Non-food treat Halloween

Halloween officially kicks off the holiday season in our house. First comes Halloween followed by a pile of November birthdays, Thanksgiving, a couple December birthdays, Christmas, New Years and then Valentine's Day finishes off several months of candy, food and celebrations. This year will be our first holiday season managing food allergies and I'm already stressed about it. I've decided, for my own sanity's sake, that I'm going to take on each event individually instead of thinking of the daunting "Holiday Season".

Last year Bug was only three-months-old for Halloween so we didn't trick-or-treat. Instead we took lots of pictures of her cute ballerina costume and handed out candy to the neighbor kids in costume (don't get me started on the teenagers who show up without a costume carrying a pillowcase for their candy...). Of all the trick-or-treaters last year I remember one little girl vividly. The four- or five-year-old girl dressed as a princess said, "Trick-or-treat" and when I dropped some candy in her bucket she said, "Does that have peanuts?" Her mom nicely piped in and said, "It's ok, honey, we'll check everything when we get home."

After they left I remember thinking how cute it was that the little girl asked about peanuts and what a great job her parents had done teaching her to ask. What I didn't know at the time was the terror her parents must have felt that night while trying to make sure their food allergy child had fun but also stayed safe. I also didn't know that my three-month-old ballerina and the cute little princess had something in common. Food allergies.

Bug isn't old enough to trick-or-treat this year but we've decided to take some steps to make food allergy kids feel more included during a holiday focused almost completely on candy. We're participating in a non-food treat Halloween and I couldn't be more excited! This year we'll hand out glow sticks and glow-in-the-dark bouncy balls instead of candy. I ordered them online using Amazon Prime and spent about $20. In years past we've spent way more on candy and I usually eat my fair share before the evening is over. We're also displaying this sign on our mailbox so parents know we have non-food treats. Not only is this great for food allergy kiddos that may feel excluded but it's a healthier option for all kids! We all know childhood obesity is on the rise so why not provide non-food treats for all kids?

I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Fingers crossed the neighborhood kids don't protest and egg our house!

Awesome glow bracelets!

-Garlic Free Mama