To Candy or Not to Candy? That is the Question.

A couple of months ago I wrote a blog called Squishy Buns. This blog was about the dilemma I face when my niece comes over to my place. I know that her parents do not feed her By Design.

At home, she typically has all the bread, pasta, crackers and cereal her little heart desires. But when she comes to my house, it’s my rules. I have decided that I will not compromise my values and feed her food that I know to be unhealthy.

I have a similar dilemma with Halloween. The only difference is that I do not necessarily know these children.

So, do I hand out candy? Does it really make a difference if I add one or two more mini chocolate bars to the mountain of high fructose corn syrup that these children are collecting? If their parents do not care, why should I?

This is why: I am on a mission to change the world.  If I stop telling people the truth about food and health, if the other people like me step back and stop being ‘extreme’ and start falling in line with the cultural norm, then people in our society will continue to get sicker, our children will continue to have more diseases and shorter life expectancies. I am not okay with that. That is why I am a chiropractor. It is why I blog and coach and talk to as many people and families as I can reach.

It would violate my integrity to hand out candy.

I do still celebrate Halloween though. I love dressing up. I love ghost stories. I love seeing the creativity that other people have put into their costumes. 

What is it about Halloween that you love? Is it walking around the neighborhood seeing little princesses and goblins? Is it carving pumpkins? Is it seeing how excited your children get to dress up and be what ever they want for a day?

Can you ensure that you and your children get the fun out of this holiday while staying healthy? Or maybe this is one of those occasions where you do let lose and have some candy.

I am not trying to tell you what to do. I am hoping that you will put some thought into what your Halloween will bring and why you draw your lines where you do.

If you are looking for alternatives to candy, here are a few:

1)    Mini Lara Bars

2)    Snack Packs of Craisins, raisins or Other Dried fruit

3)    Halloween stickers

4)    Mini Play-Doh

5)    Fake tattoos

6)    Halloween themed plastic jewelry

What about for your own kids?

If you have like-minded friends, get together and have a Halloween party! Serve healthy snacks and let the kids play fun Halloween games.

If you do want to participate in trick-or-treating, here are some ideas for what do to with all the candy that your child receives:

1)    You might allow them to keep a few pieces and then trade in the rest to you for a quarter or a dime each. Then you can take them to the toy store or dollar store to get something fun!

2)    If you would rather not give each piece a dollar amount, offer your kids the choice to trade in all their candy for a trip to the toy store or for something else they have been really wanting.  A fun way to do this is to have a Halloween Ghoul (similar to the tooth fairy). The children put their bags of candy on the doorstep at night and in the morning the Halloween Ghoul has replaced the candy with a toy, movie tickets or something else your children will enjoy.

3)    Allow your children to donate the candy. There may be dentists in your city who participate in a Candy Buy Back. For each pound of candy they typically give $1. Many dentists will match the cash and donate it to a charity. Some also give raffle tickets for prizes and do other fun activities surrounding the buy back.