We can all remember the excitement.
It’s Halloween night and you just got back from ransacking the neighborhood. You have a pillowcase full of loot, and what’s the first thing you do?
Dump it all out and bask in the glory of your treasure.
Whether you’re with your friends, siblings, or cousins, you start counting your pieces, and comparing what you got. And now it’s time to feast!
The kids rip into their candy, and what happens next is about as predictable as the sugar rush that follows. The kids are bouncing off the walls, full of energy and excitement. But soon after comes the crash—tired, cranky, and maybe even with a stomachache. It’s a cycle that repeats year after year. But what if there was a way to enjoy Halloween without the sugar overload? What if there was a better tradition, one that keeps the fun while swapping out the candy binge for something more lasting?
Over coffee this morning, my wife mentioned an idea of starting a new Halloween tradition with the kids this year. Her thought was to let them pick out a toy ahead of Halloween night, and when they’re done trick-or-treating, they can pick a few pieces of candy to keep for themselves, and then trade in the rest of their bag for the toy.
I loved this idea.
It turns out that this idea has been gaining popularity online and she couldn’t remember if she actually thought of it herself or if it was implanted in her head through socials – either way, I’m game.
On Halloween, the average child consumes around 3,500 to 7,000 calories worth of candy, with a typical intake of about 3 cups (384 grams) of sugar—which is 16 times the daily recommended amount – that’s insane.
We all know it’s not good for them, but more concerning for me is the glorification of the candy itself. I remember the “I’m rich!” feeling as I would roll around in my candy and toss it in the air like Scrooge McDuck.
I know it’s all in good-fun, but we are teaching kids to place a high value on something that really should be minimized when it comes to their diet and nutrition. I do think it’s important to not demonize candy (Halloween-pun intended), and that’s why I’m personally fine with my kids getting to enjoy a few pieces with their cousins. But I also want to avoid treating candy as an incentive or reward because it will only glorify it further – when it should really just be considered a small treat from time to time.
Equally important is to make sure that we’re setting a good example as well. It’s one thing to get them on board to swap their candy for a toy, but if we sit there over the next few days eating all the candy ourselves, we’re definitely sending the wrong message.
Thankfully, my wife and I will likely only enjoy a piece of candy or two with the kids the night of Halloween, and that will be it for us. We’ll be riddled with guilt because we know it’s just garbage, and we work hard to stay fit, but it’s also important to show the kids how to enjoy life in moderation. I feel like the last thing you want to do is draw hard lines in the sand when trying to help your kids build healthy habits. They need to be able to understand the limitations and the reasons for why they exist, but they also need to be able to experience it for themselves. The more you try to set hard boundaries, the more they will inevitably want to test them (as children do).
I’m excited to try this new tradition this year, and I think it will be a success. I feel like kids eat candy for days after Halloween, mostly because it’s still sitting around the house. And now instead, they will have a toy to hopefully capture their imagination for a week or two instead.
I will certainly write a follow-up post and share how this all went.
What do you think of this idea? Are there other traditions that you have created with your family to help avoid the over-abundance of candy and sugar?
