Trick or cute little useless toy?
I‘ve been debating for a few weeks about the possibility of getting cute little (useless) toys to hand out at Halloween instead of candy. On one hand, not buying candy means not having something very tempting in the house that *I* am very likely to eat (and really need to NOT be eating). As well, I feel guilty handing out food I myself am trying not to eat because it’s unhealthy. (Well, at least in mass quantities anyway) 😉
My one fear is that while I will not be personally contributing to the obesity problem in our country, I’m afraid the neighborhood kids might respond by deciding to contribute to the lack of toilet paper in the area around my house. Heh.
On the other hand, what would I hand out? I could hand out fruit or something – but what?? Or some kind of little prize/toy … which would surely end up in the garbage before too long and then spend the next 100 years in a landfill somewhere…
Maybe I’ll go middle of the road… and get little packages of goldfish crackers or something. It’s not sweets, it’s not THAT bad/unhealthy, and (except for the little package/bag it comes in) it’s mostly biodegradeable…
I know at least for my own kids – the real fun isn’t even the candy they get. It’s going around, showing off their costume, getting something (anything, they don’t even care WHAT) from all the neighbors. Most of the candy gets thrown out because they don’t even like it anyway. Zach usually has one bite of each thing and then spits it out. He’s a lot of fun to hang out with on Halloween! Very appropriate for the holiday: very scary! LOL! At least something like goldfish crackers… I mean, who doesn’t like that??
My name is Jennifer and The Working Mom is my online journal. I'm very bad about updating it regularly. I like writing, but not as much as I 
I’m with you on this dilemma. For the past three years, I have ordered stickers and little halloween-themed notepads from inexpensive catalogs (oriental trading for example).
Yes, there have been some who look at me with, “are you kiddding me?” but, surprisingly, even the teenagers respond positively. I was thinking of temporary tattoos this year.
I, too, am actively working on losing weight and candy can be a trigger for me. I might just suck up the fact that I’ll have to pay for speedy shipping and just order the tattoos. Or not. I can handle major decisions, it’s these semi-minor ones that give me pause LOL.
Goldfish are always good! Even adults like goldfish (read: me).
One year, I gave out juice boxes and that was well received b/c most people don’t think of taking hydration with them even though they are out walking for a long time. (did ask that they find a trash can and not litter, though!)