DO YOU RATION YOUR KID’S HALLOWEEN CANDY?

A writer on food website TheTakeout asked, “Do you ration your kids’ Halloween candy, and why?” Some of the responses:
– “Right after they’re done trick-or-treating, we let them have a free-for-all for an extremely short time. Afterwards, they get to choose up to two pieces per day until their supply is exhausted.”
– “Last year we gave them the option to ‘sell’ their candy, and they could get something from Walmart or Amazon. No takers.”
– “I don’t ration Halloween candy, because I am a firm believer in letting my daughter have what’s hers. I also believe in natural consequences. If she eats too much, she’ll learn (and she did). If she runs out, she runs out.”
– “We let them go nuts on Halloween night and then they pick at it until we make it disappear, usually around Thanksgiving time.”
– “The rule in our house was ‘as much as you can eat on Halloween night.’ Gorge until they’re sick and then pick out another 2-3 weeks to be self-parceled out on a one per day basis.”
– “I review all the hauls – not for razors or drugs, but jerks giving out 3-year old tootsie rolls or other terrible candy. Also, the rule is for every wrapper I find that didn’t get put in the trash, I take a piece of candy away. Works wonders.”
* Why pick out all the terrible candy? Kids gotta learn life isn’t all Baby Ruths and Butterfingers.
* Let them have as much as they want, and when they’re bouncing off the walls with the sugar rush, they can vacuum the house and do the dishes and the laundry.
* We make the kids pay a Snickers tax if they want to come back in the house after trick or treating.
* Of course, smart kids will eat their favorite candy while they’re still outside. Oops – sorry if your kids just heard that.
* That “as much as you can eat on Halloween night. Gorge until they’re sick and then pick out another 2-3 weeks to be self-parceled out on a one per day basis”? That’s the Thanksgiving rule at my house.
* PHONE TOPIC: What is your rule on Halloween candy?