More Halloween Candy alternatives

I've done a bit of research and here is a site that gives a number of good ideas as alternatives to Halloween candy.

Halloween Candy alternatives

and here's another - for those of you interested in a little creative work.

Find_a_Halloween_candy_alternative




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Alternatives to Halloween Candy

OK - I have to admit, my Dad's a dentist, so we never did give out trick or treat candy - we gave out apples. However, our parents did let us collect candy from other houses. I'm following the same practice with my son. (I'm not QUITE crunchy, remember?)

So, I did some digging this morning. Boy, it was tough to find a site with a simple list of alternatives to candy. So, rather than subject you to digging through posts as I did, here's the list of things I've gleaned so far. BTW- now is a great time to get some of these things, as many stores already have Halloween stuff on sale.

glow sticks
foamies stickers from Michaels
hot chocolate packets
temporary tattoos
mini playdough
stickers
Fruit Leather
Anything you can buy at the party store for treat bags (mini harmonica, etc)
superballs

Now that I'm on a roll, I'm beginning to think about some of the things that kids love to play with at my house:

pipe cleaners
wooden beads
buttons

I'll be back researching later. Maybe I can find another site with alternatives and some support for those of you who may find a spouse in disagreement with the "no candy" rule - as mine was!



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Appropriate Halloween Costumes

So, of course today, I've been reading all about Halloween costumes. After vetoing several choices for my child that I deemed inappropriate, I started reading about other's views on this year's crop of costumes Halloween look has some parents riled up. Scary stuff! It's bad enough that every adult female costume is sexy, but little girl costumes border on the "way too adult".

Recently I've been watching how the pre-school girls at my son's school enjoy princess play. A great article discussed this type of play Princess Nation. This had me wondering about the appropriateness of princess play. One book that I recommend for Moms is one my father bought me long ago that takes princess play in another direction - The Paperback Princess by Robert Munsch. Kytka has some great selections for princess stories on her Waldorf Home schoolers site. Some may be a bit too new age for many parents, but many are perfect for the middle path parent.




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Attachment parenting

I have to admit, when my son was born, the first thing I did was buy every baby book I could find. Let me amend that. BEFORE, my son was born, right after the two little blue lines appeared, I bought every baby book published.

As an unabashed believer in the written word, especially when published by "experts", I zeroed in on The American Academy of Pediatrics guide and anticipated following it to the letter. Until my best friend, my new age, yoga instructor, Marin county living, best friend turned me on to Attachment Parenting.

I must digress a minute and tell you that my crunchy best friend was anything but crunchy when we first met and through at least 10 years of our freindship. Then she moved to San Francisco, took up yoga and joined the crunchy crowd. I resisted for many years, but, after she turned me on to attachment parenting, I began to give the natural living lifestyle a second look.

Over the last 4 years, I have experimented with organic foods, homeopathic medicine and Waldorf education. I've limited media, knitted, sewn and trolled natural food stores. I've taken yoga, attended parenting lectures and visited homeschoolers.

Despite my interest in many of the ideas presented, I've decided the middle path is best for me. Like many parents out there, I want to feed, nuture and prepare my child the best that I can. To me this means taking the best that exists from various different parenting authorities.




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My Parenting Journey

Like many who arrived late in the parenting game, I tend to intellectualize the entire process of parenting. I endlessly comb parenting sites for ideas, dip into peer-reviewed journals for statistical information and purchase books by the pound. I can't help myself! In his great book, Freakanomics, by Steven D. Levitt, Dr. Levitt discusses parenting with a quote that more or less says that, " overinvolved parents know who they are and are proud of it; other parents also know who the over-involved parents are and snicker behind their backs". That quote made me laugh out loud...I guess I AM an overinvolved parent and proud of it...we all have our faults :-) OK- so that's who I am now - more on my journey later.




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