Surviving Halloween
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I love Halloween.
I love it because of how excited the children
get.
I love it because of the three weeks of
planning costumes.
I love it because we blend old traditions and
leave room at our table for our ancestors - we talk about Grandpa Jack and
Bobbie and Maggie and Nana G – gently reminding our children of these important
people in our lives.
We light candles and decorate the house and
carve pumpkins and bob for apples - the children's eyes shine with anticipation
and fun. We pop popcorn to hand out to
trick or treaters and raisins they like too.
The traditions of Halloween and of entering into the dark part of the
year run deep.
But how do we survive the candy hangovers
that last for days afterward?
When I started my family this problem weighed
heavily on me. We don't allow refined
sugar or junk in my house. But how
could I deny my children the joy of experiencing what Halloween was - I had
such wonderful memories of it from my childhood - but when I thought about it
carefully I realized that most of my memories had to do with the
costumes and the thrills of knocking on
doors. Not so much to do with the
treats.
I met a very wise woman when my Jacob was 18
months - a mother of 4 older children who told me about the "Good
Witch".
The Good Witch is a friendly witch. She likes green things and sunshine. She has a very sweet tooth. She needs candy to survive the winter. She really has a hard time if she doesn't
get enough candy. So, she asks that
every child leave her some of their halloween candy so that she can survive the
winter and return in the spring to do good deeds. So, the idea is that the children leave out a big basket or
bucket that is filled with most of the candy they have collected, the good
witch comes mysteriously in the middle of the night, takes the candy and leaves
each child a lovely gift. In our house
my children get to keep as many pieces of candy as they are old - and they
always get a choice weather they want to trade their candy or not. Every year they choose to trade. And every year she
leaves them lovely little things. This year Jacob (8) is getting a lego
bionacle and a book, Alden (5) is getting spiderman underroos and a book and
little Eli (2)is getting a pair of fancy socks and a book.
I hope that this idea gets passed on and used
by those who need it. Ah, and I would
advise all of the “Good Witches” out there to just throw that bag of candy in
the trash rather than stash it somewhere in a back cupboard so that you can
secretly munch on it – it’s the Good Witch that needs the sweets to survive the
winter – not YOU!!!
Have fun preparing for Halloween this year!