From where I stand, Halloween ain’t what it used to be.
And no, I’m not talking about the rise of “stranger danger” phobia that drove kids away from neighborhoods and towards the malls, where retailers encourage a pallid, plastic simulacrum of the old ritual, tasteless as candy corn. Best as I can tell, Wallingford, at least, is past that: the streets have been filled with roving packs of vampires and robots these past few years.
No, there are two things that have made me come to dread the holiday I used to enjoy so much:
- Lots of kids have food allergies
- Even if they could eat it, most of the candy kind of sucks
I’ve stayed up with my son when he couldn’t sleep for days because of his reflux, I’ve seen his crazy reactions to particular foods, and I know first hand that all that went away when we changed his diet. I personally know kids that have gone from deep in the autism spectrum to happy healthy by adjusting their diet. I’m sure there are people out there that “think they have it but don’t”, but that doesn’t invalidate that there are many, many kids who can’t eat what you ate when you were growing up. There are more of them today then there used to be: emergency room visits due to food allergies more than doubled from 2001 to 2006. I don’t know why, I have my suspicions, but that’s a conversation for another day.]
So, my first question is, if you’re a kid who can’t eat most of what gets handed out at the doors on Halloween, like my son and a dozen others I know in the neighborhood, what do you do?
But my second question is this: why would anyone eat that crap? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a health nut, I love a good chocolate bar at least as much as the next guy, but really people, have you tasted what they’re passing off as chocolate these days?
The Snickers bars, $100,000 bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups sold in big bags at end caps of QFC are not the same bars you ate when you were growing up.
Hershey’s, Nestle’s, Mars: they’ve all been gradually degrading their ingredients. A small example: In 2008, Hershey’s stopped putting cocoa butter in a number of their candy bars. They can’t legally call them “chocolate” anymore!
I could list ingredients here and raise questions about what that “TBHQ” in Reese’s cups are (hint: “butane”), but I shouldn’t need to. Pick up a 3 Musketeers bar. Put it in your mouth. It tastes chokingly sweet, but good? Come on.
Maybe you’ve got no beef with Halloween. Your kids collect some candy, they enjoy it, you enjoy it. If so, read no further, forget I ever mentioned it.
But for me, I see increasing numbers of kids left out of the Halloween ritual, and those who do participate collecting bags of waxy garbage that’s often thrown away. So what’s to be done?
I happen to have some suggestions.
First, why not give out something besides candy? Like what? Here are some ideas:
- 250 super balls for $14
- 1,000 Legos for $40
- 100+ Mexican jumping beans for $25 [OK, maybe this one is a bad idea]
Second, yes, I’m going to do it. I’m going to touch the third rail of trick-or-treating: make something! Candied apples. Rice krispie treats. Home made marshmallows.
OMG, I’m endangering children, they’re going to be poisoned, how could you let a child take candy from a stranger?!
We all make our own decisions, but my take is that a) the stories about poison and razor blades in candy are mostly urban legend and b) the few actual cases, when taken in the context of the 41 million kids that trick-or-treat, are negligible. Look at the numbers: 550 people die every year from “shopping on Black Friday”. Eating hot dogs kill 70 children every year. High school football is responsible for 20 deaths per year. Roller coasters kill six children per year. How many kids do you think die from poison candy or razor blades every year? Less than one.
You do what you want, I feel comfortable letting my kid do all of those things*, and that includes “eating home-made food from my neighbors”. Not only do I think it’s safe, I think it’s important: I don’t want to instill in him the belief that his neighbors are people to be feared and mistrusted. There’s real, community fracturing harm in that.
But I know that most of the houses we would visit this Halloween won’t be on this bandwagon, so what’s the point in trick-or-treating? What should I tell my boy, who doesn’t eat wheat, corn, eggs, soy or dairy?
Here’s my plan: this year, we’re going to skip the collection phase and just give something away. Something home made and allergy-friendly, like honey candy from our backyard bee hives. Our house isn’t on a high traffic trick-or-treat route, so we’ll probably set up a stand somewhere more popular. If you’re not comfortable letting your child take something from my child, that’s OK. Stop by and say hi, anyway.
Better yet, say “boo!”
* Except shop on Black Friday.
That reminds me, gotta get to QFC before the strike hits and buy a bag of apples and a box of razor blades.
