Do you let your kids keep their Halloween candy?

[g-mama]

I was curious what other people do with the boatload of Halloween candy that comes into their house. We let them eat a few pieces when they are done trick or treating, and then they choose 10 pieces each that they can keep. I send the rest in to dh's work. I am so glad we started this long ago so my kids just accept it as the norm.

I remember as a child we got to keep it all. I would get a 9x13 pan from my mom and organize all the different types into categories. Most years, my mom would find it in my dresser drawer the following spring, most of it still there. Ha! Boy, have I changed. My dh was supposed to take the bag to work this morning and he left it on the counter. I had already eaten 4 fun size chocolate bars by 10:30. The candy has GOT to GO!

[egoldber]

Yes, she keeps it. However, that is caveated with...

- we only go to about a block's worth of houses, so she does not get that much

- she's very picky and will not eat about 2/3 of the candy she gets

So I would estimate we're only talking about 30 pieces total by the time the stuff she doesn't like is separated out. And she will happily spread that out over the next several months. Yup, after Christmas, we'll still have Halloween candy left.

[elliput]

DD's ToT candy is bagged up and stashed in the cabinet for special treats (we only hit about a dozen house, but they all seem to give 2-3 pieces apiece). Our leftover candy is also bagged up and in a spot inaccessible unless I have a step stool. For some reason, I can keep my fingers out of DD's bag, but the leftovers are fair game and I have no self-control.

[o_mom]

I let them eat whatever they wanted that night after tossing some that was a choking issue for DS3 (gobstoppers, gum, etc.). We let them have whatever they want the next few days and it will be gone by the end of the week at this rate. We only do one side of the street around our block, so maybe 30 houses?

[vonfirmath]

Myself, I am wondering, with all the parents (not that I've heard here, but on Facebook, etc) not letting their kids keep the candy, why they let the kids go to so many houses and gather the candy in the first place? It seems like awaste.

[elephantmeg]

we are but we only went to 5 houses so there wasn't much candy! And we didn't buy any at all

[hanaum02]

We let them keep it (after throwing out any choking hazards). They are allowed to have one piece a night after dinner. Between that, and the leftovers we have from handing out candy, as well as any bday party supplements they get over the next few months, it will probably last until Easter when they'll get more. I'm more worried about me eating too much of it than them. It's pretty easy to control. But, perhaps as they get older we'll have to think about this a little more.

Michelle
DS 9/04
DD 10/07

[g-mama]

Myself, I am wondering, with all the parents (not that I've heard here, but on Facebook, etc) not letting their kids keep the candy, why they let the kids go to so many houses and gather the candy in the first place? It seems like awaste.

I agree with you. I don't know exactly how many houses my kids visit b/c almost every year, my dh takes them and I stay home and give out candy. But they are gone 1 hour at the most. I know dh only takes them to houses of neighbors we know, so probably 15-20 hourses. It seems like many people must be giving out candy by the handful at the rate my kids seem to collect it. And to be honest, it is more thrilling for the kids to collect it and be out and about in the spirit of the night seeing other kids in the neighborhood, than it is to actually eat the candy once they've gotten it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We used to send it to dh's work. This is the 1st year ds1 has acquired a ton of candy and really cares about it. We'll see how he does in the coming days. If he over indulges then off it goes. Yesterday I think he only ate 2-3 pieces so that is not a problem in my book.

If we still have candy by Christmas I am sending it off b/c we'll get more at Christmas and in past years we have had a huge bag of Halloween + Christmas plus even Easter in there!

Beth

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

Yes!

I do confiscate it and keep it up high and dole it out as requested and within reason. Each kid had one this morning and will probably have 1-2 tonight. It will taper down as the excitement wears off.

Last year, we ended up forgetting about it somehow and just found it a few weeks ago. I'm not hiding it quite as well this year. :p

[HIU8]

We only go to about 10 houses max. DS does not like anything except gummy candy, so we basically throw out or give away the rest (I don't like candy that much either so I don't eat it and DH is diabetic). FWIW, he got 3 pieces of gummy candy this year. Fine by me.....

