Who wants five bucks?

Each year, the day after Halloween my children are offered $5 in exchange for their Halloween candy. I allow them to pick 10 pieces, and then they sell it to me for $5.

It is actually a win-win situation for them. You see, they get to pick a treat from our "task treats basket" each day after school. IF... and only IF... they've completed the seven tasks on their task chart before heading off to school.

Getting dressed
Putting PJ's away
Saying prayers
Eating breakfast
Making bed
Brushing teeth
Having hair done

If tasks are accomplished they get a really awesome sweet treat to go along with their Healthy after school snack. They always get the Healthy snack, regardless of what they have accomplished.

This year, their leftover Halloween candy will be used to fill up the "task treats bucket." So, they are actually getting to eat it. However, it is on my terms instead of theirs, which would be eat until they get SICK and/or my dentist bill is outrageous.

Smarty Pants Me

I know some of you out there depend on my vast knowledge of shopping malls. Because of this, I thought I would pass along a valuable nugget of mall information regarding Halloween.

Did you know you can Trick or Treat at the mall? Because you can. And zillions of kids turn out every year to go Trick or Treating to stores instead of houses. I looked forward to working Halloween every year to see all the cute little kids that made it into our store for treats.

You can Trick or Treat at any time of the day (well, you might want to contact your local mall to find out for sure, but the malls I worked at had kids coming in at 10:00 AM) ALL DAY LONG.

Why is this great? Well, what if your kid secretly goes to bed kind of early and you want them to score some great candy for you? What if you want to take your kid in the afternoon? What if you don’t know or like your neighbors? What if it is too cold outside? What if your kid looks impossibly cute and you want as many people as possible to see them? These are just a few questions to think about when considering going to the mall instead of the alternative; going DOOR TO DOOR in the DARK when it may be FREEZING COLD.

I plan to take my kids to the mall to score some good sugar. That night, I’ll even let my two year old daughter, Hannah, stay up to see some of the Trick or Treaters that come to the door.

What a treat that will be for her.

I know what you’re all thinking right now . . . I’m such a smarty pants.