We always have Halloween themed pencils and erasers as well as candy and let the kids choose. I was shocked the first few years how many of the kids choose the pencils. For the really young ones we give out bottles of bubbles with their escorts permission. We know our son always got more candy than he would eat at that age which just left it to us to eat and we sure don’t “need” it.
Thank you for introducing this topic to the neighborhood. I would relish the opportunity to look my neighbor in the eye as they tell me the ingredients in the thoughtfully prepared treats they are giving out. I’d love to try your honey candy, please update us on where you’ll be setting up!
You had me until you started going off about autism being cured by diet changes. Brought your credibility down to street preacher level. Funny that you thought rising allergy rates was going to be the controversy in your opener.
Good points. Too much sugar is never good for children, so even those without allergies don’t need it. My favorite things to get when I was a kid (growing up in very rural PA) were the homemade popcorn balls and candy apples, made with real ingredients. There was also the neighbor that handed out nickles to all the kids (back when a nickle could actually buy something) and a dentist handed out toothbrushes.
I don’t hand out candy at Halloween, not because I’m stingy, but in the 8 years I’ve lived in the neighborhood, only five children total have ever rang my doorbell (I guess they hate my steep hill and 26 steps to the front door). If any show up this year, they get a piece of fruit.
We skip the trick or treating because of food allergies. The only store bought allergen free candy I have found are YumEarth Organic lollipops. You can get them locally.
On a side note. My son has severe regressive autism, non-verbal. Removing food allergens from his diet has dramatically improved his symptoms.
As far back as I can remember (45+ years) we listen to people like you complain about the junk that’s handed out at Halloween. All I can say is it’s curmudgeons like you who kill Halloween for kids. I’m sorry your kid has an allergy. But my kid doesn’t and neither do most. This one time each year kids can partake in something they universally love with abandon unless geezers ruin it for them. I’m all for restricting sugar in our kids diets but not on this day.
By the way — it should be known — Seattle it ranked 5th in the country for best places to trick or treat and Wallingford is listed as one of the best neighborhoods. Don’t ruin it by being the crazy person who hands out super balls and apples.
@Jen, seeing is believing. I know the child personally, and I’ve seen the before and after.
@StAlphonzo: I gave out super balls AND candy last year. Every single child chose the super ball over the candy. If that’s killing halloween, let it die. As for apples, yeah, agree, I wouldn’t do that. Candy apples, yes. Carmel apples, yes. Just an apple and a pat on the head? Curmudgeonly.
Trick or treating has been changing and evolving continuously since it was created in the mid-20th century. Why is it that if it doesn’t look exactly like it was when you happened to do it, it’s “ruining” it?
Oh my, the concept of “live and let live” has died in Wallingford. However, preaching, stake in the ground, enlightening others to right or better or 21st century correctness is very much alive!
I don’t disagree with the author or embrace it. I find it Wallingford at its yoga pants finest! (I also find the first comment about a quick shopping trip to QFC hilarious!). I am surprised there aren’t high-end, organic, allergy free, free range, bit sized, wrapped Halloween candies produced by Theos or Cliff Bar or Fran’s or any other better quality company. That I could get behind.
You all crack me up. I can’t wait until November when some peanut m&m’s and hopefully a little blue mounds bar show up in the lunch room at work!
@Claudia, it’s as sure as clockwork: bring up something that some people have opinions about, and some other set of people will say “oh, you’re so funny and naive for caring about that!” Not sure what you mean the ‘live and let live’ has died” comment. I don’t see anything in here except people making suggestions. The only person condemning someone for expressing an opinion is you.
Some of us would like to have a conversation here. Like I said in the post, if you don’t care, then stop reading and forget I mentioned it, I don’t care. But making yourself feel superior by putting down other people is juvenile.
@Wallyhood — Giving both is a great idea. I’m just being my typical contrarian self. Somewhere in between the candy is evil/Halloween is too commercial folks and the people who blindly hand out anything Hershey exists a happy medium. Like your idea of handing out both.
That said the gluten free, sugar free, fun free, helicopter parents that overpopulate this great neighborhood make me wretch.
I love this idea, but I out the word out to my fb friends and almost all expressed discomfort with letting their kids eat homemade food unless it was from a neighbor they knew, had a label or tag identifying the neighbor, and some even suggested an ingredients list. One mom felt strongly about pencils, bouncy balls, or other goody bag junk.
