Halloween decorations on my block are lagging behind last year.
Most of the houses (mine included) haven’t been “gussied up” yet with spider webs, tombstones and goblins. And that’s OK by me.
Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday. And not because of all the candy. I’m just not the dressing-up kind. Not for me; not for my house. You know what I mean? So it’s hard to get in the spirit. And now that my daughter is in charge of her own costumes, I’m kind of off the hook.
But forget costumes. Here’s a more important consideration:
Halloween is about three weeks away. Do you have a game plan for managing all the candy/crap?
You know I’m an advocate of using Halloween to teach kids how to manage sweets and treats. Because…
- If you simply opt for controlling your kids’ candy consumption you’ll have to deal with the same struggles and pull out the same tired strategies year after year after year.
- What’s more, you won’t have done anything to equip your kids to deal with the gluttony and abundance that is our world.
This year, instead of worrying about the sugar, think about the lessons you want your kids to learn.
I’ve written about this a lot over the years. Here are a few highlights.
- There are at least 5 unintended lessons kids learn when parents control the candy. One is “candy has power.” Read The How-to-Control-Your-Kids’-Candy-Consumption Con.
- The “hidden” problem with Halloween is that it teaches kids to eat what they have, not what they want. Read A Better Buy-Back
- You don’t have to let Halloween be a free-for-all. There are sane, teaching ways, to cope. Read But What Are You Going to Do with All that Candy?
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