It turns out the DD LOVES chocolate and is begging for it. She is 2. I let her have a couple of pieces since saturday night. We are getting rid of the rest of hers--she looks like she will plow through it if we let her---can't believe I have a 2 yr old chocoholic :47:

[ladysoapmaker]

This year I tried something new as I'm constantly finding candy wrappers in DS#2's room.

I had them dump out all the candy and sort through what they liked and didn't like. They could trade with their brother or sister. Then they had to pick out 10 pieces of candy that would go to school in their lunches this week. After that they then had to put every other piece in the discard pile. (That will go to my or DH's work to share) The rest of it they could keep. The only caveat was they can not keep it in their rooms, they have to ask before they eat any of it and to make sure they have had real food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) before they eat it.

So far it has worked. We'll see how this week goes.
Jen

[SnuggleBuggles]

This year I tried something new as I'm constantly finding candy wrappers in DS#2's room.

I had them dump out all the candy and sort through what they liked and didn't like. They could trade with their brother or sister. Then they had to pick out 10 pieces of candy that would go to school in their lunches this week. After that they then had to put every other piece in the discard pile. (That will go to my or DH's work to share) The rest of it they could keep. The only caveat was they can not keep it in their rooms, they have to ask before they eat any of it and to make sure they have had real food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) before they eat it.

So far it has worked. We'll see how this week goes.
Jen

:thumbsup: I like this idea. I'll file it away for future years or if we run into trouble this year.

Beth

[smilequeen]

Yeah, they get one or two pieces at a time. We went to 10 houses, so its not as though they have pounds of candy though. And I take out the sticky horrible for the teeth stuff like skittles, gummy bears, and dots, etc. They can keep the chocolate and I let my older one keep starbursts even though I don't want to b/c he particularly loves them.

[alexsmommy]

I take the bag and put it away. I pull anything with peanuts and the ones that are really horrible for their teeth and we sell that back to a local dentist (who sends it to the troops). Then I give them one with lunch and one with dinner for about two weeks. After that I don't mention it if they don't. Thus far by Thanksgiving they have forgotten (this started with DSD ten years ago) and I can toss the rest.
No way no how would I let them hold onto the bag themselves.

[wolverine2]

They get to eat a few pieces that night, then pick out some to keep and some to "give to kids who don't have any candy." DS is pretty good about picking out a small amount- prob. around 10 pieces. The rest (and our leftovers) go to my school for their "treats for troops" program, and I figure it's either ending up w/ the troops or kids in Iraq/Afghanistan, so that doesn't seem like a waste at all. I agree with a PP that it's more about the fun of dressing up and going to houses than it is getting candy at this point.

[Tanya]

We hit our entire subdivision and with two kids, we end up with more candy than we give out and we always have candy left the next year. In fact, I recently just went through last year's Halloween, Easter and Valentine's Day candy. It's crazy. I will say that there is rarely any chocolate left since I'm more than willing to help with that.

I do let my kids keep their candy. I remember as a kid that we got to keep our candy. My mom had a candy drawer and we were allowed to get what we wanted within reason. We didn't eat a lot at once and we always still had candy left the next year. I think the newness wears off after awhile or the good stuff is eaten first and we're less enthusiastic about the rest? I remember that my neighbors rarely got candy and they'd inhale everything in sight.

Anyway, I let my kids have several things after Trick or Treating and then I try to be pretty relaxed about it the next several days. They have to eat good food first before getting any candy. They always ask first and I try to not say no. I don't want them to feel like it's something they rarely get, so it becomes less of a big deal. For us, if it's readily available, it's not something we feel like we have to sneak or crave, etc. They aren't always asking for it and often forget about it. I leave the bucket of candy on the counter and my 6 year old can reach it, so I usually just tell her to help herself and let her sister choose too.