It sounds like the nostalgia may be for a time when we all knew our neighbors pretty well, people were less transient, &c. Maybe kids stayed in their own neighborhoods more and everybody knew everybody. Our neighbors get 150 kids a year, and hardly any are from the neighborhood.
Overall, I think this is a nice idea, but impractical for our situation. We will, however, bake up some treats and a big batch of cocktails for the parents out walking with the kids. Feel free to stop by the 49th and Burke block!
I don’t see my post as condemning or asking for censorship of thought at all. It is my observation of the post and the subsequent conversation. I don’t even find the issue funny or trivial, and made no mention in that regard.
Absolutely a conversation should be had here, however differing opinions and observations need to be accepted and individuals not called out as uninvited to participate because their comments expand the topic or are commentary on the environment.
Candyfreak, a book by Steve Almond, is a great read. It explores the state of US-manufactured candy in hilarious (mostly) detail. Perhaps we will hand out books this year!
@Claudia, I was reacting to the “the concept of “live and let live” has died in Wallingford.” Since l&ll is core to my philosophy, it surprised me that you read the post otherwise. I don’t see it in the post or the follow-up. I did see snide denigration of clothing / lifestyle choice in your words.
Thanks for your level-headed follow-up response.
My mother made popcorn balls and candy-apples when I was little — She labeled them with name & address. I think it worked out OK.
I find the comments of StAlphonzo worth taking note of! Hear, hear! I can only make assumptions why my words were singled out to debate on not those of StAlphonzo.
Am I denigrating the replacement of soccer moms with yoga pant moms? You take that ad denigrating? Give me a fcking break. Can’t anything be said anymore without being called out as not pc enough? I think uggs with shorts look stupid too. As for the yoga pants, like bike shorts look good within five feet of a bike, yoga pants are not becoming on most figures outside of the studio. (my opinion and I am an avid biker and wearing yoga pants at this very moment)
I love Wallingford, but I find dialogs like this something I read, weigh the values of, and shake my head at. It’s just not the end of the world. But thank you for the fun it gives me.
Thanks for this post, Jordan. I really like the idea of giving out little “tricks” rather than treats for Halloween: whistles, tiny puzzles, dinosaur figures, tiny playthings (see Archie McPhee!), as well as non-candy items like sugarless gum, fortune cookies, crackers, string cheese, chips, nuts and seeds and other assorted snack foods – not all great, but okay. Caring about the food kids eat is incredibly important. Happy Halloween!
I enjoyed your thoughtful discussion on the subject of Halloween (including the follow-up comments), and I would like to add that in addition to Hershey, Nestle and their ilk offering a low quality product, they use chocolate imported from countries which use child slave labor in their cocoa fields. This has been documented.
It seems to me I read an article on that subject last year in Wallyhood(?) or maybe it was somewhere else. But I have been following the battle to correct this outrage ever since, and would never buy their products. Nestle has agreed to stop using child slave labor in 6 years(?!). In fact, back in the 70’s I remember there was a boycott against Nestle because they were undermining poor women in Africa by discouraging the only safe way of feeding their babies (breastfeeding) in order to promote the sale of Nestle infant formula. Many babies died because the mothers did not have a source of clean water for mixing the formula.
I think I still have the button that reads “Crunch Nestle Quick!”
I don’t know what I’ll be handing out for Halloween, but it will probably be from PCC or somewhere besides QFC which may be on strike anyway…
Sheesh, folks, lighten up! I’m very happy that we’re never home on Halloween at my house so we can happily pass on all this crap. Much more fun to be out partying with the adults on All Hallow’s Eve. I guess I’m from a later era ‘cos my folks would never let me eat fruit or homemade stuff that we scored in our trick or treat bags; it went immediately into the trash. Gotta say, the “yoga pants” comment made me smile 🙂
I used to give out cigarettes, but they’ve gotten really expensive.
Whatever you do — cheap candy from the big candy companies, fancy homemade stuff your kids can eat — my kids will like it just fine. (Well there’s one person who hands out granola bars, that they remark on. When I was a kid there was a lady who handed out pennies… every neighborhood has to have one.) It’s just that magic of knocking on a door and getting a treat, out at night with your friends.
Thanks for participating, our kids have loved Halloween in Wallingford!
