how to save the candy.
ReplyDeleteWith four children we have so much candy we do nothing but eat chocolate pretty much from Halloween through New Years, what with Thanksgiving and Christmas following so closely behind.
My advice is don't fight it.
GIVE IN TO THE CHOCOLATE!
I usually let my kids have as much candy as they want the day after Halloween and then they are so sick of it they don't want any more. And whatever is left, is hidden until I need it for a birthday pinata or treats for lunch boxes or bribes...whatever the case may be!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the Take 5's - I didn't think they were all they great. I think there was too much going on for me. I'll stick with Reese's cups any day!
I'm feeling a little sugar shocked myself and nobody at my house went trick or treating. That's just sad, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt was all about Reeses Peanut Butter Cups for me!
ReplyDeleteDelicious! Homemade cherry pie- I would just trash the candy (at least now that the Take 5's are gone). I let my kids gorge too.
ReplyDeleteHey, I have an award for you over at The White House!
This is the beauty of having and 18 month old. He doesn't know the difference. I dip into his candy pumpkin and stuff my face, and he just looks at me and laughs.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Pie cures EVERYTHING.
You let them eat what they want, it goes quicker that way. AND while they are in bed or school, you eat what you want OR throw away a few pieces. They'll never know it because they don't have to worry about sneaking it, they could have very well eaten it and just don't remember!
ReplyDeleteSo far we've not taken our lil G out trick or treating...she's just been handing stuff out at the door, dressed up of course. Next year we will no doubt do the walk of shame...go begging for candy. I think we're going to let her have a little bit of it and then the rest goes with Daddy to work in the Candy Barrel on the receptionist's desk.
ReplyDeleteOreo fudge stick thingys? They sound yummy!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy the candy leftovers!
i love the background of your blog... beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI actually heard that it is better to let them gorge on it for a day and then get rid of the rest because it does less damage to their teeth if they are getting all the sugar and stickiness at once.
ReplyDeleteOh..and those Take 5 bars ARE delicious!
Did somebody say HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE??????
ReplyDeleteI'll trade you a whole bag of Take Fives for a pie.
My mom always ate my Halloween candy!
ReplyDeleteYou had me at Take 5!!!
ReplyDeleteYum-o!
I let my girls play with their candy. They dump it out- sort it by color, then type, then trade with their sisters...this goes on for hours. they get to eat one piece of candy per day for about a week - then it's pick your five favorites left and the rest goes to the local food bank or homeless shelter. (AA meetings love donations too).
ReplyDelete