The Switch Witch

(A brilliant idea to end the power struggles with kids and Halloween candy.)

As a self-identified health-nut, Halloween has always been something I have found quite ridiculous. From the costumes to the giant buckets of tooth rot, to the weeks aftermath of my children coming to the dinner table "not hungry" because they were eating handfuls of candy while I was making a healthy dinner, this has never been my favorite "holiday".

And least you think I am some unfun battle-ax (which I may just be anyways), I have found a bit of a compromise that allows everyone to enjoy Halloween.

To be perfectly honest, I stole this idea from my dear friend, Laura, whose commonsense parenting and never-ending quest for healthy living is always an inspiration. When my kids were quite young, she introduced me to the Switch Witch.

The Switch Witch is something like the tooth fairy. The best part is she always comes with a choice. Every Halloween, my kids dress up, run rampant around a neighborhood and collect an obscene amount of candy. They have free rein to eat as much as they want of whatever they want.

And then, they have a choice: Leave the entire bucket of candy outside on the porch for the Switch Witch - or keep it all. If the bucket is left outside full of all the candy, she will leave gifts in the buckets in exchange for the candy - gifts that will last a lot longer than a fun-sized snickers or candy necklace.

Every year, my kids debate weeks before as to whether or not they will leave their buckets out. Every year, they have decided to see what the Switch Witch will bring. It helps that the final decision rests at a point in time when they are stuffed with candy.

Books, fun winter apparel, fancy art supplies, Legos, the remote-control toy they just had to have...all things that have made it into the empty candy bucket on Halloween night. Now they have something I'd rather them have than candy. And we all win.

This year, they are getting older, but still look forward to the Switch Witch, who has turned out Halloween into less of a nightmare for this health-conscious mom. Maybe the Switch Witch will visit your home this Halloween.