Halloween is a fantastic holiday. The kids and often adults too get to step into an alter ego for a day, and I just love the costume parades at school. Watching kids wave, so proud of the costumes they picked out fills my heart with all that innocent goodness. 

As my kids have gotten older, my favorite part of this season is watching their magical, creative thought process as they decide on the perfect costume. They decide on something, are super excited about it, and then change their mind 2 days later because of a book they read or movie they saw. It keeps me young to keep up with their bouncy minds. (And grateful for return policies.)

We were talking with friends in the driveway the other day, and they asked my kids what they were going to be for Halloween. Their eyes completely lit up, and they were stumbling over each other to share their costume idea. I am smiling thinking about it. 

Now, there is one part of Halloween I don’t like, or at least could do without. 

The candy, oh the candy. And I’m not the only one. Every parent I talk to wishes we could skip that part. 

Since I’ve been embarking on recovering my health, my family has been strung along with me and my eating habits which means our sugar consumption has plummeted (mine is non-existent), so thinking about my kids filling an ice cream bucket full of pure sugar makes my stomach churn. 

So, I’ll say it again, can we skip that part? And only focus on the itty bitty ladybug costumes and the million Blueys who will be walking down the street (mine included). Any other Chilli’s out there? 

I have a plan in place though, and it worked well last year so I think it’ll be accepted by them again. Fingers crossed. 

We let them have some candy for a couple of days then we swapped them. Entire candy bucket for a $10 Target gift card for them to get a book, craft supplies, or a small toy. Candy gone. Plus, my kids’ school takes candy donations the week after Halloween, making it even easier. 

I have also adopted the motto given to me by one of my mentors – “Be part of the solution, not the problem”, so I no longer hand out candy. 

Instead, I have my kids help me pick out alternatives. Last year we did Pokemon cards, stickers, and granola bars. This year we stocked up on Halloween jewelry and pencils as well as Honest juice boxes. 

We might even pass out hand warmers if the Colorado weather doesn’t cooperate. 

I feel good about not adding another ounce of chocolate or artificial food coloring to the buckets, and maybe it will encourage other people to think outside the box too. 

Here’s a list of some things to hand out besides candy if you wanted to join in the fun of mixing it up. I would love to hear your ideas too. 

Traci xx