Halloween Candy

I have been amazed at all of the parental complaints I have seen, and want to write about that. I guess I am confused, and so this is one where I would love to hear from people about their own experiences.

When I was a kid, we trick-or-treated in our neighborhood only. There are fifteen houses on our block. Some people would give you more than one piece of candy, but there were also some people who didn't answer the door, so really it wasn't that much candy.

I think that I would get a total of twenty pieces of candy, which would get eaten mostly that night and maybe a little the next day. Certainly that is an unusual amount of candy for a single night, and doing it on a daily basis would not be good, but letting us do that for one night didn't seem to be that big a deal.

For the parents that are battling over candy, and having fights or bribing or buying or hiding the candy, how much are they getting? How many houses are they going to? Are there other sources of candy? It just feels like it should be something that can be controlled better.

If it is a blanket objection to candy at all, and you are the ogre parent if you don't let them trick or treat and get candy, my initial feeling is to say "Lighten up." If there are specific issues like a red dye reaction or a nut allergy, that can be dealt with. I remember reading of a child who could not have most sweets, and his parents worked it out with the neighbors that they took things he could have in advance. That's a lot of work, but if you have a child with special dietary needs you're used to that.

If you live in a really big neighborhood, where it is a reasonable thing for them to go to forty houses, I still think there must be solutions. And I am totally not a parent, so I realize I know nothing, but I am someone who loves Halloween. I remember that even though it was a small route that we covered, it was an exciting thing to do and we looked forward to it.

There are elements to trick-or-treating that are not a big deal to an adult, but when you are young being out after dark, knocking on doors, and having the costume were all hugely exciting. The free candy was cool, but it was part of a larger ritual, and I am glad to have participated in that. I remember going out as I was getting older, and you start getting the looks from adults that you are too old, but it's a hard thing to let go of. Symbolically you are letting your childhood go, and then you discover adult equivalents, but there is a magic there that seems to justify some extra sugar once a year.

My trick or treat bucket had no more candy than my Easter basket or my Christmas stocking really. Of course there is more parental control with those other two, but is that the issue? Is your child taking candy from other people, in the dark, and in disguise, just too overwhelming? I can't give a simple "lighten up" there, because I know there are dangers out there, but still, I think it will be okay.

If not, be happy with me because last year I gave out comic books, but we had candy too.

There is another thing that fascinates me, now that I have offended parents who hate trick or treating, is that I hadn't realized how repetitive the candy gets.

Remembering my old trick or treat bucket, I was picturing it and there were things I would look forward too, because I got the same things every year, and there were a lot of them that I only got at Halloween. I would usually get one jelly candy (like gum drops but bigger), some Kraft caramels, a butterscotch disk and a root beer barrel. I looked forward to these, because I never got them at other times. There would be a fun size Snicker and Butterfinger, and usually a couple of Tootsie Pops, and yes, someone would do Winkies or Sweet Tarts, and those weren't really good, but I would eat them anyway, because it's Halloween, and that's what you do. There would also be a small box of Junior Mints, and I think Necco wafers.

It's been a long time, but I remember it pretty clearly because it was remarkably consistent. That seemed kind of odd to me until I realized that I think I have given out the exact same candy for at least four years now. It wasn't anything intentional, but I want to make sure we don't run out, so I look for one of the variety packs. I don't want the one with the Jolly Ranchers or the Nerds because if we have leftovers those are gross. I like everything in the one that is all peanut butter,  but some kids might have a nut allergy. I end up with the bag that has Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey bars, Kit Kats, and Whoppers. And I am standing there looking at the different bags and making a decision every time, but this is the first year that I realized that it keeps being the same decision.

So if the some of the adults on my block always had butterscotch candies on hand, and they just got extra for Halloween, or they got Smarties because those were the cheapest, or they got Snickers because that was their favorite, and it was the same year after year, that's kind of cool. It makes me wish that I could remember who gave out what.

It feels like kind of a cool thing overall though. Let the kids have some candy.