How do you keep your children from stuffing their faces with the Valentine candy that comes home from school? Or the candy the Easter Bunny brings? Better yet, Halloween candy? I can tell you what I have been doing for the past 10+ years – Treat Fairy. I am sure you have heard of this or something similar because lets be honest, there realy is no original idea out there. I am not even sure how I came upon this idea because heck I started it pre-pinterest era!
The idea is simple. My children get to pick 5-8 pieces of candy from their stash and the rest goes in one huge bowl. They write a note and in the morning their bowl of candy mysteriously vanishes and is replaced by a slew of different things. They can get a book, gift cards, a toy (under $5. I have 4 children, I have to be economical!), a gift card or when the Treat Fairy isn’t on her “A” game and forgets to go to the store, money. The children love it! Often, their candy they set aside doesn’t even really get eaten because they forget about it. And I’m going to be honest, the Treat Fairy candy goes to me and my husband. Shocker, I know, we are the Treat Fairy. Lol. But we actually don’t eat it all either. We pick out a couple of our faves (mine being Twix and Reese’s cups) and the rest is happily donated to our office collegues.
In all seriousness, the biggest thing about the Treat Fairy and our goal as parents was to teach our children moderation. Life is about balance and some treats every now and then, but it is not about going hog wild when you have a bucket full of sugar. I am happy to say that our practice of using a Treat Fairy has worked. Our children seldom ask for candy and when they do get a treat, more often than not they cannot finish it. An example, my just turned 4 year old son was eating a snack sizepack of m&ms (his favorite) and he could not even finish it. He told me he was done, threw the rest away and asked for milk. Teaching them a healthy lifestyle is priceless.
I would love to hear what other ways parents are handling the candy attack? What tips and tricks are you using?
kookiekrumbsmom 