When it comes to treats Halloween is definitely scary for your kids with all the poison junk foods that will lovingly be handed out to them, but it is also a place of downfalls for adults too. Whether you are already health conscious or not, there is always a bit of dread thinking about how to navigate the volume and quality of sugary treats you and your family are bombarded with.
This leaves us all with two main dilemmas: 1) what offerings to hand out without embarrassing your child and becoming know as the house that has bad treats, and 2) how to manage the loot once you are home and survey the potential future damage. Let’s get to it.
10 Offerings to Keep Everyone Happy
Most of these treats are available at your local health food store, some are even in grocery stores, or online to get them asap. The key to a good offering is providing something that is a treat but healthier, needed while they are out and about like drinks, or fun for later, while staying away from high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and chemicals.
Here are 10 of my favorite solutions:
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6.Health, Nut or Granola Bars (Ex: Kind, Cliff, Pure, etc.)
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7.Small Bottles of Water
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8.Juice Boxes (Ex. Honest Kids, Mashups, etc.)
Ideas to Managing the Loot
Even before my family embraced a healthier lifestyle we always went thru the ritual of looking over the loot once we were back home – because it is fun - and coming up with a plan for consumption. Here’s where parents can take their first step towards better management and still let the kids enjoy their treats.
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•Have each child claim an area on the family room floor.
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•Dump the bags.
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•Sort the loot.
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•Remove any of the most heinous candies you simply do not want your child to have. Parents, this is where you need to be in charge. In our home – it was Tootsie Rolls. For me, the sugar coupled with the stickiness and dental problems made this one an easy give away or throwaway treat. Don’t feel bad about the cost of what you are throwing away; think instead of the cost of keeping it.
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•Decide what treats your child can have under their own management over the next few days. Make sure this pile is very, very small. Explain that the rest is still theirs with some parental overseeing.
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•Re-bag whatever is left in zipper plastic bags.
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•Talk through a plan and agreement about how the rest of the treats will be consumed.
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•Hide the bags, so you are in fact in charge and you don’t end up with a sugar blues kid. You might be surprised at how quickly the treats are forgotten once they are no longer in a bright orange bag in their room.
Halloween is about fun but it is not fun if your home goes through weeks of sugar highs and lows. Start smart, pace the consumption and start teaching your kids how to enjoy the festivities without throwing away health for the next few weeks. You will be GLAD you decided to find a happy compromise to make this kids’ holiday work for everyone.
Need help or want to comment? Email me at blog@gladforhealth.com or contact me.
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