I have never heard of it either until the day after Halloween in my classroom. The kids were telling me about trick or treating and one kid said "The Switch Witch came!" I said "The whaaaa??" And he said "You know, when you leave your candy out and the Switch Witch comes and takes it and leaves a toy!"
Yep, we've used it for a few years ("she's" coming tonight because I've been away at a conference). We give the kids a few days with their candy and then the switch witch comes and brings them whatever they are into at that point. This year it will be baseball cards, etc. It's awesome ;D
Having candy around all the time is insane. My kids counted 296 pieces of candy that they got - it would take forever for them to eat it and quite frankly, we don't keep a whole lot of junk in the house. So, they get their fill over a few days and trust me, I mean candy in the morning, afternoon, whatever. It doesn't matter to me since it's only for two or three days. Also, they like what the switch witch brings them, it's not like it's a bunch of crap they hate - they love it when she comes and brings them gifts.
Hanna, the candy usually goes to my office (or to my students if they are having a test!) to get it out of the house...or else I have to eat it
Growing up we rarely ate candy so Halloween candy was like you know... a TREAT!! I would have been pissed if the damn Switch Witch came to our house!
Ditto. There is nothing wrong with letting your kids eat 2 pieces of candy after dinner for a very long time.
I agree, except with my kids - and perhaps they are unique but I don't believe so based on my friends and their kids - ALL I hear about is the candy from sun up to sun down. It's maddening. And with 300ish pieces of candy to eat it would take approximately 75 days for my boys to eat the candy at two pieces per day after dinner. So, for me and my kiddos it works. That's all I'm saying. They would much rather have stuff they can use all year long than candy. Last year, it was sporting equipment and they still play with and enjoy it.
It depends on the kid. I know many of my students are already sick of their candy. They would probably love this lol.
I used to get rid of mine after a week. I could only eat so much. I would give it to my mom to take to her office. She never forced me. But after a week I was bored of t and on candy overload. A toy would have been awesome!
We don't usually have much junk food in the house, either. And that's one reason I don't mind Halloween candy - I know they eat well most of the time and we're an everything-in-moderation kinda family, not a restrictive one.
So, we won't make it through anywhere close to all of the candy (hell - I had to empty the junk out of the treat bowl before Halloween from LAST Halloween and Christmas - we just don't eat a ton of candy around here) regardless, and instead of trading for a toy, we'll just make sure they only eat as much as we're comfortable with.
I think getting a toy in exchange for candy instead of just regulating the candy eating itself makes too big a deal out of the candy, personally.
I was reading a blog the other day where she takes her kids ToTing but they aren't allowed to eat ANY of the candy. She does replace it with a toy or their version of "candy", which is like, dried fruit. They are very very extreme about food in their house.
Having spent a week my my sister's kids, I can see the wisdom in it. It's kinder than throwing either the candy or the kids off a bridge, which is what I was ready for after day 3 of "Can I have some candy now?" thirty seven times a day.
I was reading a blog the other day where she takes her kids ToTing but they aren't allowed to eat ANY of the candy. She does replace it with a toy or their version of "candy", which is like, dried fruit. They are very very extreme about food in their house.
Yes but called "candy witch". My DD has a friend who exchanges 10 pieces of candy for a toy. My DD wants to do this & I told her no, she would not be visiting us. My kids have enough toys, I'm not spending money for yet more of them. My kids have hundreds of pieces of candy (now hidden away), they wouldn't even miss 10, or even 100. I'm not buying them more toys/stuff damn it! They'll get pieces as treats as we see fit until it's gone. Out of sight out of mind--they are 8, 5 & 3 & definitely don't constantly bug us about it. They did, I'd tell them I hear about it again & it's all going in the trash.
I was reading a blog the other day where she takes her kids ToTing but they aren't allowed to eat ANY of the candy. She does replace it with a toy or their version of "candy", which is like, dried fruit. They are very very extreme about food in their house.
Seriously? What blog is this?
I will PM you, she's a former nestie, on the bump now I believe.
Yes but called "candy witch". My DD has a friend who exchanges 10 pieces of candy for a toy. My DD wants to do this & I told her no, she would not be visiting us. My kids have enough toys, I'm not spending money for yet more of them. My kids have hundreds of pieces of candy (now hidden away), they wouldn't even miss 10, or even 100. I'm not buying them more toys/stuff damn it! They'll get pieces as treats as we see fit until it's gone.
This is what we plan on doing once we actually start trick or treating as it is what our parents did. They'd stick it all in a bag/bowl on a shelf and whenever we were extra well-behaved or if it was a special occasion we'd get to pick a piece or two.
Also, I'm constantly trying to shuffle out toys- Silas is barely a month old and already has just as much crap as Jonah!
Post by UMaineTeach on Nov 4, 2012 20:49:58 GMT -5
I don't think I should have to spend money to make up for what I let other people give my (imaginary) kid. I'm thinking if I cared about limiting how much candy my kid had I would limit ToTing to fewer houses.
Post by schrodinger on Nov 4, 2012 20:59:34 GMT -5
I only heard about this on FB the other day. A dentist's wife posted about how the Switch Witch was coming to leave a toy, toothbrush and oral hygiene educational material.
It seems kind of unfair to the kids. If they want to trade, have at it, but I feel like they earned the candy. If you want them to have less, set a limit on how long they can go ToT. In our house, after a few days, candy goes on the top shelf and is reserved for Treat Friday. Every Friday, SDs get to choose what they want as a special treat. Sometimes they pick Halloween candy (or Easter candy, or Birthday candy, etc), but sometimes we have other treats for them to pick from.
Post by amberatkins on Nov 4, 2012 21:29:03 GMT -5
We do it, but it's the Great Pumpkin. We let the kids keep a few pieces and they put the rest out and the Great Pumpkin takes it and leaves them a toy. My kids think it's awesome. They're still pretty young and if when they get older they want to just keep the candy, fine. But for now it's awesome because I get seriously tired of having candy around all the time.