As the tenth month of the year comes to a close, thoughts shift to ghosts and goblins, to witches and warlocks, and fairy princesses (of course). Haunted houses suddenly crop up like magical mushrooms. And everyone, children and adults alike, look forward to a screamingly awesome Halloween party. Though for most children (and a few adults), the essence of Halloween can be found in a bag full of candies or a bag full of tricks AKA trick-or-treating.
T-o-T, or trick-or-treating, was a major component of my childhood Halloween celebrations. My friends and I would prepare our matching attires weeks in advance. All of us were proud to strut the street with our costumes invoking ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ from passersby. Equipped with our trusty flashlights, huge (very huge) bags and a few tissue rolls (yes, I was a bit mischievous), it was exhilarating to venture into the dark and claim our treats.
Being a parent, planning and preparing for Halloween can be as fun as the trick-or-treating itself. Every year, everyone in the household, particularly the kids, looked forward to crafting their own frightening or adorable costumes. My role was simply to give my spouse a bunch of candies and chocolates and to take the children out for a haunting stroll of T-o-T around the neighborhood.
However, this was short-lived. I quickly discovered that a parent has an offbeat response compared to a child when the latter begins to unload quite a hefty loot of sugar-coated munchies all over the family room rug.
Almost every year, our kids would come home with bucketsful of candies. You name it, they have it in their bags. Chocolates: white or dark? With caramel? With nuts? With raisins? With peanut butter? They have it. Gummies, jawbreakers, licorice, taffies, cookies. They even have those Halloween themed candy-canes in black and orange swirls. Those brightly-colored wrappings are tempting enough to eat aside from its contents. And most of the contents in their bags are not allowed in the house 89% of the year.
For years, I have been torn over giving out Halloween treats. Especially with obesity reaching alarming heights and various research demonstrating the ill consequences of sugar in one’s body. With all of these in my head, it is hard to hand out the sweet treats. See here, I don’t want to be the Halloween version of the Grinch, but I don’t want to discourage well-being in the process.
This was our dilemma. Yes, our! I’ve spoken to nearly every parent in our neighborhood and they are raising the same complaint regarding the mountain of sweets their children were bringing home during Halloween. The usual damage control is to limit the sugar munching to a few bites a day. However, given the candy quantity the children raked in, it will take an entire year to finish everything. To the trash—that’s were most of the candies end up.
With this, many of my neighbors started to use healthier alternatives. Small packs of pretzels and popcorns started to make its way into the loot bags together with the customary chock-full-of-sugar treats. Another gave out juice boxes. I really have smart neighbors, huh? Who doesn’t want a refreshing drink after a night’s worth of T-o-T?
In my first year of taking the healthier route, I handed out toys. And to be honest, I thought a bunch of kids were going to "T.P." my house once they realized that I was giving toys—not sugar-coated–heck, it is not even edible. But to my surprise, the children didn’t walk away. They gladly pawed the bucket filled with yoyos, slide puzzles, little action figures, princess stickers, washable (AKA fake) tattoos, and other trinkets and goodies. One girl in a princess costume shyly asked, how many stickers can I get?
It was a hit. And it was a hit with my kids as well. After their T-o-T, they unload their bags, traded, ate a few pieces, and gladly played with the toys I gave out.
Children will still rake in candies during All Hallows’ Eve, though I feel that I am doing my part to shift the equation and bring in sugar-free alternatives. As the brigade of parents opting for an alternative swells, kids will discover that Halloween does not necessarily have to equate to bags full of sugary treats for it to be fun.
With a bit of luck, children will grow up recognizing that there are actual holiday treats that won’t linger in their teeth or their waist.