I LOVE the idea of giving out homemade goodies–my fondest memory of a kid trick or treating was going to the old lady’s house down the street. She made THE BEST apple cider donuts. Her living room was full of kids, happily munching on her treats while parents chatted and drank cider. That’s community. That’s a great Halloween.
Agree with Jen re autism and food link. That has been disproved in evidence based, longitudinal scientific studies, and the jerk in England who made the statements has been banned from all scientific magazines and doing research.
Having said that, I am sure that if a kid, autistic or not, has triggers for allergens and certain foods, then they are removed from his/her diet, he/she most likely feel better and show improvements in certain areas, depending on the area, the child and the subjective and objective observations of the people who know the child.
To Susie, I am glad you have seen some improvement in your child when removing trigger allergens. That is wonderful.
In the past we gave out pez dispensers and Hot Wheel cars, but this year my 5 year old wanted to give out gummi candy shaped as food…hot dogs, pizza and hamburgers. We also are giving out mini m&ms and ring pops all wrapped up in a cute festive bag. We did offer kids to grab handfuls of change from our coin jar (mostly quarters, nickels and dimes), but we got weird looks and some kids refused to partake!
I am really sorry your son has food allergies. Would it work to have him collect candy and bring the loot to the dentist or food bank or trade it in to the ‘candy fairy’ for a toy? We donate our son’s candy to a dentist in Greenlake who sends the candy to our troops abroad.
I will also pick up some non-food and/or non-allergy items for the little ones who would rather have that than the treat bag. I just really hope we get some trick or treaters this year because we are making up 50-60 bags at $3.00+ a bag! 🙂
p.s. It sounds like you guys are set on not collecting…disregard my comments in my second paragraph! Great idea about setting up a booth. We’d love to visit you guys!
Agree with the chocolate comments. I feel the quality of chocolate is deteriorating. Cant find the comment about removing the cocoa butter, but I agree. My chocolate stand by is the 2#+ dark chocolate with almonds. Have gotten them for YEARS. But the one I got last week really is not as good.
Thank you for the super ball idea for Halloween. I’ll give it a try this year. But I’ll get some Almond Joys and Milky Way’s for myself for my freezer.
In Iowa, my mom,and other moms did make small popcorn balls for trick and treat. Reminds me how much I loved them, plus taffy apples.
@iowagirl: You can’t “disprove a link”, since that’s logically equivalent to “proving the null hypothesis“. An evidence based, longitudinal study has shown that whatever particular food-autism link that researcher decided to study wasn’t supported by his/her data, that’s all. In this case, though, I think the “jerk in England” you’re referring to made a claim about autism and vaccination, not food.
I am sure that there are lots of different reasons people get autism. Diet adjustment doesn’t work for everyone, but I can tell you 100%, via an existence proof, that it does work for some. But I’ve found that once people have a belief, it’s very difficult to change, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. This is especially true because the logical beliefs tend to get wrapped up in social ones (i.e., you and Jen probably have a conception of the “kind of person” that holds these beliefs and want to distance yourself from that type).
For our son, it’s the thrill of running through the neighborhood with friends, collecting goodies. We happen to be one of the families with a peanut allergy (me), so we just politely decline if someone only has Reeses stuff.
At the end of the night, he picks out a small baggie of stuff he really wants to eat/keep, and we donate the rest to the food bank. They take leftover candy and turn them into holiday gifts for food bank clients.
We give out colored pencils, the long ones. Kids of all ages, tiny little ones and high schoolers, exclaim “Ooooh!” while they choose colors. Find them at Bartell’s in Wallingford.
What good are my smarties with crushed glass in them if kids going go for the sugar anymore?
umm, I am glad this article is posted forpeople to think about.
Allergies are serious in some children.
Halloween pencils, stickers and another suggestion: trader Joes has large bags ofsmallbags of assorted healthy nuts. You could buy a few of those. How about roasted pumpkin seeds?
Personally, I hate the non-edibles that people give out. The candy is gone before Thanksgiving, but the bits of plastic crap people distribute last forever.
To each his own though.
I find it a bit hard to believe that a kid can make it round a couple of blocks without getting something they can eat or enjoy. We always seem to end up with quite the variety of things (from toys, to home made items, and various candies) and far too many of them — just because the kids love to keep on trick or treating for the fun of it. Ending the night with a big old candy swap generally clears up any remaining problems with folks not getting what they like.
