Trick or Treat?

Kailtyn, October 31, 2008

My kids won't be trick-or-treating this Halloween. I recently shared my reasons with Adrienne over at Whole New Mom. Honestly, if my kids had remained relatively healthy we probably would have kept the tradition.

Our health crisis in 2008, however demanded a radical lifestyle change. We eliminated sugar and processed foods over a period of a year. I shared a bit about our journey in the article, How and Why We Gave Up Trick-or-Treating.

How do my kids view our decision to stop trick-or-treating?

Brandon (12) says:

“I can’t say I really miss the candy, because I don’t. I appreciate Halloween because I get something on that day anyway, so it’s all the same to me.”

(We let them pick out something at the store instead.)

Colin (13) has written his thoughts in a post titled The Last Trick-or-Treat, excerpted below:

“And now, 5 years later, about to celebrate our 6th non-candy Halloween, I don’t even miss it. When I do, I think of how bad and sick I felt afterwards, and then the rest is easy. And yet some may ask, ‘How did you let go of something like that?’ The answer is easy. Because I needed to.

Humans, if you think about it, ALWAYS have let go of things that no other humans thought possible. It is in the most desperate situations, the most dire circumstances, that we humans see most clearly. We see the things we must keep and the things we must get rid of. In our case, we HAD to get rid of the sweet, delicious, gut-killing, sugary but still INCREDIBLY good candies that A LOT of America thrives on.

So, in conclusion, though October 31st, 2008 was our last trick-or-treat Halloween, it was not our last Halloween. Now, I look forward to being able to spend $15 at Walmart to purchase a movie and one other thing. And now, I prefer our Halloween over our holidays back then, back when we were nearly dead and what we were eating was killing us. Now we are nothing but nurtured, and cared for by our healthy-living, healthy-eating lifestyle.”

As for the kids who come to our door, we'll be offering an array of toys and treats including temporary tattoos and glow sticks.

For more suggested alternatives check out momsAWARE's A Healthier Halloween.