Trick or Treat? A Clever Mom’s Guide to a Healthy Halloween

As the streets become more and more speckled with Halloween decorations, a spooky sort of vibe fills the air, spurring children into anticipation and preparations for their annual sugar overhaul. I remember as a kid bringing out a pillow case for the collection of my candy?and FILLING IT! I also have very vivid recollections of hurling over a toilet bowl a time or two.

If you?re anything like me, the approach of Halloween brings a certain sort of nervousness to the surface of my skin. I believe in compromises and a balanced approach to health, but ?candy? in any shape or form is just way out of my comfort boundaries. I?ve tried it all when it comes to creative solutions for a Healthy Halloween, and I?d like to share a bit about what worked and what didn?t.

The Deprivation Method

I think every hard-core health extremist tries this at some stage, only to realize that outside of moving to the jungle and tucking yourself away on a fruit farm, it?s nearly impossible to avoid the influence of the standard modern day family and their traditions and habits.

Admittedly, the deprivation experiments worked for a little while. I remember when my daughter Mika was 3 years old, she was offered a package of free Smarties in a movie store. I didn?t say a word. She just looked up at the man and said, ?No thank you. I don?t eat those.? Then smiled her innocent smile and took my hand.

One of my proudest moments of motherhood I can assure you.

However, as my little muffin became increasingly exposed to life in the ?real world?, there wasn?t much I could do to prevent the invasion of those colorfully wrapped poisons accompanying this holiday into her life. So when deprivation was no longer cutting the mustard, I had to get more creative about things.

Bring Halloween to Your House, and Be Willing to Get Gross

Okay, this one takes guts, sweat, creativity and hard work! I decided that if I couldn?t keep the kids from Halloween, I could bring Halloween home and thereby control the adventure myself.

One of my most memorable Halloweens as a kid was at the community hall where we lived out in the country. They had transformed the basement into a little haunted house, and had plenty of scary food things I had to stick my hand in. To the blindfolded, Spaghetti, jello and pickled duck eggs were “Bats Brains” “Goblin Guts” and “Old Lady’s Eyeballs.”

For a fun and healthy holiday, use peeled lychees for ?owl?s eyeballs?, grenadilla for ?frog?s eggs? and make a dish of ?Goblin?s Guts? from a thick green pudding of bananas, apples and spinach (chilled and firmed up in the fridge). The important part of this is letting them get their fingers in there. Sensation is everything. The grosser, the better!

One year for Halloween I rented a community hall. We planned games, had prizes and there was even a marvelous haunted house going on in the hall which saved me a bucket load of extra work! The kids were still young enough that this was acceptable and enjoyable. No one really asked about why there were no candies. There were other things? little toys and prizes, games and good friends.

So at the end of it all, while I had achieved a victory in preventing the consumption of sugar, I?d spent countless hours, dollars and a whole lot of energy putting this event together. Was it worth it? To a certain point, but I was sure that better solutions were to be had. So, that?s when I tried?

The Bargain

The next year, I decided that there was no way I was going go through all that hoop-lah again, just to avoid some sugar. The financial burden alone was prohibitive, never mind the number of hours that had to go into preparing for that event. (The thing that would have made it much easier, by the way, would have been a group of other parents as motivated as I was to create a Healthy Halloween. As it was, most parents wanted their kids out in the streets getting as much candy as possible so they could pillage the bowl at the end of the night!)

So, we inevitably decided to join the masses and walk the streets for Halloween like everybody else, BUT with a deal in place. The deal was that nobody touched any candy until we got into the car at the end of the night. At which point, they were both allowed 2 candies, then they had to pass over the bag.

They did it willingly, because the next stop was a supermarket with aisles and aisles of kids? toys. Which is where I let them loose to indulge in a different kind of consumption.

Feels a bit desperate looking back. There was still a lot of fear on my part in trying to avoid the evil sugar villain, and in my desperation I distracted them with toys instead. Nonetheless, I felt a victory had been won. That year had been much easier on the pocket book and my personal energy and resources than the previous year?s Halloween Party.

This year, I?m making it their choice!

The deal still stands. ?You give me your candy, I give you my money?, but this time it?s with a twist. The more candy I get, the more money I give. The choice is theirs. No ultimatums. No desperation. If they decide to cash in their stash for some money, they do. If they decide to keep their sugar, they can.

The one big thing I?ve noticed, is that the more I honor their right to choose, the more I am impressed, almost humbled frankly, at their ability to KNOW what is right for them and choose accordingly. The kids are already talking about how they?re going to spend their money this year and I haven?t heard much talk about chocolates or candies yet!

This year I?m also trying to put the focus on an adventure rather than a toy. Maybe we?ll go on a little trip by train, or out to the movies! Maybe we?ll go to a ceramic studio and paint our own pots!

I Don?t Wanna be a Wonka Mama

If you?ve not seen the movie Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, then do so! Willy Wonka himself is a perfectly brilliant demonstration of how deprivation just ends up creating extremism. His father was a dentist and a candy-despising tyrant!

There was a time when extremism served me. I?m not there now. I recognize the value of being balanced and conscious of the fact that health is about more than just food. Besides, there is something magical about walking the streets on Halloween, and seeing the costumed kids, proud parents and pumpkined paths – not to mention the ecstasy of a teeny piece of Halloween chocolate as it melts in your mouth!

Happy, Healthy Halloween