Do You Believe in Miracles?
10 Exercises to Stay Spiritually Fit
20 Scriptures That Bring Hope to Any Situation
5 Ways to Revive Your Dream!
7 Ways to Plant Seeds of Greatness in Your Life
20 Powerful Declarations to Fight Discouragement
5 Ways to Stay Healthy This Summer
5 Tips for Better Sleep
7 Top Health Issues Facing Today’s Women
Celebrities Who Won't Back Down
A Conversation with Minnesota Wild Center Matt Cullen
Yes, Gratitude Works!
10 Ways to To Handle Life Changes With Courage
The Fruits of Desire
Nurturing a Healthy Marriage
10 Ways to Get Over a Hurtful Past
Ten Things Every Dad Should Tell His Son
Pics, as promised:
Now we face the real dilemma – what to do with all this candy? While we usually have cookies in the house, and occasionally ice cream, we don’t ever buy candy. My children have had so little in their lifetime, that at every house we went to, Zoe (my self-described treat-atarian) would point to the candy in the bowl and ask wonderously, like the simple son at the seder, “what is this?”Most candy-givers would patiently try to describe of the confection, but after seeing no glimmer of recognition on her face, they would look upon her with pity and exclaim something like “It’s good! You’ll like it!” (and then, more softly….”you poor, deprived child.”)
My husband and I decided that candy will be freely given for the next week (well, one or two pieces a day) and then removed from the premises. I explained this to the girls while we were trick or treating, and it in no way dampened their enthusiasm for collecting 13 pounds of crap. Each. But they did want to know what we would do with the rest. Since I didn’t want to tell them that we would probably take it to work, I asked them what they thought we should do with it.
“Can we save it for special occasions?” asked Ella.
“How about shabbat?” I suggested.
“YESSSSS,” they exclaimed, in unison.
I may have spoken before I thought this through. In any case, do stay tuned for the future adventures of Home Shuling and her shabbat crap fests.
ps – would love hear how the rest of you handle the heaps of candy
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click here to see all of our uplifting newsletters» About Me
I'm a mother of two girls, raised in suburban Baltimore, and transplanted to a small New England town. I teach, write, and try to create a vibrant Jewish home for my family while spending very little time in synagogue. Â I guess you could say we're home-shuling. You can contact me at homeshuling at gmail dot com.Check out Amy’s Books!
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posted October 31, 2009 at 10:24 pm
while we have the buy back another friend has a “switch witch” who brings a toy in exchange for the candy that won’t be eaten, like the tooth fairy.
having feared candy & kept the older two from it, i have to say, lucien didn’t even trick or treat for any (unicef/company with friends–he likes his chocolate from the co-op or somewhere nicer) & remy doesn’t like it much either. maybe it’s easier this way? the not worrying as much way? i can’t decide.
posted October 31, 2009 at 11:00 pm
my kids can keep one piece per year of age (the 8 year old gets to keep 8 pieces, for example – but actually, he’s not 8 for 2 weeks so we’ll go with 7!!!!) and the rest go to the Candy Fairy, who brings a toy or book or whatever in exchange for the candy.
If we were better at this organized parenting thing, I might consider one piece per Shabbat or something like that….but I’m just not!:-) So the Candy Fairy works for us!
posted November 1, 2009 at 10:05 am
In berkeley our friends have the Halloween Fairy who comes at night and replaces the bag of candy with a present! (I already told this to my child this morning who said: “Then I would stay up ALL night and protect my candy!!”)
posted November 1, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Our school collects the candy and sends them to soldiers overseas. Maybe there is something like this in your area….
posted November 1, 2009 at 4:32 pm
we donate it to our local dentist office, he pays $2.00 per pound and matches your money for the local shelter in free dental work, pretty cool guy he is!
posted November 1, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Like the others, my kids get it taken on Halloween night by the Switch Witch. First they get to take out a handful of favorites to have for future Shabbat desserts, and the rest gets taken by the Switch Witch who leaves a small toy in exchange for the candy.
The Switch Witch then sends the candy to Operation Gratitude (they have a Web site that explains it: http://www.opgratitude.com/howtohelp.php?page=individual#candybabies) to be sent to troops overseas. It’s a way to limit sugar and do a mitzvah all at once! I’m hoping that when my kids are older (they’re 4 and 6 now), we can eliminate the middle man–or middle witch as the case may be–and they’ll want to send the candy on their own. Hey, a girl can dream!
posted November 1, 2009 at 6:27 pm
It’s funny – I ran the idea of the switch witch by my girls, and Ella looked at me like I was nuts. “Why do we need a toy?” How could I not agree?
Love the responses – I’m going to check out operation gratitude-
posted November 4, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I’m thinking of trying this site, but if I wait much longer, my husband and I will have eaten our daughter’s entire stash while she sleeps.
http://www.candyexperiments.com/
posted November 4, 2009 at 4:07 pm
love it!
posted November 8, 2009 at 12:13 am
I love the idea of saving it for Shabbos. Wish I’d thought of that sooner…
Have I mentioned lately how much I despise this holiday????
The only good news is that I’ve had such a bad gastro thing that I haven’t been able to eat any of their stash this week.