What do you do about your kids' halloween candy?

suzwirthlin

I have never watched my eating so closely and I'm worried with Halloween around the corner. I have four kids who will be trick-or-treating and am looking for advice as to what to do about all the candy.

In the past, my husband has left a lot of it at work so the kids don't O.D. on it.

I guess I'm struggling to find a good balance between letting the kids be kids and setting a good example.

It it's in the house, I WILL eat it.

mamafrahm

My kids are still kind of little (3&4), I plan on letting them pick out a sandwich size baggie full of candy and giving the rest away. That way I (or they!) don't overindulge!

Runner_mick

Let them pick out a few favorite peices and take the rest to work for the people there or throw it away. Dentist offices sometimes have kids bring in halloween candy for prizes. Its pretty cool. Maybe a few in your area do that.

vim_n_vigor

We put the candy up very high and let them have a piece or two a day. We get rid of (take to work or toss) the candy that no one really likes.

keeponkickin

I am thankful that the candy doesn't tempt me anymore but I don't want the kids to O.D. on candy and also teach them balance. This is what we have been doing in the past. We sort out the candy. Get rid of all "junk" candy and then we send off a bunch to work with my husband. We have a freezer in our garage and I will put the remaining candy in there and allow the kids to have small amounts here and there. It lasts for months!

suzwirthlin

Thanks for the ideas. My kids are (10,8,6 & 3) so it is getting harder and harder with the older kids.

Poor children are cursed w/ a love of food and anything sweet just like their parents.

suzwirthlin

Thanks for the ideas. My kids are (10,8,6 & 3) so it is getting harder and harder with the older kids.

Poor children are cursed w/ a love of food and anything sweet just like their parents.

sunnyrunner23

Freeze it! It slows everybody down! And I dump a fair share of it too!

I always freeze the Easter candy too after a few days. It makes great chocolate dipped strawberries!

But that doesn't really help does it? Haha

Expatgirl

Tell myself it is full of worms and try to keep that mental picture in my head!

sunkisses

I was at university last Halloween. I brought a huge bag of candy for 2 days and my starving college friends gorged on it and thanked me because they're too old to trick-or-treat, and too poor to buy treats. In other words, find the nearest college student you know and give it all over to him/her.

sjtreely

Check around in your area ... some businesses collect it and send it to our military serving over seas. I bet your radio station could lead you in the right direction.

Jeepinmom4

Its verry un~healthy for kids to have that much candy...so I help them...the more candy I eat, the less un~healthy they are ...I'm such a good mommie

ThePhoenixRose

we put it all in a big bowl up in the cupboard and allow a piece a day, for everyone (adults included!). within a week, the good stuff's gone and we don't really think about it. we don't do much for easter or christmas candy, so that's easy! we still have halloween candy from last year in our bowl!!!

alisons7598

We put all the candy together, let the kids have a certain amount of it and they can have one or two pieces a day. We usually end up throwing quite a bit of it away because they never eat what they do get to keep. My husband and I usually will take most of what's left but since this year is a new me, I plan to take a few pieces put them in the fridge and allow myself a piece on days when I want it but only pre planning it in my diary first. I have done this at other holidays this year (valentines, Easter, ect) and it works out well for me. That way we can all enjoy it but mine is proportioned so I don't go overboard:)

sassylilmama

We keep some for the kids to each have a piece a day, usually only lasts a week before they get bored and stop asking anyway. Of course hubby and I will have some. My daughters school has started collecting candy for the military and the grade that donates the most in pounds wins a treat.

voluptuous_veggie

It it's in the house, I WILL eat it.

Do you steal from people you don't know? Then don't steal from your kids! It's their candy, not yours! You can regulate how much they eat at a time, but just remember that it isn't yours, so you don't get to eat it!

Jennplus2

Let them pick out a few favorite peices and take the rest to work for the people there or throw it away. Dentist offices sometimes have kids bring in halloween candy for prizes. Its pretty cool. Maybe a few in your area do that.

My dental office pays the kids $5 for 5 lbs of candy, then they ship it to our troops (who love and miss the holiday). I had them put the money into their piggy banks, it really is a win win!

On a side note... I let the kids go crazy for Halloween night and eat as much as they want. After that the get one candy per night for 5 days and the rest goes away!

