Take the No-Halloween-Candy Pledge!

I know it’s early to start thinking about Halloween, but the retailers are already stocking the shelves with endless rows of candy.  And I am taking the No-Halloween-Candy Pledge.

This year for Halloween, no candy will enter my house and I will not give any out.  

Why?  I do like candy.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Three Musketeers.  M&M’s.  Candy corn.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.  Especially candy corn.  I can eat a whole bag of them.  My mouth waters when I even walk past a display with candy corn.

But I have decided that I love my health and my family even more than I love candy corn.  In the past, if I buy candy, and I don't end up giving it all out, I end up eating it.  The same happens at Easter and Valentine's Day.  I end up buying candy and I end up eating a lot of it.  So this year, I didn't buy any candy for Valentine's Day and I didn't buy any for Easter.  So here comes Halloween.  I am determined to turn Halloween into a fun but healthy holiday for my family.

So what will I do when trick-or-treaters come to my house?  In past years, I have been known as the "Halloween Grinch" around school, but this year I have a solution.  I want to join in the fun in our neighborhood community.  

Look what I found at the Target One Dollar Spot: Halloween Pencils!

I found 8 packages of them this morning and I bought 64 pencils for $8.  I calculated from past years that I have an average of 30-40 kids come every year at my house.  In the past, I have spent way more than $8 on candy.  So I call this a win-win!

This way, kids can have a fun Halloween pencil to use at school and they won't have another piece of candy from me clogging up their arteries and raising their blood sugar.

What if everybody did this?  What if every neighbor gave out a pencil, a pen, or an eraser for Halloween instead of candy?  Especially as the back-to-school season ends, there are probably a lot of great deals out there on school supplies!  Stock up now and you will spend less money than you would on candy!  I think this is a great way to show that we value school and we want our children to focus on what is important.  Halloween candy lasts maybe a day, the taste of each piece lasts for seconds, and it is gone.  Education is something that will last.  Contributing to a child's education, even in a very small way like giving out a Halloween pencil they can actually use, is a statement.  How many kids in your neighborhood need school supplies?  I would bet a lot.  How many kids need candy?  You get my point.

I challenge you to join with me at home and in school and take the No-Halloween-Candy Pledge!  Spread the word and give out school supplies instead.