Comments on: My Take: Halloween

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:57:07 +0000

I’m bribing my kids to give up their candy. We’ll go to Magic Beans; they’re donating the candy to the USO. They do eat sugary foods. I’m just not that into the excess that is Halloween (and they were a misery last year after eating so much sugar–crying, tantrums, etc.). It particularly affects my #2; he can’t go to sleep at night if there was cake at school for snack. And chocolate? Forget it (though I have been known to slip him some when he’s about to fall asleep in the car for a nap at 5:30).

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:21:30 +0000

I love Halloween candy!! It is one of my favorite times of year… I buy the kinds of candy I like (Snickers, Reese’s cups, Milky Ways, M&Ms) and make sure I have a lot left over. I carefully hide all of the left-over candy, and I also sneak candy I like from my kids once they have trick-or-treated. I usually have a piece of candy or two with coffee mid-morning, and this will last until February at least. I cannot wait. Oh, was this about me or my kids??

By: Sues

Sues — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:46:22 +0000

I SO agree with this!! My parents always let me have treats and never “hid” the candy on me. They kept it out in the open and I never felt restricted. I also didn’t want it all the time because it was always there and didn’t feel super special or tempting. My best friend’s mom was super strict about candy, so my friend would sneak it all the time and ended up with some weight issues.

When you tell a kid something that tastes so good is “bad” and you never let them have it, they make it their mission to find it!

Plus, I just agree that Halloween should be fun for kids… It’s not like it’s every day

By: Heidi

Heidi — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:58:12 +0000

I like your take on Halloween – it sounds like my take on dessert. We have dessert… three times a week – always the same three days of the week. You get dessert in my house regardless of how many veggies you’ve eaten or if your plate is clean. I refuse to let dessert be a “reward” and I refuse to take it away as a “punishment”. We’re teaching that you can have dinner without dessert, you can eat veggies without a promise of something for it, and (sometimes) we teach that you can have dessert even if you don’t eat a good dinner. All of these little lessons will (might?) help my kids make good choices later on. Like you said – if food is forbidden it becomes sought after. Condemning any food makes it seem more exciting, somehow. (even Cap’t Crunch with crunchberries!) We will be going door to door gathering up various candies this Halloween and we will probably make ourselves sick for a day or two. Then the bags will end up on top of the refrigerator and be forgotten… just like some of last year’s candy that is probably still up there… just like the Easter candy and the birthday candy. Have fun, Everyone… in MODERATION!!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:23:51 +0000

Honestly an all out boycott wouldn’t work for me. I’m always suspicious of anyone who suggests that one thing could possibly work for everyone. I’m in the process of losing a few pounds for the second time ::sigh:: and my approach has been to have a little bit of the things I really love as a special treat and really ask myself if it’s worth it. That means I avoid the boring candy I know I don’t really like, but giving myself permission to eat the things I know I do. This second time around losing weight I’ve been much more relaxed and focused on an intuitive way of eating and it seems to be working for me. I may be only losing 1 pound a week instead of 2-3 but I feel MUCH more sane and better about myself.