Lollipop, lollipop...

I'm overwhelmed! The kids had a great time trick-or-treating last night. Essentially it was the first time all and out going door to door. Up until now they have always gone to our church party and visited a few hand-picked friends houses on the way. This year the church went for a harvest dinner instead (which turned out very well btw).

So trick-or-treating we went. Well Drew went. I went to the neighbours houses and then Drew and the kids met up with friends and they went around the neighbourhood. They came home after an hour and a half and then went by car to our family's houses.

We had the usual few pieces of candy eaten once they got home and then the bedtime routine began. Yes they were a little high on sugar. This morning? My mistake, I left the candy out, which might have helped, but the first question was Can I have one? Then, Can I take one to school? To which of course I answered no. Yep I'm mean. And then I feel guilty. And then I think but no, Drew will get mad, our "policy" is no candy until the weekend. Which I TRY to follow but I will admit I give in and give one or two here and there. And I sometimes like to surprise them and put one in their lunch to find. When I do that though I find that they tend to expect it. So what is a mom to do?

Interestingly, I found a few articles in my inbox about this topic today. I have forwarded them to Drew and we will be having the discussion tomorrow (as he has now gone to bed). Basically they are suggesting that if we restrict the sugar intake too much it only makes the kids crave it more. Hmmmm. So they let the kids have free reign and actually find that the usage tapers off after a day or two - which they say is the same for the adults. I think that may be true in my case! Maybe not with cookies though... The other article talks about the Switch Witch (might need a name change) where they let them have free reign for the night (Halloween) and then the switch witch switches the candy for a cool toy that the child(ren) have been wanting (and the candy goes to the husbands work - out of the house). I actually really like this idea. I had thought I heard something similar but couldn't remember the details. I'm wondering if we can still work this into the plan. Part of the candy problem is that Matt is a hoarder. He will basically still have candy next Halloween. Marlee does not have as much control and Cierra, well, we can control her intake more easily but I know she likes it. And me? well I just like to eat whatever is around and I have very little self control. There you have it.

Soo - until the discussion - here are the links:

http://www.raisehealthyeaters.com/2010/10/5-ways-to-help-kids-eat-smart-this-halloween/

http://www.realmomnutrition.com/2010/10/13/oh-candy-corn-i-hate-you-dont-leave-me/ (which is actually linked within the above article).

I have bookmarked this site - it looks like there is some interesting discussion on handling the sugar habit. I know I need to read up on this.