Today I’d like to talk about Halloween and how this holiday is like kryptonite to me! 

Don’t get me wrong.  I love seeing the little kids come up to my house on Halloween w/ me in some silly mask or hat and the dog w/ her outfit on.  If it is a costume I don’t recognize, I ask the kids what they are and sometimes get quite surprising responses.  I still remember the little girl in a business suit w/ glasses and a briefcase saying  ”I am a professional woman.” I smirked thinking to myself, I wish I could get paid just for being a woman! (oh wait, I think that is illegal).  I especially admire the little girls who wear fairy/princess outfits (think Jasmine from Aladdin) when the temp is in low 40s! They INSIST on taking off the coats their parents require them to wear “AT LEAST until I get my candy!”

Now, the cute kids coming by my house for a few hours once a year isn’t the problem.  It is what those cute kids seek – HALLOWEEN CANDY! My problem is threefold: 1) Halloween provides the PERFECT excuse for me to buy candy.  2) Halloween candy comes in HUGE bags. 3) I have absolutely no will power (OK, maybe that is my first problem).

I used to be the “plan ahead” kind of person when it came to Halloween, buying a few bags of candy early in Oct. so I would have a stash for the big distribution day.  The problem was that those bags “disappeared” before Halloween and I’d have to dash out to buy more candy before the trick or treater’s came knocking.

Then I came up w/ the brilliant idea that I’d buy the candy, but I’d hide it.  You know, “outta site, outta mind”!  That worked fine until I realized that I was always searching for something in the very locations I hid the Halloween booty! Now wouldn’t you guess… by Halloween I’d be down a couple of bags of candy!

The last couple of years I got smart – “lead me not into temptation!”  I wouldn’t buy candy until a few days before Halloween.  At least this way my damage to the stash would be limited.  Ah, but no! It is amazing how a mind w/ no willpower will figure a way to enable you!  Sure, I wasn’t consuming gluttonous amounts of candy the weeks before Halloween… I was now doing it AFTER!  Instead of the 3-4 bags we would need to “cover” the trick or treater’s, I’d buy 6-7 bags – All the best!  Snickers, Reeses, Starbursts, Skittles… The list goes on and on! And WHOOPS! all the treater’s would come and I’d still be left w/ a big bowl of candy.

Still, I was determined… I decided I would buy stuff that I did not like as much and throw in just a couple of bags of the stuff I did like!  How did my subconscious betray me?! I’d hand out the candy, giving the kids the stuff I didn’t like as much and leaving my “favorites” in the bowl.

Well, this year, I SWORE I was going to find a way to avoid it.  I went to our local discount store and wandered around looking for the candy.  I didn’t see it at first and thought WOW, am I THAT late that it’s THIS picked over?

I then saw bags of pretzels and animal crackers in orange and black bags and a few bags of the “icky” candy.  My little angel popped up on my shoulder and said “God brought you this way to avoid temptation – buy the pretzels!” Then my eyes caught the labels of Snickers and Skittles down a few rows and my little devil popped up on my other shoulder and said “Come on, Halloween’s only one day a year!!!”

What do you think I did? Check it out!

I know, I know… anyone know the number for the Halloween candy support group?