But maybe it’s best just to stick to old-fashioned cash. 🙂
I like the well meaning intention of this “Halloween plea” but please.
Some kids will eat themselves sick with their cache of candy, it’s a right of passage in childhood. Kids with allergies should have oversight from their parents so they don’t get sick. To that end all parents should respectfully monitor their kids candy intake so that their kids don’t turn into real life sugar-addled-little-monsters.
Remember you are the parents… they are kids… this is a wonderful teachable moment for all involved.
BOO!
I like the well meaning intention of this “Halloween plea” but please.
Some kids will eat themselves sick with their cache of candy, it’s a right of passage in childhood. Kids with allergies should have oversight from their parents so they don’t get sick. To that end all parents should respectfully monitor their kids candy intake so that their kids don’t turn into real life sugar-addled-little-monsters.
Remember you are the parents… they are kids… this is a wonderful teachable moment for all involved.
We do glow-in-the-dark bracelets. Buy them in bulk on Amazon and the price works out to about 10 cents each. Last year I gave kids a choice between those and candy and 2 out of 3 went for the bracelets.
Good stuff – I checked one of the links and ran into some interesting stuff I’d never heard about.
If industrial candy is bad tasting junk, let’s not buy it. I think that’s kind of a public service – can very easily imagine some of us buying bags of whatchamacallit bars and handing them out, without any clue what they taste like. Today’s kids are the future of our culture, and treating them to bad tasting junk can’t be good.
@jeff, in this case, they have added and removed suspected foods repeatedly under different conditions, and watched the symptoms follow suit, across two children (not to be sadistic, but because they’re scientific by nature). It was very clear: symptoms were present. Removed foods. Symptoms subsided. Added foods back. Symptoms recurred. Removed foods again. Symptoms subsided. It’s possible they just happened to have removed the foods right before the symptoms would have subsided anyway, except that it’s autism, and generally symptoms never subside, so that the fact that they did was rare enough that it supports the conclusion, from a Bayesian perspective.
They are not alone in this experience, either. But it’s been labeled “nutty” by the bulk of Western doctors, and that’s where the conversation tends to end.
Totally didn’t want to get sidetracked on this. If there were a way to “fork” this thread so we could talk about Halloween candy, but not lose this other important topic, I would.
I do give away non-food items, often Halloween tattoos or other fun trinkety stuff. I try to stay away from plastic cr*p while still offering alternatives for the kids who can’t have candy. I also purchase fair trade, actual chocolate Halloween candy because I can’t stomach purchasing from Nestle et al.
However, my kids will eat as much waxy chocolate as we will allow. So, we allow 3 pieces on Halloween night, and then 1 piece per year of age. So, the 9 year old will get 12 pieces of candy altogether and so on. I eat my favorites and the rest we give away. Since my kids are early to bed, I often just put it back in the bowl and give it to the kids that come after we are already home.
At my friend’s house, the “switch witch” comes in the night and trades the Halloween candy for a fun toy. They have lots of food allergies at their house, so that is the plan they came up with to keep the feelings of injustice at bay.
OMG you can’t give them super balls! A child could choke on that! MY GOD, THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!
Signed – Just yet another typical uptight Seattleite who takes one of the silliest of holidays way too seriously. 😀
i am a primary teacher. The day after Halloween is very hard on many children.. stomache aches, headaches, quick tears….. arguments among friends. Some kids sneak candy to school and eat it during class causing disruption.
Sugar fixation and addiction is hard tobeat, but we adults are the ones to model and manage the situation.
Thank you for alternatives and ideas.
Very nice to read this thread because I have been thinking about this as the holiday nears. (And, I just learned M&Ms make two kinds of M&Ms; the crappy kind sold in the U.S. with artificial dyes (known to cause cancer) and those the E.U. receives made with natural coloring. [Part of a never-ending story.])
But I have a very important question that I would very much appreciate an answer to: If I were to give out change, how much should it be? One quarter? Two quarters? Should I try to get 50-cent pieces from a bank? This is a serious question; I have been struggling with Halloween questions for several years.
Please, post your thoughts/suggestions about this. I am kind of at a loss for what is appropriate.
