October 21, 2011
She’s coming to our house on Halloween Night. Word on the street is that she’s building a candy castle so she’s on the hunt for supplies.
So after your trick-or-treaters have changed their costumes for pajamas, and visions of bubblegum dance in their heads, she creeps into their rooms, cackles quietly when she sees their pile of goodies, and switches them. Their extra candy for her unsweetened treasures. Something like a pack of glitter pens, stickers, a box of new crayons, or a star wars action figure.
My girls are pretty sure the Switch Witch is this pointy-nosed beauty who sits on our mantle. Apparently, she comes alive on Halloween Night.
Who knew? Those are the leaps of little imaginations.
I pulled out the treat bags last week and so far they’ve made for great purses. The boys keep packing theirs full of toys, blocks, cars, and dinosaurs. Then, sliding them up onto their shoulder, they call to me, “Bye Mom. I go work!”
But five of these filled with candy? Man. That’s a lot of sweets. And we’re already dentist-bound for three fillings in November.
So that’s what we’ll be doing with all our excess of…
this.
Now. You should also know, the Switch Witch usually ends up with a surplus of candy, and she’s slightly worried about cavities too, so she boxes up her extras and sends them to this charity, who mails care packages to US troops.
I’m not really into more fluff and stuff. So maybe next year we’ll have the girls fill their own box for the troops. I think they’d be game for that after picking out a few candies of their choice.
But for now, the Switch Witch has been a fun incentive for them to part with all that Halloween booty. (Thanks for the idea Shirlee.)
I, on the other hand, will have to use real restraint not to pocket all the Kit Kats, Milky Ways, and Dots as we sort through bags. We all have our favorites, right?
What’s yours?
And what do you do with those copious amounts of post-Halloween sugar?
Sydney
Love it Cath!!!
kara jayne
genius idea. thank you so much. we have actually 'bought' the candy off the kids once. i like switch witch much better.
i always take the almond joy bars!
Shirlee
I'm just having trouble having the candy LAST until Halloween. Shoot!
Anne Marie
Darling idea, Cath. For several years now, we've let the kids have a wild candy splurge Halloween night and then a few pieces each day for a week and then we've bought the rest of it from them. It's mostly worked okay. I wish I had had such a creative idea as the Switch Witch years ago.
Sorry about the cavities! Ugh. We've had our fair share of those around here.
Have a happy weekend. xo
knit one, knit two
I'm hoping the boy's orthodontist swaps the candy for a gift certificate. If not, I offered to swap the candy for a book or iTunes card. The witch is a great idea!
Frau_Mahlzahn
Now that's a good idea!
I don't minde if the kids get loads of candy _once_ a year, but living in Europe it seems as if it continues until Eastern: they get candy for Halloween or (depending where you live) for St. Martin, then we have December 6, St. Nikolaus Day, followed by Christmas and all the cookies that come with it, and my kids go carolling around New Years, so they get candy there, too. In Germany, people get loads of candy for carneval, and then… there's Eastern. So it seems as if it never stops, *ggg*.
You know, I was just thinking how much I like your blog. It's always great to stop by, thank you for that!
So long,
Corinna
Shells
I can't remember where, but I once heard about a family that kept their candy until a certain date, then on that date they made a milkshake with a few pieces of candy and then tossed or gave away the rest. We did that a few years ago. Last year we let the kids have a piece of candy a day for a couple of weeks and then we took the rest into work.
I like the Switch Witch, we might have to try that some time.
Robert
Great idea! But I have been a long time candy hoarder. As a child I would pull out all the suckers and hide them so Mom could not spirit away all the goodies. They would last me for months! If there is any candy left at my house this Halloween, I might try to squirrel away all the chocolate for a strung out treat as long as it lasts (wife permitting). Chocolate has now become the favorite, definitely one of the basic food groups and I am old enough that I can make that choice.
Elizabeth
Love this idea.
And yes, mmmm. I have already been having my issues with caramel and chocolate lately. Gotta have it. I need to figure out some way to filter out the crazy amounts of treats after it's all over.
LizzyP
Love the Switch Witch. I'm definitely going to sign up for her services.
I'm a Milky Way girl myself. Frozen is best.
catharvy
Sydney – you are so cute. and to answer your question, yes – you are awesome! 😉
kara – almond joys? really? there are more almond joy lovers out there than i realized. would you like me to mail you our stash?
Shir – I hear you. Two bags have already been opened at our house. There's might be more snitching this year than switching.
Anne Marie – "wild candy splurge" – fun! And I love the visual. A buy-back is a great idea too. xo
Knit1,Knit2 – great swap ideas!
Corinna – I agree. It's one long candy free-for-all from now until Easter. And it comes at you from every angle. Your comment made me smile. Thank you!
Shells – of course you made a milkshake! Seriously, I want to eat all my meals at the Younce family kitchen! How are you adjusting back to the states?
Dad – you are cracking me up. Let's be honest. You're your mother's son. 😉 And the image of you squirreling away chocolate has me chuckling. Mom – did you read this one?
Elizabeth – ah, caramel and chocolate. There's something so perfect about that mix, isn't there?
Liz – Frozen milky ways? Hmmm… I'll have to try that! xo
cristie
jipped. xox
Marlise
Hi there! I'm new to your blog and really enjoy it (and have told my sister about it–she has 3 month old twins. It's her 5th and 6th (She has 2 girls a year apart, 2 boys 14 months apart, and then the twins)–and she didn't find out until 37 weeks that she was having twin girls!).
Anyways…for our family, we always have the Ward Trunk or Treat first. We buy candy to give out at that, and then the kids get to choose a few of their favorite candies, and then we gather the rest and use THAT to give out to trick-or-treaters ON Halloween! 🙂 Saves money and reduces the amount of candy overall.
Then–after Halloween, they again get to choose their favorites, and then my husband takes the rest to work to give out there. Works every year!
My favorites are Snickers and 100 Grand.
Faires Bears and Toads
What a clever idea. I am going to have to start using that one next year. 🙂