With Halloween just around the corner, I've already started discussing "the candy" issue with my little ones. While it's certainly fun to go trick-or-treating... the fun turns into a real-life Halloween Nightmare when I have to say "no" to a 4th or 5th piece of candy (in a 10 minute period) I typically let them pick 2 or 3 small pieces of candy to eat on Halloween night. And then I have them pick 10 pieces of their favorite candy and we stash them for special treats to be distributed over the following few weeks. And then something interesting happens with all the leftover candy (that my husband and I don't eat... The Switch Witch visits our house and switches out the remaining candy with a toy, puzzle or book. While this may be a cop-out (as opposed to telling the kids we're actually donating it) it works for our family. And then I secretly take the candy to our preschool and I donate it to the candy drive. I'm sure you can check your local neighborhood food banks, schools and/or churches for similar candy drives.

Have Fun and Be Safe!