All That Candy

Last Halloween, I threw out the idea of the "Switch Witch" to my kids.  There are several version of this being.  Some say she is a Sugar Sprite who needs the sugary Halloween candy to make it through the winter and will gladly trade for a trinket.  In some versions the Switch Witch will pay you a set amount per piece of candy if you leave your stash out for her on Halloween night.  And then there are lots of other permutations of course.  Well I had proposed that the kids could either keep their trick or treat candy or they could give it to the "Halloween Fairy" and get a present instead.  You might think that no child would take that option, but up until the last minute last year, mine had.  I continued to give them the opportunity to change their mind and once they got their candy they did.  It was no big deal really because last year, both kids were interested in candy and treats, but usually forgot about them pretty quickly.  So the candy was placed on the counter and once they no longer asked for it, Honey took it to work. 

This year, I hadn't thought at all about it.  We spent more time making a map of the neighborhood and deciding which houses to go to, and practicing the etiquette of the holiday rather than deciding what the treat plan was.  After going to a parade where the people on the floats threw out candy to the kids, my thoughts changed a bit.  They began to count their candy like Midas.  They asked for a piece after breakfast lunch and dinner.  They clearly were not going to just forget about it this time around.  A friend had mentioned that they go through candy with their kid and take out all of the ones with red food coloring.  Since both kids reach to the red40 found in tons of candy, this seemed like a good place to start.  Then someone else reminded me of the Switch Witch when they asked if we had talked about it with the kids this year.  No, we hadn't, and come to think of it, we really should.

So one day, I threw out the options.  One, keep all of the candy and have a piece every day or two at mom and dad's discretion.  Two, trade all of the red candy for pieces of chocolate, and proceed as above.  Three, leave your candy in a bag on the bedroom door and the Halloween Fairy will bring something special in return.  To my surprise, they both chose option three!  Well, I'd been here before so I didn't want to celebrate yet.  But they decided then and there to give me the remainder of their parade candy so they could add it to the Halloween candy they were sure to get. 

After trick or treating, they chose one piece of candy to eat then, and one to save for the next day.  They put all the rest out for the Halloween Fairy, and were as excited as they get on Christmas about what they might find in the morning.  Pumpkin had asked (with some prompting of what might be an awesome gift) for a fireman outfit, and Peanut had asked for a baby doll (a specific one that was out of stock at several stores I might add) and a bottle with "real milk" for the baby to drink.  Each got their wish and they were happy as clams. 



Give it a try next year - you never know! 

The Unifying Holiday

I love Halloween.  It's really one of my favorite holidays - not because of the candy, but because of the way that wearing costumes creates a bit of oneness.  Class and society distinctions fade a bit when people look goofy.  I love that.  It's like how people say we should all fight wars naked or while wearing pink or something. 

Before I had kids, I always had a super fun Halloween party, and did lots of very colorful, loud, and sometimes scary decorations.  It was kind of my Christmas, since I didn't really "do" Christmas then.  Now that I have these two sweet little ones, I realize that my fun was potentially super scary to some of the wee ones, but I still miss doing all that decorating!  I recall some younger trick or treaters sending mom or dad to the door so they wouldn't have to step on the howling mat or get close to the scarecrow with the pumpkin head.  I can completely relate now. 

So, I was proud this year when Honey told me the kids walked right up to a well decked out house with scary music and all to knock and say trick or treat!  Actually, I'm just proud that they decided to say Trick or treat at all.  About an hour before heading out, Peanut came to me and said "I think I am ready to say "trick or treat" to people even if I do not know them.  Of course, we then practiced with me in the bathroom and she and Pumpkin knocking on the door, and then they stood on the front porch to give it a try while I pretended to be a stranger.  One step at a time right?  They ended up going to 7 houses - way more than last year - and they brought home a nice little load of candy.

Knowing our love of good food and lack of super sugary treats, you may be asking what we did with all that candy?  That, my friends, is a story for another day.  Stay tuned!

Still a Festive Halloween

We did have a fun Halloween weekend, aside from the sadness of the cat. I had done a little table scape of gourds and such that the kids loved. Pumpkin especially would grab the items and scream "gourd!" as he cheerfully banged them on the table and floor.


Pumpkin was sick Friday night and Saturday, so we moved our HMN Holistic Halloween and harvest Party to my co-leaders house at the last minute. She took it all in stride and was really chill about doing it all that day. Thank goodness for good friends!

We baked and did some crafts (what else is new?!) for the season. Pumpkin pecan muffins were *really* good! Coconut flour made them gluten free, and chocolate chips made them scrumptious.

Everyone loves to color pumpkins. We glued, painted, colored, carved and scooped out our pumpkins. Both kids loved the seeds too.

Here is my Cinderella - I finished that dress Friday night. It turned out too big in the bodice and too long, but that's what you get for doing on the fly fittings on a three year old.

