I grew up with cookies in the house every day. I would come home from school to fresh baked cookies. We had soda in the fridge and ice cream for dessert. And yes, Halloween was candy, candy, candy. In fact, all the holidays were.
Don't get me wrong. My mom did nothing wrong. She also prepared home-cooked well-balanced meals. Each dinner included a tossed salad, protein, and another vegetable. We may have even had nice warm rolls. We drank water or sun tea, unsweetened, for dinner. It was how things were. But things change.
I do not keep cookies or other sugary treats in the house and we hardly ever have ice cream. Forget the fact that I am dairy free as I could always get non-dairy ice cream. I don't. But I do make cookies here and there for special occasions and yes, I make cakes. But when it comes to doing things for kids and my daughter's school, I aim for less sugar and more fun!
There are enough parents handing out sugar. I do not need to be one doing it for every holiday but I do enjoy giving to others and want my daughter to feel the same way. We will go trick or treating at the mall since it isn't 100% candy and I grade the candies. Complete junk gets tossed. Sorry, no pixie sticks. Yes, I know I loved them as a kid but no.
But I don't want darling daughter to feel deprived as that could lead to eating issues in the future. I want her to see and understand the balance I am striving to create in my home so when we started getting things for her goodie bags to share at school it followed my guidelines. What would I like her to receive? What would I feed to her? What is okay? What isn't? She gladly chimed in and this is what we came up with.
- Cute bags - Yes, they are plastic and from my conservation side not perfect but I have to ease up here and there. Please note: get a wider mouthed bag. These were a headache for our fillers. We learned our lesson.
- Little Halloween bags of pretzels - Each goodie bag got an orange and black pack of pretzels and this were the tough things to put in the bags.
- A Halloween pencil - Perfect for doing homework!
- Halloween tattoos - One per goodie bag and this is the crazy fun part that darling daughter wanted to add and she can't wait to hand out her goodie bags next Friday.
With that said, I am not convinced we even always need to share edible treats. Have you heard about the Teal Pumpkin Project? This is so cool! Essentially, it is a way to address allergies and if you have a teal pumpkin, parents know that your house is offering non-edible treats only. How cool is that? If kids came to our house, I would have a teal pumpkin!
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful darling daughter sees the joy in giving practical and fun treats.
Daily Affirmation: I am teaching good nutrition to my daughter.
