We don't trade our kids for their trick-or-treat candy haul. In fact, we let them keep their candy until long after Halloween has passed.

When Halloween rolls about all year, the Switch Witch or candy fairy posts commencement flooding my feed. But in our house, our three kids can eat as much candy as they desire on Halloween night, and we don't recommendation to commerce prosperity or toys for their haul. In fact, we let them keep their candy until lengthy following Halloween has passed.

I'm not anti-rules, I'm pro-experience

I'm not saying sugar is harmless or that I desire my kids to eat unlimited amounts of candy all day, but I comprehend the value of particular occasions, and I desire them to do the same. I additionally cognize that fair telling kids item isn't fine for them and not letting them have the firsthand cognition frequently backfires. (Or perchance that's fair my kids?) And I have to acknowledge the archetypal period I watched my oldest kid activity her way through a heap of wrappers, I wondered if I'd made a huge mistake.

But it wasn't a mistake. It's allowed us to example sugar inside our dining habits to assistance our kids comprehend what a well-balanced diet means, fairly than focusing lone on its downsides. We conversation concerning the location of protein, fruits, vegetables, entire grains, and treats in our lives. Ultimately, I'd fairly assistance my kids build their own inner "enough" meter during they are young than have me authority it now and dispatch them into adulthood lacking the skill. This is one chance to do that.

Our Halloween rules are simple

Our home mostly operates on a "two sugars per day" rule: as lengthy as they eat a fine balance of foods, our kids can choose two things they'd akin that merge sugar throughout the day. This power be a family trip to an ice lotion shop or a lollipop from a doctor's office. But on Halloween, the lone regulation is that they have to eat a decent meal before trick-or-treating. Then they can eat as much candy as they'd like.

The second regulation about Halloween is that item not eaten by the following summer is thrown away. And you'd be amazed at how much candy we throw away. Because candy isn't forbidden create in our house, our kids don't hoard it and are fairly mindful concerning dining what they really enjoy. This method they're mostly open to giving distant candies they don't akin to siblings or parents (my gathering of Almond Joys all October 31st brings me great, well, joy), and they additionally preemptively throw distant things no one likes.

They are learning an crucial instruction concerning their bodies

Each of our kids has learned what too much sugar feels like, from crashes to additional unlucky situations. There was the unforgettable Saturday midday our then-6-year-old treated us to brilliant blue throw-up, courtesy of too many Toxic Waste candies. And the night our then-10-year-old woke up again and again alongside a stomachache.

But none of them have had a negative cognition twice (so far). They are expanding additional attuned to their bodies and what makes them awareness unwell before they hit the tipping point. To me, this is a sign that they are forming fit relationships alongside sugar, and dining in general. It's ever-evolving, of course, but I didn't develop up learning this skill, so it's one I desire to provision them.

And for me, it goes beyond food. I anticipation they'll comprehend and hear to their bodies in another situations as they grow, from going to parties in university to pushing themselves physically in exercise or sports. Our bodies are really cool, complex machines that provision us a lot of signals if we cognize how to tune in. An overindulgent night of candy on Halloween seems akin a beautiful low-risk way to assistance them calibrate their "enough" meter.