There was a time when the neighborhood kids did not get Halloween candy from the Atwood family. Instead, we handed out granola bars because we thought it was a healthier choice. We weren’t the favorite house in the neighborhood. Fran Evans down the road beat out everyone. She made cupcakes from scratch and put each child from the neighborhood’s name on top. My daughters still remember those cupcakes with great fondness.
I hope they remember the costumes I made for them with equal fondness because I can’t help but notice that in the picture below, no one is smiling! I’m willing to bet that I was still finishing up that clown costume moments before the picture was taken.
I’m sure it was the same situation with the Little Mermaid costume I made a few years later.
Back to those granola bars. As someone who has been writing about health and wellness for a long time, the expectation might be that it was my idea to hand them out. It wasn’t. He shall remain nameless.
Which one is Barry Atwood?
I happen to have a weakness for Halloween candy and nothing made me happier as a child than dumping out all my Halloween treats, sorting them into categories based on which ones I liked best, and then digging in!
Diane’s favorite Halloween candy
Time for that confession
When my daughters were very young — perhaps when they wore clown and mermaid costumes — we put their Halloween candy in the freezer for safe keeping. One year, after about a week, they both forgot about it. I didn’t. Little by little, I ate my children’s Halloween treats. At least, the ones I liked. I put the granola bars back on the pantry shelf. I am so relieved to get that off my chest.
Even though our daughters are now adults and one has her own little girl now, we still look forward to Halloween. We don’t give out granola bars anymore. Now, I make chocolate chip cookies from scratch. We always add a tag to the bag of cookies letting everyone know that I made them and they’re safe to eat. They may not be as personal as Fran Evans’ cupcakes, but the trick or treaters always seem happy to get them, and — confession time again — I’m happy to finish off all of the leftovers.
I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween and remember, just because I ate my children’s candy doesn’t mean it’s ok for you to do it too!
PS My daughters insist that I never even told them their candy was in the freezer. I feel really guilty now.
This was the first thing I read this morning. Good one! I’m still smiling.
You’ve made my day!
Well!. I’m Stunned! …, well, not really. If we had kids I’d have probably done the same thing. I love candy and I remember performing the same Halloween-Loot separation ritual making (and hoarding) piles of my favorites and ‘graciously’ allowing my brothers and sister to have the junky ones I didn’t like. Boo Hoo for them. Happy Halloween!
Ross, this sounds like a version of gut reaction. Our brains likely told us not to, but our guts said to go for it!
Loved your confessions. I added raisins and cranberries to the “loot” this year. Some of them were taken. Thought about granola bars but didn’t get those out. Had to make sure all the candy was gone so I wouldn’t eat the left-overs. Didn’t work…. 🙂 Took some to a meeting yesterday tho’….in a wine bag. Folks were really excited until I dumped out the candy contents!