This question may come up in your household every year around Halloween.  Or, maybe it does not.  Maybe your family eats all the candy that comes your way?

Either way…I thought I’d put my two cents in about the trick-or-treating sugar attack.  Some people may have called me names in the past, most of which I can’t mention on this blog, but basically meaning that I was strict when it came to what/how much candy my kids ate.

My family eats candy.  Especially my kids.  But, from an early age, we have “limited” their candy.  When I say limit, I mean…we don’t strive for hitting up the most homes possible in order to bring in a whopping amount of candy.  We say its OK for them to have a couple, maybe several pieces while trick-or-treating and after.  They pick out a handful of their favorite pieces (to enjoy in the upcoming week), in the past, we said 10…but as they get older, that number may grow.  The additional candy goes into one community bowl.  Daddy has been known to put the biggest dent in this stash. I may include a treat in their lunch box a couple times the week following. 

At school functions, I know that there will already by enough candy and/or sweets to be had, so I try to balance it out by providing other alternatives.  Ideas include:

snack size pretzel packs
raisin boxes
nut clusters
all-fruit roll-ups
granola bars

non-food items:
pencils, pens
stickers, tattoos
orange playdoh (pumpkin spice scented)
bubbles
glow sticks/bracelets
jewelry

So, in our household, it is not about how much candy we can get while trick-or-treating, but having fun dressing up and gathering “things”.  (toys, trinkets, snacks, and some candy)