My plan for dealing with the Halloween candy this year was to step back and let the kids have control. I stayed strong last night, and managed to keep my mouth shut today when the little ones unwrapped goody after goody, eschewing breakfast AND lunch, but I’m afraid to say that the experiment ended late this afternoon.
That was when I took proper notice of the enormous bag that L had for her loot. You parents of toddlers and preschoolers have no idea how much candy a determined and athletic 11-year old can gather in a 3 hour period. It was grotesque. She could barely lift it. Too bad I don’t own a bathroom scale. By my best guess, the bag weighed at least 20lbs.
I just looked at her and said No.
First we winnowed out all of the chip bags. Then the chocolates and candies she doesn’t really like. There was still a lot left, but she agreed to another 50% reduction, and the deal that she only eat one or two a day, NOT before breakfast.
On a roll, I confiscated the little kids’ chip bags, and half of their candy, and to my surprise, they didn’t seem to care. I guess allowing them the full day to gorge took the edge off their craving.
The surprising bit in all of this is what L said to me about what I’d done.
I’m kinda glad you took most of it away. I think I would have eaten it all, but felt pretty gross about it. Now I’ll just have a bit, and I’ll enjoy it.
Sheesh.
Oh, man–L.’s comment is so interesting. After total freedom, she figured out a boundary (eating nothing but a huge amount of candy feels gross)–but seemed to realize that she still needs a bit of structure from her mother?
(And you thought YOU were over-thinking Halloween candy issues?)
I know. Clearly this acorn hasn’t fallen far from mama tree.
Oh, no–I meant ME! L. wasn’t overthinking at all–it’s me with the long drawn-out comment on L.’s comment that I was poking fun at! 🙂
Oh. oops. Well, welcome to the Overthinkers Club then. You’ve got lots of company!
Totally my fault–sorry about being unclear.
(The Overthinkers Club should be a blog. We could easily get a few more months out of just analyzing Halloween candy issues . . . while driving ourselves slowly crazy . . . )
Ha! The Overthinkers Not-Quite-Anonymous Club.
And that was my VERY last word.