Moms and Dads Get Real About Their Kids’ Halloween Candy
Because you can't just let them eat all they want ... or can you?
Parents, no matter how many kids you have or how well-behaved they are in public, there's one thing we all have in common: This job didn't come with an employee handbook. So, lying, stealing and paying people off? It's all good!
You guys, we're totally kidding.
That behavior's only acceptable when it comes to your kids' Halloween candy — just ask our staffers.
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I let them eat as much as they want the first two days of getting it. Then they get sick, sometimes puke, and never want to see it again. It kind of loses its allure. I then hide it for a few days until they forget about it, then give it away to people or trash it. I used to ration it out so carefully, as I limit the amount of sugar and processed food we eat, but it became this taboo thing that made them want more, and it went on forever. This method has worked the past few years, so I will continue until it doesn’t work anymore and then reassess. Of course, now that I wrote this, it will not work this year, I am sure.
- Alexis Pisciotta, Culinary Purchasing and Events Manager
My daughter loves baking cookies for her family and friends, so we use our leftover Halloween candy to make a big batch of Compost Cookies. We divide the dough into a few different bowls so that she can customize based on everyone’s favorite treats. Snickers and peanut M&M's for Nana, Swedish fish and popcorn for her dad, Reese’s peanut butter cups and crushed potato chips for me — the variations are endless. She loves seeing everyone’s reaction when they receive their personalize batch — so much so that she doesn’t even notice that all her Halloween candy is gone!
- Kristie Collado, Manager, Digital Programming
I’m not sure what this says about me as a kid, but I took an inventory of my candy so I knew exactly what I had — and how many of each — so I could trade without losing too many of one type of candy. And I'd ration my favorites in hopes of making them last longer.
My oldest kid is 3, so we hide the candy and "ration it" (translation: give one, eat three).
- Danielle Strain, Culinary
Alice Gao
After trick-or-treating, my sister and I would dump out our hauls on the coffee table (drawing a very firm barrier to make sure rogue candies wouldn’t end up in the other’s pile) and my mom would watch over as we picked out the "questionable" candy that could have been tampered with. We then made some strategic trades and were allowed five or so pieces — more depending on how well I could argue the size of my candy was smaller than my sister’s choice. We then stored the rest and would get about two pieces as an after-dinner treat for a few months, until my mom would secretly throw out whatever was left and pretend like we finished everything ages ago and that she had no idea what we were talking about. (I know your secret, Mom!)
Since then I’ve always kept a stash of Halloween candy, long after it’s deemed appropriate, and I like to break out the leftovers on Thanksgiving Day to make these adorable turkeys.
- Julie Hines, Managing Editor
kwanchaichaiudom
I pay them. That might make me sound like a bad parent, but it's working pretty well for me, and I plan to keep this up for as long as I can. Of course they get to eat their fair share of sweets, but after a couple of days I start trading them nickels, dimes and quarters for their candy. They're only 6, so they (luckily) don't charge too much at this point!
- Meghan Cole, Associate Editor
After trick-or-treating, we would do a dump-and-sort method. My brother and I would keep the candy we liked, Mom and Dad would get to pick a few for themselves (because, you know, they were grown-ups and missed out on the fun) and the rest of the "gross candy" went to work with my dad. And, of course, we threw away anything unwrapped or homemade for safety reasons. As a result, we probably kept less than half of our haul. Honestly, though, once our very favorite pieces of candy were gone, we kind of forgot the rest was even there.
- T.K. Brady, Senior Editor
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