Just Tell ’em that their Halloween Candy is Expired
Don’t let this little lie SCARE you.
I had no idea what it was like to be a city kid.
A single trip up and down the street and watch out! The pillowcase was sagging with a million calories of sweetness!
I grew up trick-or-treating in the country, and it was a little different than that. We weren’t allowed to approach houses where the people were strangers to us. And don’t forget, houses were far apart. Because of this, our candy bags were slow to fill.
Yet, Halloween was anticipated like no other. We were kids! We had nothing to compare it to, so to us, our treasured bag of candy seemed like the motherlode.
Fast forward to today and I see what living in a residential neighborhood with houses packed in a convenient row is like. Houses — just waiting with barely contained anticipation, to fill all the little spooks’ loot bags.
It’s fun! It’s delicious! What’s not to love?
If you’re a parent of small tricksters, you KNOW what not to love, the challenge — at the end of the night — when you’ll be managing the candy, until it’s gone.
Ugh.
Your tiny treat eaters will require their candy intake to be closely monitored. And, with a substantially full bag, you may wonder “will it never end?”
Well, it most definitely will. but here is a little strategy I used to get there more quickly.
I simply chose a date on the calendar.
The date was usually Thanksgiving.
And I explained to my little sugar addicts that the candy was expired on this date.
For all intents and purposes, it really was “out of date” by then. The best stuff was gone. The rest was second or third best. It was the dregs in the bottom of the coffee pot, by Thanksgiving.
Problem solved for my kiddos. Problem solved for me.
Sidenote: You could offer to trade the remaining sweet bounty for a cool new toothbrush, because a sweet tooth doesn’t have to mean that you ignore the protection of those pearly whites from decay.
But is the candy really ready for the rubbish? If it was wrapped and tightly sealed and not damaged then it would be valued by someone out there, right? And, BTW, you know candy is expensive!
So, I was sometimes able to find a home for it, on the sly, after sweet talking my kids out of it.
My husband’s work, or mine, had candy bowls that always needed filling.
I’ve heard that nursing homes will take it.
Even the armed forces could be interested in fulfilling some sweet tooth desires by accepting left-over Halloween candy.
So, step away from the candy, and no one will get hurt! By Thanksgiving, let’s just say the candy is officially expired — for the original owner.
Just trash the loose sweet tarts and opened gooey stuff — it’s been pawed through enough. It’s time for retirement. Time for the trash bin. Then, give the rest away.
Because parents may need a simple strategy or two, to allow there to be a final end to the candy cavity-inducing, sugar high, appetite destroying craze of Halloween sweets. Don’t be AFRAID of implementing it.
You know Christmas stockings are right around the corner, and there will be sugar once again…
So, bye bye expired candy.
A tiny lie doesn’t scare me!
Here we grow again.
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