Let's get everything out in the open, shall we?

There may be some people who fall over in a dead faint when they read what I am about to write, especially considering the date. So be it. Every year, I dislike Halloween more and more. Don't get me wrong, I love candy as much (or more) as the next girl, but I hate what it does to my kids. Yesterday I sent Princess Frugalgirl to preschool in her pink princess costume with a sack of smiley-face pencil-cap erasers to hand out. She came home 3 hours later with a paper lunch sack bulging with candy. There are 13 other children in the class, and while I didn't actually count the candy in the bag, I'm fairly certain there were more than 13 treats. Some were full-size candies! And since yesterday at that time, Princess Frugalgirl (she also doesn't want to get out of costume, and for yesterday and today, I'm letting her be a princess) hasn't quit whining, crying, screaming, and generally being a pill. I completely blame it on the sugar. She wants candy, candy, candy, and won't quit screaming unless I give it to her. Which I won't, so hence the constant screaming. I've mentioned sugar before, and now that I have read Little Sugar Addicts, this behavior doesn't surprise me at all.

To her credit, she did share several pieces with Frugalboy and Frugalgirl1 when they came home from school. Thank goodness! Now there's less in her bag.

This afternoon, we are going to the annual "Fall Festival" at Frugaldad's place of employ. The kids go from cubicle to cubicle trick-or-treating. It's the most efficient way to get candy on Halloween I've ever seen, besides going to the store and buying your own. In an hour, the kids will have buckets so heavy with candy I'll have to carry them. Plus, no bulky coats or jackets to worry about when the weather is below freezing, as it often is on Halloween in Idaho. And I am doing my part to reduce the sugar intake of the children of the employees there. I bought tricks instead of treats.

But when we get home, all I'll hear is begging for candy, whining, and crying. I've heard all the advice on how to get rid of candy. The Great Pumpkin, the dentist buys it back, daily rationing, giving it to the kids who come to the house, I've heard them all. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to handle it but if 8 years of parenting has taught me anything, it's NOT to give candy to a whiny kid.

I'm not even going to get into why we are avoiding the 4-ward Trunk of Treat activity at the church this afternoon (thank goodness it conflicts with the Fall Festival).

But Halloween even isn't a holiday. We don't celebrate what we're thankful for, we aren't rejoicing in the birth or resurrection of Christ, and it isn't even a celebration of love or our country's independence.

I can't completely deprive my kids of the activities that they are aware of. I'm letting them trick-or -treat this afternoon and I even made butterfly wings, and a wizard hat. But that doesn't mean I like Halloween.