I love the underskirt - she looks very regal.

It was interesting to see the princess thing unfold. We saw several little girls with the Disney outfits and Peanut was quite smitten by them. She loved her dress though. One of her friends at the party had a pink princess dress her mom had made for her, and Peanut was so excited for them to be the pink and blue princesses. The other little girl told me right away that she was wearing a princess dress but she was a princess all the time no matter what she was wearing. Yep - so's Peanut! That's why I love these HMN people!

A Holistic Halloween

We had such a fantastic time on Saturday! Our moms group, the Holistic Moms Network, hosted a Holistic Halloween party here at the house. The kids ran around the yard and jumped in piles of leaves - really is there anything better? We had a wagon and some hay bales ans we (well, one of the dads) pulled the kids around for a "hay ride" while the kids not riding ran after the wagon. We opened up a pumpkin, and then our children got squirmy about sticking their hands in to take out the seeds. Every one of them wanted to use a spoon to scoop them out! The plan was to take the seeds and toast them, but somehow the pumpkin and seeds ended up in the sandbox...maybe we will have a volunteer pumpkin vine or two next year. There was a little crafts table set up outside with all kinds of materials to explore and create with.

When it began to drizzle, we dragged our stuff inside and ate! We had quite a spread - it was potluck, and with folks with lots of cooking talent and varied dietary needs, it was interesting and delicious. A few of the dads brought fall and pumpkin beers for tasting, we had soup, stew, casseroles, liver, veggies, pies, cakes, and I'm sure things I have missed. The children decorated mini pumpkins, made popcorn hands, and ran around in the playroom all afternoon. When the weather cleared, we went back out to bob for apples. Now in this era of swine flu we couldn't throw caution to the wind and stick our heads in a big trash can like we did when I was a kid, so each child had their own bowl! It was a riot watching them all - some trying to eat the apple in the water, some dunking the apple after each bite like the water was a dip. Of course a few got very wet, but it was warm and we were outside so all was well.

Honey and I were talking afterwards and we both agreed that it was great to have active parents with us. What I mean by that is people who take an active role in parenting their kids wherever they are. You can see them keeping their kids in sight out of the corner of their eyes while they carry on a conversation. At the first hint of trouble, their posture shows they are tuned in to what may happen next, and they can make suggestions or requests of the kids in order to help them negotiate play, get to the potty on time, or keep their dinner from spilling off the plate. The kids learn to deal with social rules and the parents assist but don't take over, rescue, or coddle. Many of the families in our group follow (loosely or otherwise) attachment parenting. The most amazing thing about this is that attachment parenting usually gets a bad rap for just allowing children to run amok. Honestly, I have thought that myself, and I can see how the ideas and principles can be misinterpreted to mean "let your child run wild". To me at least, the tuned in parent can respond in a loving way and help children understand what is expected of them in a loving and connected way.

So a good time was had by all and our house remained intact in the face of 10+ kids from birth to 3 or so and their parents. We successfully celebrated the holiday without a serious sugar overdose, and everyone went home happy. Happy Halloween!

Anything you want to be...

I don't want to jinx it, but it seems that we have had a few nights of good bedtime routines and sleep. Honey and I realized that we were dealing with the endless bedtime by being angry and our expectation was that it would be awful no matter what we did. We shifted our thinking, and decided that Peanut was absolutely capable of going to sleep nicely on her own, and approached bedtime with confidence, pride, and high expectations. We told her exactly what we would do and what we expected from her. We told her we thought she was big enough to go to sleep without help from mom and dad. We told her she was lucky and that very few parents let their kids fall asleep on their own. It worked! She has gone to bed really well the past few days and we have started to relax again. We still have some night waking, but we used the same ideas with that yesterday and she only woke once last night and got back to sleep herself. Hurrah!

Our little man has been working hard as well - he is rolling over on his own! He flipped once a few days ago when I wasn't watching. I came back in the room and he was on his belly. Yesterday he started rolling without making it a secret. Oh my, now he is getting off his blanket or mat and onto the hardwood... Pumpkin has also gotten really into grabbing things - anything he can get his hand on gets smashed and crushed and brought to his mouth. He is trying to imitate raspberries too - so cute!

We are getting ready for Halloween, and Pumpkin will wear the Penguin outfit that Peanut wore two years ago. We will have yet more photos that we can't tell them apart I'm sure. Peanut wants to be a "blue kitty ballet princess". Hmmm. We bought a purple dance outfit that she has worn for dress up, but it is not what she wants to wear for Halloween. So I've started getting that blue kitty ballet princess outfit together, but I could barely get the skirt back off her to finish it once I had her try it on for size. Here she is watching football with daddy in her tutu. I'm not sure how I'll do the top yet, but I know she'll have a crown and some kitty ears. Who knew you could be all of these things rolled up into one?