I will say that this year, my oldest daughter's girl scout troop is sending extra candy to orphans in other countries and to an adopted soldier. We aren't sending chocolate because it may melt, so we went through the other candy and pulled out stuff they didn't like or I would show them that they had 6 or 7 of something, so they were willing to part with a couple. So, we are getting rid of a fair amount of candy that way this year. Nothing was forced though, so everyone was okay with it. If we'd had another week to pull it out, I bet they'd part with far more though since it would be less "new".

[brittone2]

Healthy eating is really important to us, but I also don't like having "forbidden fruit" and so my kids keep their candy.

However, we only go to the houses in our smallish subdivision...roughtly a dozen houses or so. That way it is self-limiting and I don't have to play the candy police.

eta: we never have limitations in terms of you have to eat your dinner to get candy, etc. I've always intentionally served dessert, sweets, etc. along with a meal for my kids so it takes away some of the "specialness" of those foods. We don't have a lot of junk in our house at all, but when we do it is never tied to a requirement to eat their dinner first, etc.

[vludmilla]

This year I let DD keep her candy. She is only 3 and has almost no exposure to candy other than chocolate. She is finding that she actually doesn't like sugary candy as she keeps trying things that are all sugar and throwing them in the garbage after a few licks, or a bite. I'm happy to see this and I hope that it is supporting healthy eating habits. So far, there have been no problems with her having the candy. There are basic rules, like no tossing half eaten candy on the couch...and she has been good about keeping it neat.

[justlearning]

Myself, I am wondering, with all the parents (not that I've heard here, but on Facebook, etc) not letting their kids keep the candy, why they let the kids go to so many houses and gather the candy in the first place? It seems like awaste.

I didn't want to take my kids trick or treating because I didn't want them to get lots of candy (like they did last year, which I then ended up eating!). But I also didn't want to cheat them out of the experience of having fun getting dressed up in a costume, so we did go to a church Harvest party (in costumes) where our kids played games and got candy. But then after we got home, our kids continued the fun by then handing all their candy out to trick-or-treaters that were still going around. This was their idea and it worked great! They did keep out about 10 pieces for themselves but then gave the rest away and had a blast doing it.

[infomama]

We let her (dd2 doesn't get candy yet) keep her candy however this year she agreed to trade all her candy (minus 4 pieces) for the new Tinkerbell movie :applause:.

[maestramommy]

For the most part yes. The girls went trunk or treating through my moms group, so while they got a lot of candy, it wasn't an excessive amount. The only thing we took away was Laffy Taffy. Everything else they got to keep.

[codex57]

No, but that's cuz he has no idea what candy is. If he eats any, it's cuz we gave it to him (I know, slippery slope, but he just doesn't seem that big into sweet stuff so we don't think it's a problem yet).

[mamicka]

No. We let them keep 5 pieces each & then they trade it in to "The Great Pumpkin" who leaves a present for them in exchange - like a matchbox car or something else small. It is optional - they each get to decide if they want to participate each year. They know it's just a game & there isn't really a "Great Pumpkin" but they think it's fun. We are then in control of the stash & send some to work with DH & distribute the rest as we see fit.

[Moneypenny]

No. We let them keep 5 pieces each & then they trade it in to "The Great Pumpkin" who leaves a present for them in exchange - like a matchbox car or something else small. It is optional - they each get to decide if they want to participate each year. They know it's just a game & there isn't really a "Great Pumpkin" but they think it's fun. We are then in control of the stash & send some to work with DH & distribute the rest as we see fit.


We do the same thing but call it The Halloween Fairy. On all on her own this year DD said she wanted to have one piece when she got home from TOTing (we would have let her have more), and then save 10 pieces (again, we would have let her keep more) and give the rest to the Fairy.

[Laurel]

I'm letting them keep around 20 pieces. They "sell" me the rest in exchange for a toy. DH will take some to work and some is going to a friend serving in Afghanistan.

We have so many friends in the neighborhood who want to see the kids in costume, plus we went to a downtown ToT event. For them it is fun to collect a bucketful of candy even if they won't eat it all. I also figure if kids and troops in Afghanistan will enjoy it, that it is worth collecting.