Although we've yet to carve our pumpkins (!) we've been in the Halloween spirit for several days now. It started with a party on Saturday night - I was a construction worker, Little J a pirate, Big J a vampire, and Daddy had to work - Sunday night we went to see a display of beautiful carved pumpkins at a local shopping center - yesterday Little J had his Halloween party at school - and tonight, of course, is the night.

We will have candy coming out our ears after tonight. We have a saying in our house, originated by me: candy makes you bad.

Obviously, I have strong feelings about my children's sugar consumption. I limit it. Halloween, Valentine's Day, Easter - the holidays that are typically celebrated through gifts of candy - they all serve to work my nerves in a serious way. I usually have to surreptitiously throw things out once the kids are asleep. All this sneaking around on my part and obsessing on their part makes me a little crazy during the holiday season.

Apparently there've been studies "proving" that sugar doesn't cause ADHD behaviors in children. Ummmm...while I don't think that Little J's ADHD is caused by sugar consumption, I do think that a poor diet, too many refined carbs, ups and downs of blood sugar - can truly effect most people's well being. So while his ADHD symptoms aren't caused by sugar, I've been around enough kids to know that excessive sugar consumption makes any kids feel crummy, and when you feel crummy you act crummy.

The good news is that our school district has passed new rules about what the children can be served during celebrations, and based on Little J's Halloween party, I think it's wonderful. In years past when they've asked parents to bring treats for the Halloween party there's been a sign-up sheet that looked like this:

chips
Coke
Sprite
cupcakes
sugar cookies
jello
whipped cream
oreo cookies
cheetos
juice
etc.etc.

Often there was a line labelled "other" and I'd write in: "fruit" or "carrots." I couldn't believe that they would actually feed a menu like the one above to preschoolers.

But this year the list was different:

cherry tomatoes
carrots
cream cheese
whole wheat crackers
grapes
orange slices
graham crackers
olives
etc. etc.

When I asked Little J what he did at his party he proudly said, "we ate eyeballs, fingers, and mummies!" (olives, cheesticks, and hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough). So the last one wasn't super healthy, but hey, I'm not that much of a party pooper - I'm just glad it wasn't like his brother's preschool parties where they had cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, and jello!

So - what's your take towards the most sugar-filled holiday of all? Do you let your kids have at it when they bring home the candy bucket? Or do you dole out a piece at a time....making it last 'til Christmas.