UNITED STATES—Thank God, Halloween is over, but now comes the big problem: what to do with all that candy? For some, it’s candy that may be left over from those trick-or-treaters who didn’t visit your home, for most of us it’s all that candy our kids obtained.
Bribing or attempting to get a child to hand over that candy, some of that candy or even a piece of that candy is a battle in itself. If you suspect for just one second your child or kids have NO IDEA about the number of pieces of candy they have and the types of candy they have, think again, think again. One thing that can work in your favor is having the kiddies dump out all that candy if you haven’t done so already.
By doing so you can organize the candy by variety which includes sweet, sour, gum, chocolate, lollipops, chips, cookies, etc. By doing this, not only are you able to see what the child has, you get an inclination from the child which candy they like and which candy they don’t like. This allows the parent to either consume that candy the child can care less about or to get rid of it. Next, it’s imperative to place a limit on the number of pieces of candy your child can eat in a day.
This is a MUST. By not doing so the child will just continue and continue to dig into that bag of candy eating any and everything they can get their hands onto. What happens? The child gets sick or a bellyache and that’s a headache no parent wants to deal with at all.
The biggest tactic that I have learned that works well with most kids is the notion of offering a trade. Hey, you give me candy and I’ll give you money. For little kids, this might be a bit difficult to navigate, but as a parent, all you have to do is find something that your child loves beyond candy (trust me every kid has something they like more than candy) and offer that item as a trade.
Another negotiating tactic, is to inform the child that the money you give them will allow them to purchase that toy or special item that is ever-growing in their collection. I will admit after hearing several medical reports about the dangers of sugary candy, it’s a goal to get rid as much of that from the household as possible. It tends to have a higher sugar content, more acid and ingredients that are bad for the body and the teeth.
The teeth might be the most important thing about candy. No one wants to go to the dentist on any given day, what’s even worse is having to deal with the factor of having to have a cavity or issues with the gums. Most of those retail shops and grocery stores are doing everything in their power to get rid of those treats now by offering huge discounts.
Don’t fall into that trap of buying those treats. While the sweets might be for the household, you might find yourself eating the treats more than you expected. In addition, you’re allowing those items to be accessible to kids. If they see they will indeed eat. While the festive energy of dressing up and going door-to-door for treats is fun, once the holiday is over, the aftermath of what to do with all those sweets become an issue, especially with gluttonous holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s right around the corner.
