Beat the Halloween Highs & Lows this year!
6 October 2008HALLOWEEN candy can seem less of a treat to parents, teachers, and children, who are hung-over from a candy high, the week after All Hallows Eve. It’s no secret that the week after Halloween is terribly taxing on everyone, kids don’t sleep well, tantrums escalate, emotions run high, and patience is hard to find.
Now no-one wants to take the fun out of Halloween, it’s a spooky, cute tradition that my children adore. But, I absolutely refuse to let my little darlings turn into Mr. Hyde after a hard night binging on colorful candy treats.
I don’t want to spoil the fun of trick or treating, or the joy of handing out treats to the other kids in the neigborhood, but I can limit what my children ingest. We live in a neighborhood that attracts several hundred children on Halloween night; it starts with a parade and finishes with kids going door to door to collect their treats.
Around 6:00 pm the little kids come by with little buckets or baskets, escorted by giggling parents holding cameras and snapping away furiously as their little bumble-bee or pea-pod climbs onto my porch and lisps “twick or tweat.”
Around 7 pm -ish we see the older kids about 8-12 years old, still polite, and dressed up but instead of the little bucket they come bearing a large pillow case, these kids are still quite happy for you to dispense one candy or treat into their carry alls.
Later, around 8 pm the big kids start to come by, and this is where I have one problem with Halloween night. Seriously shouldn’t one stop trick or treating at an age where stubble starts to show through the face paint, or when you are not actually wearing a costume but you are just looking scary with your girlfriends/ mother’s/ aunts eyeliner while toting a large black trash bag. Please don’t expect me to dish out my Newman’s Own candy treats, or even the little toys that I bought especially for tonight. Seriously do you really want or need a pirate yo-yo or a bouncy ball – I think not. Worse yet, these are the kids whose parents or older friends stay in the car, driving slowly down the street as their kids/friends troll door to door, scaring old ladies and making dogs bark in fright.
Remember little kids are cute; teens beyond puberty are just plain weird and scary.
Anyway my point being – handing out gluttonous amounts of nasty chemicals to kids dressed in weird outfits is just a tirade waiting to happen. This Halloween make a stand, get your kids to trade candy with the “Halloween Fairy” – switch their chemical laden chocolate and high fructose corn syrup concoctions and swop it for the good, old fashioned non-chemical variety. Yes it is out there, and making a come-back. Now I confess I do not hand out the ‘good’ candy to trick-or-treaters – it does tend to be more expensive, so instead I buy little bouncy balls, kaleidoscopes, crayons, note pads and other trivial trashy fare (I am looking for the lesser of two evils obviously) and hand that out. By 8:00 pm I turn off my porch light, thereby avoiding the Mad Max teenagers looking for left-over candy.
So for my kids, A: They are limited to the amount of candy they can keep and B: They get to choose from my stash of gluten free, natural, non-preservative, chemical and additive free candy. And in return I don’t get two out-of-control, tummy aching, whiny, junk laden kids to deal with, well at least not because of the candy.
Where to get this candy? Some I buy online, some is purchased from our local supermarket, health food store, or the farmers market. See some of our favorites below:
Natural Candy Store: Gummy Bears, cotton candy and the Natural candy party mix. We can also get gluten/dairy free candy here.
Sunspire Drops - colorful M&M type candy.
Yummy Earth Lollipops and candy
Any of the Newman’s Own candy works as well, that seems to be readily available at most retail stores.
Pretty much we can replicate whatever the other kids are eating but in a natural healthy (!) way, or as healthy as candy can be, because as I am sure you will agree, I am pretty sure the apple won’t suffice on this occasion.
Have a safe, happy, and tolerant Halloween holiday.
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Dr. Paul or Dr. Susan at Fontana Chiropractic 303.674.1500 or email office@fontanachiro.com
Make an adjustment: Stay Healthy ~ Be Happy!
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