Monday, October 27, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
YES! you CAN have a Healthier Halloween!
Halloween is such a FUN holiday for children! They LOVE it!
If your children are like mine, they look forward to it all year long! At our house, as soon as the school supplies were purchased, our kids started talking about Halloween and planning their costumes!
Because my secret motive was to make their Halloween HEALTHIER...I found myself doing the following -
*We went to the store to buy their Halloween TOY!
*I took them to a big box store and allowed them to choose a favorite NEW toy in my chosen
price range - say $10-$15 (per child) or whatever you feel is reasonable and that you can afford! Then, the agreement was that it would sit on top of the refrigerator waiting for them until Halloween. In NO way was the child allowed to play with it at all - not for one minute! This toy was their SPECIAL Halloween toy! (More on this later to explain how I used this)
*I made a BIG deal of their costumes!
I like to sew and we would make their costumes together - they chose the pattern and fabric and "helped" with the sewing process. They often would play and stay close to my sewing area as I worked on their costumes, with the awareness that they would get to try on their costume frequently! Now in the current day, I see such awesome costumes available at the big box stores...there are a lot to choose from and the kids will love the variety and the parents will like the availability! No sewing necessary!
Many children just love to dress up and I found that ours certainly did also! So...I found an
inexpensive trunk and we kept "dress up" clothes and costume stuff in it so they could play pretend costumes and characters every day! They loved it and so did their friends! Every year after Halloween, we added the current costumes to their trunk and the fun of their outfit lasted for a long time!
*I volunteered to be a room parent and help with the school parties!
This was a great opportunity to work closely with the teacher and also to have input in the menus planned for the class parties! I always suggested veggie platters, fresh fruit, and if
possible, meat and cheese trays and real 100% juice as the beverage. Now that there is
pinterest and such wonderful blogs available, it is easy to find cute snack ideas using REAL
foods - healthy foods - to serve at children's parties!
So often with children, presentation is everything! For example, if we served veggies with individual serving cups of dip...the children were much more likely to eat it and enjoy it! I also learned that the older teachers were much more willing to have healthy party foods - they had already endured too many years of wild, out of control and emotional children on melt downs because of the overload of sugar at their class parties in the past!
*I served a HIGH protein supper/dinner BEFORE we went out trick or treating!
I found that this little secret made a HUGE difference for my children. Stuffing their little tummy's with protein meant that they weren't going to struggle with low blood sugar nor blood sugar swings while we were out in costume! Keeping their blood sugar level means LESS emotional meltdowns and with that achieved, everyone has a much better time together! (and they were too full to want to snitch and eat alot of candy while we were out) One of their favorite meals was meat loaf or simple baked chicken, baked potatoes, broccoli and green salad. This menu was so easy to make ahead and then cook it in the crock pot all day, or pop it in the oven when we got home from school.
*We went out trick or treating and they loved being in their costumes, running to the houses, ringing the doorbells and shouting out "trick or treat". One wonderful neighbor lady of ours always gave out quarters - and our kids loved her and her cash money treat! They especially looked forward to her house every year!
*I traded them the TOY for their CANDY!
So after the evening of fun - the kids always loved to sit at the kitchen table and go through their candy bags and sort through all of the candy and see what all they received! We had a house rule that they only got to eat 3 (three) pieces of candy THAT night so they were very careful to pick and choose to eat what they loved the most. Because our children were not used to eating candy - usually 3 pieces was enough to give them a sugar buzz and a slight headache - and then I would bring out their new TOY and the bargin we had made before the Halloween holiday.
Remember the toy we have on the top of the refrigerator? Their FAVORITE new toy? Well...they can have it NOW if they buy it from me with their candy. Yes! They get to eat the first three pieces and then they give ALL the rest of their candy to me in trade for their new toy! They were happy to trade, because, after all, this was a toy that THEY had chosen!
What I wanted for my children was making fun memories together!
What I didn't want for them was the negative effects of sugar on their little bodies! For example, eating too much sugar can seriously compromise the ability of their immune system to fight viruses, bacteria and fungal conditions. Is it any wonder that we often see an increase of sick children in November and December?
It also can have an effect on your child's behavior! - as in, they are falling apart - screaming, yelling, emotional melt downs, and so angry that nothing you say or do brings any consolation!?! Often parents notice that within an hour after eating the sugar dose their child will be a complete emotional mess! For some, its the big events like birthday parties and Halloween, but for others it can be the lollipop at the bank or the cookie at the bakery!
Lets not forget the effect it has on their oral health and teeth! Sugar fuels the growth of bacteria that cause cavities - a great reason to keep the candy consumption DOWN!
I found that with a little preplanning and organization, we had an enjoyable and positive experience of family time and today, my adult children still enjoy reminiscing about their Halloween memories!
I hope that this blog post inspires you to add a little HEALTH to your HALLOWEEN!
See you soon - at the store!
Arlys
Friday, October 24, 2014
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