Costumes and Candy and Sugar Highs, Oh My!
Halloween is such a fun time of year! It makes us remember when we were kids and the excitement we felt ourselves. I love watching the thrill of my children when they search for a costume and when they see all of the spooky decorations to be had. At times, the excess can be overwhelming for us as parents, though. Shelves piled high with candy, costumes with tons of “add-ons” to buy, plus tons of tempting decorations. I’m sure I’m not alone when I walk through the stores with my kids screaming, “Mommy can we buy that?” How do we keep the fun, but also keep everything reasonable as well, without turning into the Halloween Scrooge?
The build-up to Halloween is so much fun, as is pumpkin carving, decorating, and trick-or-treating. However, once you get home with several pounds of candy, you quickly realize that it’s not such a good idea for your kids to eat it all (or for us to either)!
Ideas For What to do With That Excess Candy!!
Save the candy in a cool place for a winter piñata party. Whether it be someone’s birthday or just a fun tradition, put a bag aside to use for another occasion to look forward to. You can also use it to stuff goody bags for a birthday party coming up.
Build a candy city. Just like we make gingerbread houses at Christmas time, create a whole city made of the plethora of candy your kids will receive. It’s a perfect rainy Saturday afternoon activity to surprise your children with. Pulling out some saved candy a month later will be an unexpected treat.
Donate some of the candy. Nursing homes, children’s hospitals, or women’s shelters have people who might not have gotten to participate in Halloween at all. It would brighten (and sweeten) their day and also teach your children the joy of giving to others.
Of course, allow your children (and yourself) to enjoy some of it, but now you can be a little less stressed when you have some ideas of how to deal with the rest.
Some Clever Costumes Cost-Cutters!
The other fun part of Halloween is dressing up in costumes. However, this can become very expensive, especially if you have more than one child. I was in a consignment store recently and they had a large stock of amazing costumes for only $9.00! This was a lot cheaper than the ones that I saw at the retail stores which cost at least $30.00.
Other ideas to save some money are to arrange a costume swap with friends and neighbors. Everyone can bring their old costumes that are in decent shape and you can trade! If you are really creative or talented, try to make a homemade costume. You can especially get away with this when your children are little. They won’t know the difference and tend to look cute in anything anyway.
Having a plan of action will help you to enjoy the season (and its excesses).
Meet The Bella Behind the Blog: Kristen Farley is a mother of three and a domestic goddess. She is a former teacher who enjoys spending lots of time with her kids, healthy eating, volunteering at school, and mommy blogging for the masses.
Be on the lookout for more of Kristen’s expert advice and brillent tips!