BrewerGeorge

Food is supposed to be part of the celebration of holidays. Not letting them indulge occasionally risks complexes around food, IMO, and holidays are exactly the time to indulge.

We actually control Halloween night itself pretty closely because I want them to be able to sleep after everything is over. Now that they're old enough, though, they generally have free access to it after that - subject to our normal snacking rules (no snacks before a meal, or immediately before bed, etc).

As for the adults, those little Halloween sizes are PERFECTLY sized for dieters. You just have to be able to control yourself and eat only one or two.

liz11599

I allow my son to pick out 10 of his favorite pieces and then we ship the rest to troops in Afganistan. I'll collect from kids on his soccer team too and ship theirs as well.

liz11599

Though, when my son was younger (before we started shipping to the Troops), we let him have one piece a day and then tossed it all after 10 days-2 weeks telling him that it all went stale.

sweets2001

Between the 2 boys we combine their candy in one big bowl and hubby takes about half of it to work and with the remainder let the boys each have one piece a day.

dmpizza

I tax them one or two Reeses Peanut Butter Cups(for my troubles) , sort out the quality candy, and toss the rest. No one misses the Jolly Ranchers and dusty lollipops.

macpatti

We do the same thing several have already mentioned. We put all the candy in a bowl and let them have one or two pieces at a time. Eventually all the "good stuff" is gone, and they forget about it. Our youngest is 9 and she claims she's not trick-or-treating anymore, so hopefully we won't have this issue again.

rockerbabyy

i go through their bags and take out anything with artificial colors and have hubby take it to work to give to coworkers.
i let them have one day to eat the rest...if theres anything left at the end of the day, it gets donated to the mommy treat bag. they get some of it every so often, i eat some every so often. but i dont usually have a problem eating one or two fun size chocolates and leaving the rest

NeuroticVirgo

We started going to the trunk or treat at church, and that decreased my daughters candy intake by like 2/3rds. LOL Maybe look into other kid friendly activities to do on Halloween. Last year our church had over hundred of kids come through, but they had activity, like a jumping castle and face painting etc.

Maybe find a local church that is doing some activities or even sometimes schools put together something. Like a corn field maze, or a haunted house. That way the kids have lots of fun, but you can cut trick or treating down to like an hour. Means a fun filled Halloween, but less candy to fill up the next 3 months! LOL

poustotah

They're trick-or-treating on Sunday in a nearby neighborhood and on Monday in our neighborhood so I asked the kids which one they wanted to go to and they said the one on Sunday and then they suggested that we give away the candy they collected on Monday so that it wouldn't be in the house. I'll let them keep a few pieces and the rest will be re-given to trick-or-treaters.

Mnjdlady

I for one don't celebrate halloween, and now more than ever im happy i dont, cause that candy is brutal on our calorie limits...lol

suzwirthlin

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm glad to see I won't be the only parent out there limiting the kids' candy consumption.

Hopefully this year everyone will give out the gross stuff - tootsie rolls, the gross taffy, maybe some mary jane candies?

Please no snickers, baby ruths, peanut butter cups. I'm making myself hungry just thinking about it!!

Mmmary212

Let them eat it all as quickly as possible to get rid of it. None of this "X amount of pieces per day" that's a bad idea.

ladybg81

This is a great question. My son is 3 so I can get by with throwing stuff away and he doesn't really notice yet. I'll probably bring most of it to work but let him keep his favorite things for special treats every so often.

yummummum

No eating candy til we get home and sort it and I check it bc my son has allergies. So that cuts down on the amount of time they have to eat it! We focus on running around trick or treating which is the part they love anyway more then the candy.

Once sorted, I let them eat what they want on Halloween which is never really all that much because I make sure they have a good dinner so they are not hungry. And it is late by the time we get back and sort so it ends up being 2-3 mini candy bars. I would prob cut them off if they kept going but I like them to feel like it is their decision! I say things like, well listen to your tummy, don't get sick!!! No one is taking it away you can have something else tomorrow. Then we put it away - out of sight, out of mind. if left out out the counter it reminds them! I put every trace of it up high in the pantry. They ask for a few days after dinner and I let them pick a couple things. They have a few then they forget after a few days.

This year I will just say no to Halloween candy! I prefer really good chocolate anyway! LOL so I will maybe have a piece of my own stash.