LaineyK: If you seriously want to give out coins, I would think about what you can afford. (Word will get out!) My son loves 50 cent pieces, because he rarely sees them. That would thrill him more than anything from Archie McPhee!
Thank you very much for this post and discussion. 1 out of 13 kids in the U.S. have food allergies, and the trend is for more food allergy kids, not less. That’s millions of kids (plus millions of non-allergic siblings and parents and other immediate family members who must be vigilant about allergies as well). Just about all of these people want to participate in Halloween in some way. Please have some compassion.
For more info, please see the Web site for the widely respected FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education): http://www.foodallergy.org/
We live here in Wallingford and look forward to trick-or-treating around here for the first time. My son has multiple allergies, and many of his classmates do too. Non-food stuff would be greatly appreciated, and I think it’s more fun that way anyway! Any non-safe foods my son collects we will rounded up and traded for a toy.
At our home, we will be giving away spider rings, Halloween-themed bubbles, tattoos, Annie’s Halloween Bunny crackers which have packaging that clearly label for allergens, and maybe some other non-food things. I don’t mind a Hershey chocolate every now and then, but for Halloween, we have found that most kids love the novelty of Halloweeny non-food stuff.
Wishing everyone a fun, safe, and creative Halloween!
Jordan, thanks for the suggestion for the bouncy balls / party favors.
Here’s what we’ve got this year. Come to Thackeray!
All of these are the Amazon product names, and the whole lot of it cost $35.
– 12 PC Animal Finger Puppets
– 40 Super Bright Finger Flashlights – LED Finger Lamps – Rave Finger Lights
– Neon Party Bubbles
– Play-Doh Party Bag Dough
Free: One bag of clearly bad-for-you zombie candy – chocolate brains filled with red gel. Horrors!
To be true to the thread, I think the main point of this original post was to alert/remind us all that most children love this holiday and want to participate, even though they may have allergies that make it difficult for them and their families. It is a wonderful reminder that regardless of what we, as adults, think of the “treats”, a little bit of sensitivity on our part could go a long way in making the holiday a little happier and perhaps healthier for all of us.
Having said that, Mr Wallyhood, by now you certainly understand that anyone, like yourself, who puts themselves out there with an opinion or even an article to get people to think a little more deeply, does so at their own peril. People will even go out of their way to correct your spelling. I think that the anonymity of email/blog encourages all kinds of people to make tangential sometimes hurtful comments that do not seem necessary, and which, in normal life, their super ego’s (Freud) would control. I feel that Mr. Wallyhood, and the other writers, contribute thoughtful articles aimed at trying to encourage discourse in our neighborhood, with the singular goal of trying to make it a better place for all of us to live…..even with (especially with) our diversity of opinions. I don’t always agree with Mr. Wallyhood, but I feel like I could (and have) disagree with him in an honest way. I challenge my fellow neighbors to have the courage to put your own names on your posts so we could encourage a more honest conversation.
@Wallyhood. I generally love this blog and one of the most entertaining aspects of reading is skimming through the often wacky comments section. However as the creator of the post and a representative of the site you should rise above the inflammatory comments and debates.
Basically I don’t think it’s appropriate for the primary author of this neighborhood blog to promote their un-professional medical opinions. I’m happy that some children seem to benefit from diet modification, but observation in a small number of cases is hardly good science. I can think of a number of reasons why symptoms may seem to improve/worsen with the addition or removal of certain foods that are probably not related to the core disease itself.
If this is a topic of interest for the readers of this blog I would love to see a guest writer, who is a professional researcher or clinician, author a post on this topic.
Plus, ingredients in home-made treats could easily be as allergenic as THBQ.
@Iowagirl-
Thank you for your kind words.
I know it’s a controversial subject. I just report what we have done and what has been documented to have helped.
We were fortunate to have found some wonderful doctors and specialists to work with him. Our son that was once slated by doctors to be institutionalized, is now thriving and well on the road to recovery. It’s a wonderful thing to see.
Actually it’s getting so the blog “guest author who is a professional researcher or clinician” is almost guaranteed to be a quack huckster, especially when it comes to diet topics.
I personally really have it in for diet quacks, but in the present case, his case is reasonably connected to the point of the article, which is timely and very much a neighborhood type topic. The statements about medical issues are either backed up in a way that I was able to track back to honest published medical research, or clearly identified as anecdotal. They were arguably necessary to establish the medical side of the issue as a serious matter for some families. Even if the medical (or self) diagnoses are dubious in your opinion, they’re our neighbors and it’s important to know what’s up with them.
