It’s that time of year: Pumpkins and skeletons adorn lawns and stoops, costumes are being ordered and assembled, and kids are already plotting trick-or-treating routes that will bring them the biggest haul.
Halloween season is upon us, with bags of candy lining grocery store shelves and bowls of miniature candy bars popping up along receptionists’ desks. We’re surrounded by sweet treats well before the 31st, when comments about “too much sugar,” “being bad” and “cheating” reach their peak.
How many of us have heard someone say they buy their least favorite Halloween candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters so they won’t be tempted to eat it all themselves? Our kids are hearing all of this, too.
The truth is, one day filled with sweet treats won’t do any long-term harm to our kids (absent certain medical conditions and provided they brush their teeth). But hearing adults bad-mouth the candy integral to a holiday they look forward to all year does impact the way they understand food and their growing bodies.
The days leading up to Halloween offer us a chance to choose our words mindfully and allow our kids to experience different foods with joy instead of anxiety — perhaps in a way that we didn’t get to ourselves at their age.
