It’s that time of year again the cute little costumes are packing racks of all the local stores and pounds of sugary sweets in every variety imaginable stuff the shelves. Our children are excited to have a day of make believe where they can be anything they want to be, super hero or princess, and be rewarded for their cuteness and imagination as their pumpkin pails are filled with magical sweetness. Heck I am an adult and I still feel the excitement of the magic in this holiday. But when the treating is all over the tricks come out, as your cute little princess is unwrapping all those sweet treats on the couch and popping them in her mouth, that is when the real monsters of Halloween start rearing their ugly heads. Your super hero little man is now a little demon running around the house screaming, only to crash into exhaustion after an hour tantrum on the kitchen floor, because you said no more Twix tonight. So, what is there to do about this conundrum? And why should you bother even caring, it is only one night of the year and a few days after, right?
Wrong! One, there is so much loot given on Halloween, it is just plain scary, kids come home with little pails filled to the brim. I remember one year we were going to be out on Halloween, but I still wanted the kids to get a treat (this was before I was a health nut). So I put out treats in one of those little pumpkins pails and filled it to the brim. All three bags I bought fit in that little pumpkin. That means, if your kid comes home with a full pail, that is three full bags of candy to themselves! And it does not stop there, the last couple years I have seen kids in the neighborhoods filling pillowcases with candy! You could probably fit more then 15 to 20 bags of candy in a pillowcase. In recent history here in America an estimated 2.2 billion was spent in candy last year at Halloween according to the National Retail Foundation. That is a lot of sugar and processed foods. Number two in the windfall of not caring about just one night of ‘fun,’ we all know sugar is not good for us; but just how bad is it?
Without going into a lot of detail I will simply rehash a few facts, because I have already talked about the downfalls of sugar in several articles like, WHY SUGAR FREE and THE COKE JOKE. First sugar is something only our liver can process and in very small amounts at a time. This is why fruit is a good source of sugar because the other natural ingredients in fruit like fiber, minerals and vitamins help to slow the digestion process and let the liver handle the natural sugars properly. Where something like a lollipop when the sugar hits your tongue it already starts to digest and all that sugar hits the liver in mass, overwhelming the liver and so the sugar gets turn into liver fat. But it doesn’t end there. Sugar won’t just make your kids fat, it is one of the main causes of childhood diabetes, has links to cancer, heart disease, poor sleeping conditions and ADD/ADHD in children (see IS RITALIN TURNING YOUR CHILD INTO A MONSTER OR A ZOMBIE?), just to name a few issues with sugar consumption.
Now am I suggesting you just say to the kids this year sorry no trick or treating? Absolutely not, you never want to make your child feel like they are not normal or can’t enjoy fun events like all their friends. However, it is all in how you handle that day of events. Now I prefer to keep my son away from candy all together that I don’t make myself or that I don’t know all the ingredients. Pure ingredient sweets with honey and maple are better alternatives, but that isn’t always possible to find. (Remember honey and maple are sugar too and should be limited). I have done many things on Halloween to help restrict the sugar of the holiday, like finding church and non-church Halloween festivals where my son can enjoy the day/evening in costume. At these events he is not getting the large amounts of candy if he had the run of the neighborhood, not to mention it is much safer now a days than knocking on the doors of strangers. I have had a Halloween party where I decide how much sweets are on table and what the ingredients are, I sent each child home with a healthy gift baggie. I pack the baggies with toys, stickers, pencils so forth, instead of candy, the dollar store is a lifesaver in this department. I will do a few treats, like Paleo ‘caramel’ apples and I even make up cupcakes and trail mixes that are festive, wheat free and processed sugar free. There is always a choice.
However, my favorite new way to help your little guys and gals enjoy the holiday and not turn into the children of the Candy Corn is this little product that was made off of the idea of Elf On A Shelf, called the Switch Witch. When I say I love this, I LOVE THIS! The idea is that you read the story of the Switch Witch to your kids, it talks about how she will give amazing treasures for large amounts of candy. You place out the plush toy, much like Elf on a Shelf, and move the witch here and there around the house each day and let your child find her in a different location. Use your imagination; your little Switch Witch can get into all sorts of mischief, letting both you and the kids have fun with it. Then when Halloween night comes your kids put out their loot for her to take and she leaves behind a better present. (For those of you not following, mom and dad, you leave your kiddo something you know they would like, a book, a doll, a Hot Wheels set). For little ones it doesn’t have to be a big deal, a loot bag from the dollar store may satisfy them, older kids may like an itunes gift card or sports gear (this keeps it healthy and you might have to buy the gear anyhow). We are avid readers in our family and read to Tristan every night. So anything that comes with a story is a plus. The idea is adorable and it gets rid of all the candy at once. I saw this a few years back on Shark Tank and was appalled when no one picked it up. In fact some of the Sharks where adamant on saving the ‘fun’ of Halloween (IE the candy) and tore down the idea. I was not impressed with their banter and I love that show. But seriously, what is not fun about this fantastic idea of the Switch Witch? Plus, bonus it keeps our kids healthy. Let’s not forget that sugar acts like a drug, it is addicting and if we keep overdosing our kids on ‘special holidays’ they will become addicted. They will crave their drug of choice, candy, till it is out of control, and we are doomed to raising the children of the ‘Candy Corn.’
There are two version of the Switch Witch out there now, both are cute and will excite the kids, but only one is the original.
Until next time, enjoy the good life,
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