WASHINGTON – Halloween is a night of ghosts and goblins and tricks and treats, but it’s also a holiday full of teachable moments for parents and kids.
Parenting expert and ModernMom.com blogger Leslie Morgan Steiner offers advice on everything from how much candy is too much, to safety concerns and more.
How much candy is too much?
According to Steiner, there is no such thing as too much candy on Halloween. Her trick is to feed kids dinner before trick-or-treating so they are full on healthy food. Then let them eat whatever they want from their treat bag throughout the night.
“Kids cannot resist Halloween candy and they’re just going to lie to you and hide it somewhere,” says Steiner, who says candy is what Halloween is all about.
Some kids, especially those who trick-or-treat in densely-populated residential neighborhoods, collect a lot of loot, and if that happens, Steiner says try “recycling.”
She has her kids stop by the house a few times while they are out trick-or-treating — this gives them the opportunity to check-in, and it also gives them the chance to turn over all of the Halloween candy they don’t like and won’t eat.
“Chances are, other kids are going to want that stuff. I put it back in my Halloween bowl and I give it to other kids,” Steiner says. This trick allows Steiner’s Halloween candy to last later into the night and also reduces waste of what might otherwise be thrown away.
“It’s recycling, plain and simple.”
Staying safe on Halloween night
This year, Halloween falls on a Friday, raising concern among many parents about older kids and adults drinking and driving while kids are out in the streets.
“The big risk for any Halloween has nothing to do with razor blades in apples or strangers kidnapping your adorable little kid in a Tigger costume. It’s car-pedestrian accidents,” Steiner says.
More children are killed in car-pedestrian accidents on Oct. 31 than any other night of the year, Steiner says. To keep kids safe, always accompany little trick-or-treaters, and only let older kids who know not to run into the street or jaywalk trick-or-treat on their own.
How old is too old for trick-or-treating?
Steiner says there’s no such thing as being too old to trick-or-treat. “If a 65-year-old man came to my door, I’d give him candy,” she says. “Halloween is about feeling like a kid again … and I wouldn’t want to deny anybody that.”
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