Ahhh, Halloween!
The costumes, the decorations, the excitement of trick-or-treating, and, of course, enough candy to keep every dentist in town employed for the next ten years.
I love Halloween. I love decorating the house, watching the kids decide what they want to be, and seeing all those little ghosts, witches, and superheroes running around the neighborhood.
But there’s just one little problem.
THE CANDY!
I don’t know about your house, but in ours, we needed two enormous bowls just to hold everything my boys collected on Halloween night.
And here’s where things got interesting.
I have two sons who couldn’t be more different when it comes to candy.
My oldest? He couldn’t care less. Seriously, the kid doesn’t like candy.
I know. What child doesn’t like candy? Apparently, mine.
My youngest, on the other hand, would happily eat his entire Halloween collection in one day if we let him.
Breakfast? Chocolate.
Lunch? Lollipops.
Dinner? A nice assortment of gummy worms with a side of candy corn.
A perfectly balanced diet, according to a six-year-old.
Now, as the responsible mother in the house, I had to figure out what to do with all this candy before my youngest turned into one giant sugar cube.
My first solution was simple. We’d keep some candy, and whatever the boys didn’t want could go to Grandma and Grandpa.
Sounds reasonable, right?
Well, apparently, I had just committed the greatest injustice in childhood history.
My youngest was absolutely horrified that I would even THINK about giving away HIS candy.
Never mind that we had enough to last until Easter.
It was HIS candy.
Every. Single. Piece.
And he wasn’t about to let Mom and Dad get their hands on it.
So what did my little genius do?
He hid his candy under his pillow!
Yes, you read that correctly.
Under. His. Pillow.
Apparently, he figured that if he slept on top of it, nobody could take it away.
I mean, you have to admire the planning. The child was six years old and already had his own security system.
Forget hiding money under the mattress. My son was protecting his chocolate!
Well, the next morning, Mom and Dad had a little story to tell.
And that’s how the Candy Man was born.
You see, everyone knows about the Tooth Fairy. You put your tooth under your pillow, go to sleep, and a little magic happens overnight.
Well, in our house, we had someone a little different.
The Candy Man.
According to our story, the Candy Man was a mysterious fellow who visited houses at night, while everyone was fast asleep.
But instead of collecting teeth, he collected extra Halloween candy.
And what did he do with all that candy?
He took it to children who hadn’t been able to go trick-or-treating.
Now, before anyone starts questioning my parenting techniques, remember that I was dealing with a six-year-old who considered every piece of candy a priceless family heirloom.
I had to get creative!
And guess what?
It worked!
My youngest finally understood that he didn’t need to keep every single piece of candy he collected.
The Candy Man had saved Halloween.
Or at least saved me from arguing over 47 lollipops and a mountain of chocolate.
And I figured that was the end of it.
Oh, how wrong I was.
A few weeks before the following Halloween, my youngest came up to me with a very serious question.
“Mom, is the Candy Man coming again this year?”
I nearly fell over.
HE REMEMBERED?!
Of all the things this child could forget—where he left his shoes, whether he brushed his teeth, or something I told him five minutes ago—he remembered the Candy Man from LAST Halloween!
Unbelievable.
Naturally, I had to keep a straight face.
“Well,” I told him, “I guess that depends on how much candy you collect this year.”
And just like that, the Candy Man was officially back in business.
Apparently, once you invent a mysterious Halloween visitor, you can’t just retire him.
Who knew?
So, to all the moms and dads out there who find themselves staring at mountains of Halloween candy, wondering what on earth they’re going to do with it all, maybe the Candy Man can pay your house a visit, too.
He’s quiet, works the night shift, and doesn’t charge a penny.
Just remember, like the Tooth Fairy, he only comes when the kids are sleeping.
And if your children are anything like mine, be prepared.
They might forget to clean their rooms, put away their toys, or listen when you call them for dinner.
But a mysterious man who comes in the middle of the night to take their Halloween candy?
Oh, THAT they’ll remember!
Happy Halloween from one candy-surviving mom to another!
Mom Life, as it happens. ❤️
Leave a Reply