Make it a vegan Thanksgiving, a gluten free Christmas or an organic Hanukkah.
But don't mess with Halloween.
Halloween is about two things: costumes and candy. Don't feel like dressing up this year? Fine, but you can still eat candy!
I am so over the "we must always eat organic and healthy, no exceptions" parenting mode. There comes a point when we need to just let kids be kids.
Sure, if your child has food allergies or a medical condition that means no sugar, I understand. That's not what I'm talking about.
Everyone deserves a treat, especially on Halloween. I'm not saying moms should let kids eat an entire pillowcase full of candy. There are plenty of ways to cut down on eating tons of Halloween candy (including parents eating it after the kids are in bed, but I digress). I'm not saying moms want their cute, mild-mannered kids to turn into sugar-ravaged maniacs. Not at all.
What I'm saying is that moms need to stop the sanctimonious, "Sally only eats organic fair trade chocolate made from cocoa beans we harvest as a family" nonsense and let kids enjoy yummy Halloween candy bought in bulk from the local drugstore.
My neighborhood goes all out for Halloween. We take Halloween seriously. Many decorate their houses with elaborate Halloween decorations, some show scary movies on their front lawn and people who don't even live in my neighborhood come to trick-or-treat because our Halloween is so awesome. One year, my kids came home from trick-or-treating ecstatic that someone gave out full-sized candy bars. That was cool. But one year, they came home dejected because someone gave out low calorie, whole-grain, wheat cracker snack packs.
Say what? There is no place for whole-grain anything on Halloween!
Remember this crackpot lady who decided to give letters to kids she deemed overweight instead of candy? Oy.
When I was a kid back in the day, parents were scared because someone found a razor blade in an apple. Guess what? No razor blades were found in a mini piece of chocolate. Once, I went trick-or-treating and got a nickel. A nickel didn't buy anything, not even in the '80s, but save those nickels and you could buy some candy.
Bottom line? The only organic (or, um, not) ingredient my kids will eat on Halloween is sugar.
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