Stop ruining everything fun parents! OK, OK, no need to fight but………
Remember when trick or treating began at 8:00 pm and ended when no one would answer their door?
Remember when it involved costumes store bought, home made, and everything in-between, without a thought to your fabric origins?
Remember when it was preferable to hand out regular candy? Didn’t someone toilet paper the yards of those who had the audacity to hand out pennies or apples?
After hours of collecting goodies, we congregated in our living room and made trades. M&Ms for Snickers. Mars bar for Smarties. So on and so forth. By the mid eighties my mother had started checking our candy for signs of tampering after all of those weird poison and needle scares, but afterward it was a free for all sugar fest. It usually took us months to finish our candy. We then did not see any candy again until Easter.
Well not anymore!
Forget fun, let’s try to make Halloween green and healthy.
You want to be your favorite cartoon character for Halloween? Forget it. You’re going to be a twee little Etsy inspired fox or hedgehog made from sustainably harvested fibers and hand sewn with organic thread. Mama has a reputation to uphold after all.
You’re excited for your rare once or twice a year sugar rush? Tough luck kid! Not only is mom only handing out pencil erasers and toothbrushes this Halloween, but she sent out an informational pamphlet to all the neighbors making sure they know to only hand out goodies made of pureed kale, unicorn farts, and Al Gore’s dandruff.
If your costumes, party supplies, and treats are anything other than locally sourced, all organic, fair trade, gmo free, vegan, paleo, sugar free, artificial sweetener free, nut free, macrobiotic, WAHM made, etc, YOU FAIL.
You fail at ruining another holiday. For goodness sake, can we just let our kids have some real fun once in a while? Do we Have to ruin everything trying to be the perfect eco-conscious parent? Not to mention breaking the bank in an effort to avoid conventional candy. Its Candy. It isn’t meant to be healthy. It is a once a year treat. ( And I am not talking about those with real allergies or intolerances. I am talking about the rest of us.)
The kids lost out on the treat. And it was overzealous parents who pulled the trick.
Another hallmark of childhood is biting the dust and I am finding myself rather annoyed.
Halloween is a time for fun, which includes candy. I, for one, will not let my daughter miss out on such a fun holiday. She can eat some extra vegetables the next day. On Halloween, though, we are going trick or treating for candy!
Yep! my kids will be on a sugar bender for dinner that night. lol. The only one who will really suffer for it is me while dealing with their excitement. haha.
love this post. i agree that people go overboard with their “greening” I kinda feel like the stuff I do, like buying organic produce, eating whole grains and cloth diapering and breastfeeding gives me leeway to feed my kids cake or let them play video games and Yes be scary werewolves or cartoon characters for halloween and we trick or treat and eat tons of candy. I am one of the rest of us and I am with you!
I feel the same way. Shouldn’t the good stuff be enough to allow us to enjoy the fun, not so good stuff? I kind of view it like banking uneaten calories to make up for a specially huge dinner. Lol.
I agree! Kids aren’t allowed to be kids anymore and I for one will not allow that. My kids can have candy once a year, dress up, and enjoy Halloween. I’m just so glad that my town isn’t one of those does TorT during the day. What is THAT all about?! Or even better, the ones that are during the day and not even on Halloween!
Lol. Hide your children and lock up your women……people are on the streets after 5pm!
Oh man, am I guilty of this. I hate candy with a passion. Now, I can’t afford the organic costume, nor do I care about that part – they want to be Woody and Buzz, so by golly, they will be! I love when kids get to the age where they choose their costumes and have fun picking it out. But yeah, the candy. That goes to the trash fairly quickly (or to friends, because I hate to eat candy too!). It really is to avoid what it’s going to do to their poor stomachs… because I know what it does to mine 🙁
I loved this post, though. Wonderfully put and said and made me laugh 🙂 Thanks for linking up with us at A Mama Collective!
Well, a lot of people i know either toss a lot of the candy or donate it, so I think you are in good company. 🙂
Well I don’t know if it’s THAT bad. I live in the Portland, OR (very eco-concious) area and most everyone still dresses in whatever costume and hands out crap candy. This year I offered a bowl of candy, cheap toys, and trinkets(skeletons, bat rings, etc.), and most kids picked the toys and trinkets! What I think is sad is that most kids can no longer just freely wander all night. That was the best part!