What's a mom (or dad or friend) to do when facing the Oh-So-Scary combination of Halloween and food allergies? Be creative! Here are just some ideas of what you can do to keep your Fright Night from causing you an anxiety attack ...
Check out some treats that are safe for your goblin. At our house, Smarties and Dum Dum lollipops are ok for our little trick-or-treaters -- maybe there's a treat or two that work for you.
Enlist your costumed kids to hand out treats to neighborhood ghosts and ghouls. Tattoos, stickers, pencils and spider rings are all big hits (and completely allergen-free).
Distribute some safe treats to trusted neighbors, and then send your kids to those houses for some trick-or-treating fun.
Create new traditions. Visit a haunted house, go to a scary movie, or host a Halloween bash at your house instead of hitting the streets.
Trick-or-treat for your favorite charity! Your kids still get the joy of showing off their costumes door-to-door, and they get the good feeling of helping other children in need. Take some time to research where your family sends their money...it can be fun to have your child pick out there favorite charity...near or far!
You can also do a candy swap. Let your children trade their loot for safe treats, money to buy something cool, or for one larger, more fabulous goody. (In our house where baked goods are commonplace, an Enjoy Life chocolate bar is a huge treat!)
These are just some ideas to get you started. The holiday is about having fun more than it is about specific pieces of candy. Once you get going on things you can do to keep the fun in Halloween, it just might become your favorite holiday!
Happy Cooking!
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I'm guessing you guys mean the U.S. "Smarties" which are called Rockets in Canada. In Canada Smarties refers to an M&M like candy that unfortunately is not gluten free. :)
ReplyDeleteWe do mean the US Smarties! I apologize for any confusion! Thanks for letting us know they are marketed differently in Canada.
ReplyDeleteOur system is that everything goes into a common pile when we get home and sort things from there. No one eats anything until it is sorted and we have lots of fun during the sort! We find something fun to do with the unsafe candies and keep the safe ones in a community stash!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Heidi, for the great idea. We are always looking for ways to keep the fun front and center for our kids.
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