What Did We Do With The Candy?

This was our first Halloween as a food allergy family. Last year we were blissfully unaware of the scope food allergies would have in our lives. Bryce was an 8 month old baby too young for candy and Brendan wasn't yet diagnosed with his own (mild) peanut allergy.

This year our plan was to let the kids trick or treat and then come home & sort out the peanut candy and the cross contaminated candy. I bought some cute Sesame Street figures in Target's Dollar Spot for Bryce, and took those across the street to the neighbor for her to put in his pumpkin.

Our neighbors across the street are a nice couple, retired, with children our age and grandkids spread across the USA. They don't see their grandkids often, so they tend to spoil our crew. It's sweet. She went a little crazy this year, with big PEZ dispensers for the older boys and a couple of coloring & sticker books and a bowling set for Bryce. I'll be writing a thank-you with the boys for their generosity.

Anyway, after trick or treating, the kids dumped out their candy and we pulled out all the peanut & nut items, then sorted out the items that are cross contaminated that Brendan can't eat, then let them "eat at will" that night.

Yesterday, I had them keep 10 pieces of candy and the rest is going to school. A student at their school is collecting Halloween candy, taking it to her orthodontist who pays her $1/pound and then with the money she receives she is buying toys to donate to Toys For Tots. PLUS, the kid who donates the most candy gets a prize. Our guys probably had a combined 5lbs of candy donated, so I think they have a good chance of winning. Most kids don't give away this amount of Halloween candy, so it works out.

I must say, the kids did not complain at all about donating all their candy. We talked about it for several weeks beforehand and they knew it was coming. We're slowing trying to shift our holiday focus OFF of food and onto other things. This will make things easier for Bryce as he gets older so he won't feel left out.