I know a few Autistic kids on Casein/gluten free diets and they have better behavior and are more focused.
My son is Celiac and will ask if he can eat the candy. For those that don’t want their kids to eat every piece of candy or have food sensitivity, most schools have candy buy back/donations. JSIS does this.
Letter to the editor: I have found this to be another one of the very interesting Wallyhood strings. It is the first that I have read where I found the author, Wallyhood, to promote his own agenda so heavily, and to take comments as personal attacks to be responded to. Not that his is a bad agenda, but it really isn’t neutral (not that I expect a blog to be neutral. Was Wallyhood once more neutral? I seem to remember so).
I did find Mr. Wallihood to be defensive. I found the razor blade and broken glass comments to be funny, though I know, no laughing matter. I am thrilled Halloween is taken so seriously; and it seems closing up the house and going to an adult party to be the best advise given.
My name really is Claudia and I really do own a house in Wallingford on one of those streets with oodles of children. I am guessing some may even have food allergies, but they aren’t labelled, so I don’t know. I have given out both trinkets and candy in the past, but this year the martini will win and the parents will need to mingle amongst themselves and their goblins, checking for gluten all on their own.
The most appreciated treat we ever gave was letting the little monsters bang on our marching bass drum for a couple minutes. free. hypo-allergenic.
@52. FYI, JSIS is not doing a candy buy-back this year unless some parent steps up to take it on. The PTSA isn’t doing it and the office/principal isn’t doing it. If a candy buy-back is important to you, the project is yours!
To Susie.
I “get it.” I am the grandma of three special needs wonderful children, one is autistic, but someplace on the spectrum. I am so so happy for you. So happy your so is thriving. Humbling and wonderful.
Shirley
Ha – no. Science is believing.
Folks, the quibbling over autism science is tedious, foolish and completely out of order. The point of that one sentence in the article is not to promote diet cures for autism, but to alert you to the fact that some of your neighbors’ kids are on that path, and that, whatever you may think of it, it’s getting them what they need and they’re committed to it. In case they come to your door and identify themselves, then you can have your arguments ready, but they’re out of place here.
Interesting post. Too bad you tell folks to STFU and then insult by writing, “Why would *anyone* want to eat that crap?” Which is it? Do you want folks to change their Halloween treat shopping/making to keep kids with allergies safe or do you want to convince people not to eat foods that *you* consider crap? Those are two distinct things and crappy food is in the eye/nose/mouth of the beholder/besniffer/betaster.
A more community-minded approach would be to ask Wallyhood readers for help in creating a list or map of allergen-safe trick-or-treating homes. You could also consider rallying some blocks to be an allergen-free zone on Halloween. Or you can let him trick-or-treat and donate the candy, as others have suggested. Carry safe candy or other treats with you to swap out as you go. Part of Halloween’s fun is definitely in walking around and checking out all of the decorated homes, the glowing jack-o-lanterns, the neighborhood kids running around in their costumes.
Celiac.com has a great list of gluten-free candy (I know your child’s list of allergies is long). Susie mentioned YummyEarth brand candy, which is considered allergen-free. Several have mentioned they plan to give out non-candy items.
You ask, “What’s the point of trick-or-treating?” The point is fun. The treats are a part, but only a part, and there are workarounds.
Happy Halloween!
I’m going to give out mini 90% cocoa chocolate bars (NOT milk chocolate). It’s not super sweet, has all the anti-oxidant and anti-depressant ingredients that coca is known for, and tastes great!
@Bb and Kimberly: I don’t purchase cheap plastic party favors either – really dislike them. But, for the past many years that is what i’ve offered for Halloween (along with a “healthier” candy option such as organic lollipops or fair trade chocolate bars). I simply collect all the misc. party favors my kids accumulate throughout the year (and forget about within hours) and recycle them back into the hands of other kids who will be thrilled with them for another few hours. Always a hit! Most kids choose a random toy over the candy.
If I go out and shop for Halloween candy, for me it’s kind of like buying cat food. I’m not planning to eat it. The kids who take it aren’t going to tell me what they think of the taste. The eye/nose/mouth of this beholder are kind of out of the picture. If the guy has a somewhat critical opinion about industrial candy, it doesn’t kill me to hear it. If it made you think about paying real money for fake `chocolate’, good!
