Hello Halloween Fairy!

As a working mom with more limited time with my girls, I struggle with the fact that children need boundaries and discipline and that I cannot give in to their every whim. I’ve discovered one way to make this a little easier – try to avoid certain situations in which I know they will constantly be asking for something that I don’t want to regularly have to deny. By the way, my girls are very persistent.

Halloween candy is one of these situations. Last year my girls realized that the more candy they can collect, the more they’ll have to eat. On the night of Halloween, we pretty much let them have what they want. What I try to avoid is their asking for candy after dinner every single night until it all disappears.

Several years ago a parent told me a secret that solved the problem of too much Halloween candy.

Hello, Halloween Fairy!

When we get home from trick or treating, my girls spill all of their candy out on the counter and they each get to pick 10 pieces that they would like to keep in a bag with their name on it. Then they put the rest of their candy back into their trick or treating bags. We write a note to leave for the Halloween Fairy along with the candy they decided not to keep. They put the note and their candy outside the back door and get ready for bed. The next morning, they gather their trick or treating bags from outside the back door to discover a present that the Halloween Fairy left in exchange for their Halloween candy.

Thank you Halloween Fairy for leaving something that my children will enjoy for a lot longer than the candy bars, and just as importantly, thank you for eliminating the battle over their wanting to eat their Halloween candy daily for the next month.