So Halloween... The time for dressing up in costumes, going tricking or treating, and hanging out with friends. When we started on this journey, we didn't think about what could be hidden in the ingredients. We just knew we were staying away from gluten, not corn. I talked to the kids' classroom teachers about what foods they would be serving at their Halloween classroom party so I could make food for the kids that matched. We let our kids go trick or treating and thought all would be okay. The candy we thought would be okay (according to the ingredient list), was not. Thank you hidden corn. UGH. The kids not only felt horrible, but they also ended up giving their candy bags to their friends at school the next day. Boy, they ended up with friends they never knew they even had.
The next year things changed, we started learning more about our allergies, as well as cross-contamination, and the allergic reactions to eating corn, and the other possible triggers. Some of the ingredients in the candy contained "hidden" corn. For example maltodextrin, dextrose, and caramel color. These ingredients contain and are made from corn and corn products. So, when Halloween rolled around again we knew we had to adjust. We wanted our kids to have a "normal" holiday. The kids were "okay" and "fine" with not eating the candy, they just wanted to hang out with their friends. I told the kids we would get some candy they could eat and bring that with them so they would have munchies too. However, the kids announced a couple of days later that they did not want to participate in Halloween anymore. They did not want to go to school on Halloween and they did not want to go trick or treating. It just would not be very much fun. So, Patrick and I took a hard look at how we could change Halloween for the better. How could we make Halloween fun again and create even better memories? Halloween is all about dressing up in fun exciting costumes and all that candy.
So we pulled the kids from school before the Halloween festivities started and had our own Halloween party. Patrick and I came up with some fun alternatives. We came up with several things for the kids. We would make up some scary foods, bake some cut-out cookies to decorate, and carve pumpkins. We also thought the kids would get a kick out of having to hunt for their candy and treats. We took the old candy buckets the kids used to use and we bought more so in total we had 24 buckets to hide. We would hide the buckets outside while the kids ate dinner. We attached a glow-stick to each bucket, so as it got darker they would be a little easier to find and not so scary for the younger two. We have four kids so there would be four items in each bucket. The kids also have different birthstone colors, so when it was possible I would buy four of the same thing just in different colors. This worked especially well when all of the kids were younger, and the best part is that it still works now when the kids are much older. It was so easy to say 'grab your birthstone color'. Having a color designated for each kid has helped to keep the squabbling over things to a minimum.
Some of the items the kids found in their trick or treat buckets were; legos, fuzzy socks, gum, ice cream, markers, homemade caramel, a deck of cards, books, fruit roll-ups, soda, a card that stated they had no chores for a day, and a couple of special chocolate bars that are only sold in one store. I had started buying things early because the cost of all 24+ items would add up fast if I was to buy it all at once.
We waited till just after dusk when the lighting was a minimum and let the kids loose. We hid the buckets around our property. The glow sticks turned out to be an excellent marker when it was dark. Also, having only four items in the bucket was a great way to know when each kid had stopped at the buckets. The kids loved it! They had so much fun running around in the dark, stopping at each bucket and racing to find the next one. The older kids also had a great time leading the younger ones to the more well-hidden buckets.
We also had a very easy time collecting the buckets. We made it a game for our older kids; who could collect the most buckets. Sweetening it with a prize didn't hurt either.
Our itinerary for the night is listed below.
3:30 PM Home from school
4:00 PM Pumpkin carving
5:00 PM Dinner
5:30 PM Getting ready for Trick or Treating
6:00 PM ( or dusk) Trick or Treating
7:00-7:30 PM Back at the house, looking at the loot
After that is movie time, with hot apple cider
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