Jacqui, thank you so much for the feedback re: quarters vs 50-cent pieces. (If I were rich, I would try for piggy banks too, but I am not :), and would worry if they were glass.)
Our daughter has a life-threatening peanut allergy, so Halloween has been a crazy holiday for us. From the time she was little, we’ve always gone trick or treating with her and then she comes home and plays “candy store” with the candy. She doesn’t really eat candy anyway, so it was never a big deal. But, it is a drag to be left out.
Also, so much of the chocolate candy these days is made with chocolate harvested by child slaves. Hershey’s is a big purchaser of this type of chocolate. We don’t want to participate in that.
As for what we give out: we give out Stretch Island fruit leather. It’s all fruit (not even any oil) and it’s safe for most allergies. The kids love them–truly! Every single kid who comes to our house says they are so happy to get fruit leather. And everyone’s included.
The overwhelming majority of kids can eat the overwhelming majority of halloween treats (though none of us are advised to eat too much of it) so I say leave it up to the parents to police the dietary restrictions of their children. I’d love to bake some wonderful peanut/gluten free thingamajig but that probably ain’t happening and probably most wouldn’t accept it or eat it anyway. So I’ll grab the bulk bag of mini-whatevers and hand them out as usual. Either way I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.
(Love the column and the site. It’s a service and I appreciate it. No offense – regrettably I will add that me and my pals certainly enjoy a private “STFU” amongst ourselves but I gotta say it felt a bit out of place in this space and I would submit it was needlessly contentious and undermined the overall narrative).
In the years that I’ve lived in Wallingford if I do buy Halloween candy I don’t have a single trick or treater. A couple years ago I started to get rolls of quarters and/or crispy new dollar bills to give out. Since I only get a few kids it’s cheaper than candy, the kids dig it, and if I don’t have anyone ring the door bell I’m not stuck eating the left-over candy.
I grew up as a child with allergies to milk and chocolate which made Halloween the worst (with Easter coming in a very close second). At the end of the night, the chocolate from my bag was divided up between my siblings. In return I got their non-chocolate stuff – like smarties, sweet tarts, and those horrible sesame candy. It was always such a disappointment for me as I would only have this small pile of candy compared to the huge haul of my siblings. I would have been thrilled if there had been more stuff that wasn’t candy in my bag.
wow. this thread is great. the author of the article tells folks to STFU? nice. pretty douchy, fella.
if you don’t want certain treats getting in your kids’ bag, that’s your job to watch out for it. some kindly stranger allows you onto their property for free candy for you kid, you say thank you or no thank you.
OMG, people! This thread makes me want to run back to the midwest asap. I think I’m actually done reading this blog now.
For Discounted Tickets to Halloween at the Roosevelt in Hollywood go to: http://jacksguestlist.com/events/halloween-at-the-roosevelt/
Spam alert: #70 from 3:27AM 25 October
Regardless of whatever else is said about or in this post, for me it prompted me to get some non-candy treats at Target today, and to remember to get some non-peanut treats as well. Tattoos and cute pencils were quite cheap (I believe 20 boxes of 3 tattoos each at $4 a bag) and skittles and blow pops are sure to be a hit as well. I’ve now got a great assortment for all the kids that come by. So thanks for the suggestions!
whew.. shake it off.. I am glad I didnt follow the thread!
Get a grip folks.
I am posting a LIGHT point here as it was my reason to come here. B enice.. this thread became meane rthan those block out the sky with development threads- its about candy! And you are adults!
. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnzbZ2RA4qQ&feature=share
I was a bit sad to read the original post. As someone who grew up a Jehovah’s Witness, I was excluded from all sorts of fun holidays. It wasn’t fun, but it also wasn’t that big of a deal, and I didn’t expect people to change because of my family’s beliefs.
That said, I got some great ideas from this thread for different treat options. I really don’t like the plastic trinket ideas though. Ugh.
Last note: I know candies aren’t as good as they used to be, but I just ate a pre-Halloween Reese’s Cup. It contains milk chocolate as the first ingredient. Anyone ever see a Mallo Cup in a local store? I know I can get them online but I’d love to walk into a shop to get one, like I did with my dad when I was a little girl.