Monday, October 28, 2013

Have a Happy {Allergy Free} Halloween!

You're a kid. You LOVE Halloween..but you have food allergies. What is a parent to do?!

I will never tell you that it is EASY to live with food allergies and intolerances. Lets be real; it's not. Halloween is especially challenging if your child has any sensitivities. My little bit just turned 3 (this month!), and she is so excited about Halloween this year. There have been times that I have been nervous or felt bad for her, if I am honest, when I think about her trick-or-treating for all of that candy that she probably can't eat..but we are going to make the best of it! Why do we have to put all of the focus on the candy part?! I have been trying to talk to her a lot about dressing up, but I haven't even mentioned the actual trick-or-treating part. I want her to be more excited about the rest of it and try to put the focus on that ( we do crafts, talk about dressing up and having fun with friends on Halloween, watch her favorite halloween themed cartoons, decorate the house, etc)
So what is my plan for the actual trick-or-treating part? I ordered some small plastic pumpkins that are similar to the idea of easter eggs that contained small trinkets: Oriental Traiding Toy-Filled Jack-O'-Lanterns

There were some good and some not so exciting things inside. I kept some of toys and then added some things of my own. You can be very creative with this part. You know your child, and you know what they are into. Collins can't have artificial colors, which definitely limits the candy options. She LOVES Yum Earth's fruit snacks and gummy bears

 
Surf Sweets Gummy Worms
Enjoy Life's Chocolate Rice Bars (that I broke into pieces to fit in the pumpkins)
All of this candy has NO soy, dairy, nuts, eggs, gluten, or artificial colors..and tastes great! In addition to the trinkets that came in the jack-o-lanterns and the candy i just mentioned, I am also going to stuff some with other things she likes: blueberries, stickers, craisens, tiny bubble containers, dress-up jewelry (dollar tree all the way), etc. I will also put some loose things in the bag ( individual pretzel bags, fans, etc. so all the treats aren't inside the pumpkins). When we go trick or treating i will bring a few snack treats to tide her over but tell her not to peek at all the treats she gets from the houses. If she doesn't peek and waits until we get home, she will get some special MAGIC treats! When we get home, I will have my switchout sac ready and say a magic spell where she cannot see me but can hear me and switch out her candy and then give it to her! I don't know about most kids, but I think getting to open each pumpkin filled with all things she loves plus lots of other fun loose things in the treat bag that are ALL things she likes vs a normal trick-or-treat bag with a hodge podge of good and not so good candy sounds pretty magical and awesome!
You know, our lives aren't always picture perfect, and living with food allergies and intolerances isn't always a dream.. so we just have to improvise and try our best as parents to create new things, change our focus and take each day one day at a time. Matthew 6:34

Happy Halloween from our Family to yours!