It's that time of year again…the air is growing cooler, leaves are turning and the days are getting longer. I must say fall is my favorite time of year. I love wearing comfy clothes, seeing my breath when I walk outside and filling my home with the warm smell of fall soups and sweet breads. Along with all of this every street window is full of spooky ghosts and creepy spider webs, reminding us that Halloween is just around the corner. I think Halloween is a cool holiday, how much fun is it that we get to dress up in any costume that our minds can imagine. I always loved trick or treating as a kid and as I got older throwing Halloween parties was my favorite. Now that we have Addy and are trying to be more conscious about the world around us and that we are putting into our bodies, the thought of filling the neighborhood kids bags full of teeth rotting candy, most of which aren’t vegan, didn’t seem to jell with the way we are living.
Everything seems so much more complicated now and the last thing I want to do is alienate my children and make them feel like they are living in a weird house with weird hippy parents that don’t let them do anything. I want them to fit in with society, have friends and feel normal but I also want them to know that you can still do that while thinking of the health of your body, the health of others and the health of our planet.
So I have taken ideas from what I have seen others do and this year here is my plan….
We are not handing out candy anymore instead we are handing out little toys. Yes I could have gotten boxes of raisins of pretzels but I wanted to also make it fun. I know raisins and pretzels are fun but remember what it was like as a kid and you go to the house what’s only handing out raisins…yea a little disappointing, and you end up just throwing them away. So I went to target and to my surprise they had alternatives to handing out candy! Here is that I got….
Play-Doh, pencils, erasers, bubbles and mini card games
We are still going to take Addy trick or treating and we aren’t going to stress about what candy is or isn’t Vegan. She can enjoy a piece or two that night and then the next day she can pick out any 5 pieces to keep, Vegan or not, again we are not going to stress. Later that night the “Halloween Candy Fairy” is going to come and take her candy and give it to a child who could not go trick or treating and in its place she is going to leave Addy a nice gift. I know a woman who did this with her children and it worked out really well, so we are going to try it. I checked with Addys dentist to see if they are doing any sort of redemption, so much money per pound of candy turned in, but they are not so the candy fairy it is.
In my ideal world I hand out something cool like books or small puzzle boxes or something educational, but let’s face it that all costs money and right now we are in a neighborhood FULL of children and it’s just not in the budget. One day when we are rich and famous! :)
Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!
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