Five Minutes of Bliss

I'm a softee, especially when it comes to my kids. So, in the excitement of Halloween, I have a hard time saying no to that sweet little costumed face that says, "just this one more little one?" Several years ago we took a clue from friends of ours, and it has worked out well ever since:

After they've spread out their haul and organized it into kind and traded off what they don't like (I'm wondering as I type if all kids do this or if I've just revealed a disturbing obsession with sweets in our home), we set the timer for 5 minutes. They can eat as much as they want in that five minutes, then the candy is put away. It goes into the community candy jar (where Mom swipes all the chocolate out of it in the middle of the night).

But, on a sad side note, this will be the first year my 14yo is not participating with us. He has chosen instead to attend a corn maze with the church youth group. *sigh* I am going kicking and screaming into the old-lady-with-a-teenager-who-won't-be-here-too-much-longer phase of life.

Happy Halloween!