I love a good candy holiday as much as any 3 year old, but as a parent I’m quickly learning that giving in on all of the themed out candy isn’t always the smartest idea. Sure, it makes them happy, and you can use it to bribe them for the family picture but then what? Sugar rush! And when they crash, woe be unto us all and our Easter dinner!
Of course we all know what happens with the leftover candy, do I even need to bring up how many extra calories we, (the Moms, the responsible party) consume when all of this candy is staring us in the face? It ain’t pretty!
So this year, I’m bucking the system and thought I would share a few ideas on making a fun basket, sans the copious amounts of candy.
1. Theme a basket to a movie your kids are wanting to see – Get a couple of themed items along with movie tickets for you to go see the movie together as a family. You could also do this with something that is new on DVD,(Ahem: Frozen…) include popcorn, and candy and make Sunday night your movie night.
2. Pick up some tickets to a local attraction such as McWane Science Center, Splash Adventure, Desoto Caverns, etc.
3. Theme a basket for outside toys, the weather should be getting better and I don’t know about you, but we can never have enough sidewalk chalk or bubbles, maybe even spring for a bubble machine. Play Doh even comes in spring eggs.
4. If you absolutely insist on going the candy route, how about including a new toothbrush? My kids love getting new toothbrushes with their favorite characters on them!
Healthy snacks are also a great option to mix in with any of the above ideas, go with some yogurt raisins or even some chocolate pretzels to save on some of the sugar – and it’s not an all or nothing thing, there will be a bit of candy in our baskets, I’m not crazy and I’m not about to lose an excuse to eat some of the candy that I know the Easter Bunny will bring for me! It’s all about moderation!
What do you do to cut back on the candy in your kids baskets?
