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Tricks to Make Halloween Less Scary

 

halloween



I love holidays that I can make crafts and decorations for, and Halloween is one of those. What I don’t love is aisles and aisles of candy in every store starting at Labor Day. Every time I go into a store I have to say no to buying them for myself and repeated no’s to my children.

 

Over the years, I’ve given out bookmarks, notepads, stickers, erasers and pencils with Halloween decorations instead of candy. But of course we still have lots of candy in the house as my children are dedicated “trick-or-treaters.” Rain, snow, sleet or shine, they are going to ring doorbells until they can’t carry their bags of loot any longer.

Last year I heard that there are dentist offices that will buy back Halloween candy to donate to troops as a part of Operation Gratitude: http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/

The “buying” can take the form of cash or might be toothbrushes, coupons and other creative ideas. Our dentist does not participate yet but I’m working on it. I know my kids would be thrilled to get Princess toothbrushes and other non-candy goodies as a trade.

What other ways have you tried to control the candy in your home at Halloween?
 

 

by PeggyKerans on 10/22/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: kids, mommy blog, holidays

About the Author

Peggy Kerans

Peggy has worked at HMR since 1997 in a number of departments. She is a woman that wears many hats, and juggles a hectic family life with her husband and 3 small children. She likes to cook, do crafts, be a positive role model for her family and keep things fun.

Comments (3) Post a comment
I have moved around the country over the past 15 years, but have never lived in a place where trick-or-treaters come to our house. We have simply lived too rurally. So, luckily I have never needed to purchase candy for give-outs. However, trick-or-treating has always been fun! Much of my children's young life was near a mountain village where the whole community would come together for Halloween fun. There was hot cider, hay rides, a haunted house at the Chamber of Commerce, and games with prizes at the school. I wish our more of our country could view Halloween this way! Then we moved, and we discovered the goal of bringing home as much candy as your bag could fill. That is when I started doing my own buy-back with my kids. I realized as I was frantically eating their candy one night, that the sweets were much more important to me than to them! So, we spread out the goodies, pick out a few and replace the rest with the prize of the year. It has been a toothbrush, a matchbox car, and this year will be an ITunes Gift Certificate (yes, more expensive by the year)! It has been well worth it to get that chocolate out of the house!
by RanchLady on 10/25/2012
I've hid candy in the freezer before! Most of the time I just throw it away, so I think the dentist giveaway idea is great!!!!
by sailGirl on 10/23/2012
In my area, the Halloween candy was in the stores in late August this year. Halloween and Christmas stuff is in the stores earlier every year. I don't bring any of that stuff home. If it's not in the house, I can't eat it. I remember the evening that I ate 2 bags of candy pumpkins as a bedtime snack. Not good for a diabetic. I couldn't get to sleep. I finally checked my blood sugar. It was well over 350. Not good. I don't like feeling that bad. Whwn I think of eating those candy pumpkins, I remember that night.
by MatabaBob on 10/22/2012