But what do you do when your kid brings home mountains of gut-busting, tooth-rotting sugar?
Here are your options for shrinking the pile without sucking all the fun out of the holiday.
What kids eat year-round matters more than any one day.
The real problem is, any proficient trick-or-treater will come home with far more than one bellyful of candy.
On Halloween night, they get to eat that manyand you could expect them to pick their favorites.
The rest can await the next phase of your plan.
Consider allowing a piece or two every day in early November.
Younger kids will forget, pretty quickly, exactly how much candy they had.
With a good enough deal, it’s possible for you to get the kids excited about helping you.
Or, set up a calories-to-cents exchange rate to sneak a math and nutrition lesson into the deal.
Donate It.Keep an eye out forlocal candy collections, often organized by schools or dentists offices.
If no trade-in program exists in your area, consider donating directly.
The key to all of these strategies is giving your child some decision making power.
If they dont choose to donate or swap, youre just confiscating the candy.
Thats your right as a parent, but not the best way to build trust.
Check outCandy Experimentsfor more ideas like these, or invent your own.
While were talking about creative solutions, dont forget that theres no law that youhaveto take your kids trick-or-treating.
This strategy is also friendly to kids with food allergies.
Trynoisemakers,tiaras, orbubbles in the shape of zombie fingers.
Illustration by Angelica Alzona.Photos byslgckgc,Jim,Cindy, and viaVisualHunt.
