The Candy Fairy came for a visit earlier this week. No, it’s not what you think. She didn’t leave bags of candy in our home ready for our three-year-old’s eager hands. You see, much as the Tooth Fairy collects teeth and leaves a few quarters or dollars in return, the Candy Fairy collects candy and leaves toys in return.
As you can imagine, after reading my take on modern sweeteners and why you should avoid them, candy does not make a regular appearance in our home. Nonetheless, like all junk food, candy is ubiquitous. Dum Dums are at one bank. Peppermint patties are at another. Bus drivers’ pockets are loaded with miniature candy bars. And every Monday, when we pack a wholesome picnic for free concerts in the park, clowns from the Center for the Arts load my little guy’s hands with tootsie rolls, jollie ranchers and caramels.
I don’t have the heart to say “no,” every single time. Besides, I want my son to make memories and enjoy those simple pleasures of childhood like trick-or-treating and Easter egg hunting. Unfortunately, those childhood traditions invariably celebrate pleasure through sweets and candy. Keep in mind, I’m not totally opposed to sweets or candy; indeed, I love sweets myself – too much. And, without a doubt, I love food and believe we should take pleasure in celebrating that which nourishes our bodies, but I don’t want my son’s perfect little growing body polluted by empty calories and tooth-rotting treats. Nevermind that candy, refined sugar (and unrefined sugar to a lesser degree) and artificial colors affect his temperament in a very negative way.
That’s why I’m so pleased that the Candy Fairy paid us a little visit this week. Anticipating a visit from the Candy Fairy, my three-year-old set a little Japanese sugar cane candy in a special place known only to me, him and the Candy Fairy. Sometime as he slept, she replaced the candy with a dime store toy ladybug and a tiny bottle of bubbles. Imagine what she’ll leave at Halloween.
That’s a great idea! I will have to do this with my Deladis and her massive sweet-tooth and sweet-tooth feeding grandparents.
Well-meaning of course. 
fabulous idea, with four little girls that know how to bat their eyelashes we end up with way more candy than wanted!
What a wonderful idea!!
That’s awesome! My daughter’s always begging for toys.
Jenny, one word: BRILLIANT!!!
I love it! I can’t wait to invite the candy fairy to our house. We’re a Feingold family and are trying to find gentler ways to rid our home of not-so-great treats after well-meaning family have given the kids foods they shouldn’t eat. This is definitely going into my bag of tricks!
We have loved the Candy Fairy for the last seven years. She comes in handy on Halloween (although we call her “the Great Pumpkin”), easter, etc. Unfortunately, my oldest, now 7, has advised us that from now on the Candy Fairy can keep her toys, he just wants the candy. Now we have to come up with a new plan! Urgh. I let him decorate his b-day cupcakes with skittles last week, something I never thought I would do. just trying to find some balance as I fear that he will overdose on forbidden fruit. Any advice??
That’s a fabulous idea! My almost-5yrold kid isn’t so fond of sugar and rarely finishes a sweet treat so it hasn’t been a problem to have her give up candy that’s given to her – she just puts it away and forgets about it.
Brilliant.
My kids’ loot gets put in a big jar on top of the fridge to be doled out very slowly and usually for some good deed or special day. Like you, I have decided that forbidding it completely will probably not be beneficial and may result in a backlash later on, but we are very careful about their sugar intake overall.
I use the peanut allergy as an excuse to “inspect” all the party/school/Halloween candy they receive and thin it out before they even see it, but even after it goes in the jar, they never seem to notice that most of it ends up disappearing (to Daddy’s office to be dumped in the kitchen for his coworkers to nosh on.)
We do something similar. We celebrate All Saints day on November 1st; the Saints leave gifts for any children generous enough to leave their candy out for the saints.
here’s how we dealt (past tense now! we all survived!) with the candy overload. a friend gave me this idea, and i expanded on the theme..
my kids LOVE the stationery/art store. i would make a trip to the store and stock up on great pens, small pads of paper and the like.. on halloween night, they got to choose some candy to keep (a particular number of pieces) and the rest went into a big bag and was left at the front door to the house. I would take a piece of paper and mangle it, then get a big black crayon and write in terrible lettering and badly spelled words that the candy witch had come and stolen all the candy and left them with (HA!) school supplies. it was a riot – my kids loved it. (boys don’t much care for fairy archetypes…) and, i got rid of the candy… what fun.
I love this idea! We got the same idea from my cousin, except we call it The Switch Witch. The kids can pig out on candy after Trick or Treating, then that night we leave the candy by their door and the Switch Witch comes and empties the bag and puts a $10 or less toy in it. Even my teenager got in on it and she received a $10 itunes gift card, so its not all bad!!! The children have not asked about or regretted their sacrifice with regards to the candy. They were completely satisfied. We have done this 2 years in a row with sucess. I think they have more fun running around with their neighborhood friends at night than anything! Candy is just a bonus! But I am sold on The Switch Witch!!
The candy fairy comes to our house on Halloween. I love that you can collect the candy you get other places and leave it out for smaller trainkets throughout the year. We may have to start doing that as well and also add a bonus visit after Christmas