It’s tough, but somebody has to do it. Somebody has to take charge when it comes to kids eating the candy they got trick or treating.
Whether you’re the father or the mother in charge of this difficult task – tantamount to telling the children the truth about Santa, it doesn’t matter. If your kids are anything similar to the kids in Jimmy Kimmel YouTube Challenge – you know, the one that asked parents to pretend they ate their kids’ Halloween candy, well then, it’s a challenge to approach the topic.
But a parent’s gotta do what a parent’s gotta do. And in fact, the way a child responds to the candy limit can tell you a great deal about whether or not he understands limits. But that’s a different topic entirely.
All parents are preoccupied with their kids’ health and one of most parents’ concerns over the health of their children is sweets, particularly around Halloween. Parents who are always sourcing healthy and natural foods for their family are especially challenged around this time of year, but there are ways to go about the Halloween candy in a way that won’t lead to permanent diet damage.
So what’s the best way to manage your kids’ sugar intake during the Halloween fever? These are a few tips gathered from parents here and there who’ve successfully managed trickery situations.
- Let them have candy Halloween night
What you can do as a parent is encourage the idea that Halloween indulgence is similar to taking a vacation: it’s temporary, and once the vacation is over, it’s time to go back to the usual. There’s nothing wrong with allowing kids to eat candy on Halloween night, but they should understand that they will have to return to their regular diet afterwards.
There are parents who allow their children to eat as much candy as they want on Halloween night and/or the day after and that’s all.
- Encourage your kids to pick a given number of candies
Some parents have their children pick a certain number of candies to eat every day until the Halloween haul is exhausted, but if you leave that decision entirely up to them, there are a few chances they might develop tummy aches because few children are going to not want to gorge on candy.
You might decide to limit Halloween candy for your kids to one piece a day or 15 pieces a day. But it should always be the parents who decide how much candy is allowed. The only trick is to communicate that in a way that as if they decided for themselves.
- Choose the healthiest of candies
Another way to limit Halloween candy is to dispose of the really unhealthy sweets that children get on Halloween. The ones particularly high in sugary syrups and calories should be avoided and it’s also important that parents communicate this to their children in a manner that is not very strict.
Also, Halloween is the perfect opportunity to teach children about giving. You can encourage your kids to keep half the sweets and donate the other half to homeless shelters and other similar facilities.