What have we done!?!?
Tomorrow is the day that trumps Valentine’s Day in pounds of chocolate sold. (I basically made that up, but it has to be true!) Halloween when parents let their kids go door to door and beg for sweets which will eventually give them a sugar coma later that evevning, the kids AND the parents. When I was little I remember coming home and dumping out my bounty on the living room floor. All of the colors of the rainbow were represented: yellow with Dots, orange with Butterfinger, brown with Tootsie Rolls, red with Kit Kats, etc. It was a glorious time for all involved. Of course I had to restrain myself from digging in because Dad would need to check for razor blades and pin holes. Looking back I now realize that he just wanted first dibs on the Milky Ways, but I’m sure his dad did the same thing to him on Halloween, so he earned it. So you may be asking, “This is a nice stroll down Memory Lane and all, but what’s your point?” To be honest, I miss the days when schools allowed Halloween and Christmas parties with goodies galore.
Now, when my dad decided to bring in goodie bags for all of his little goblins, he was told to take out all of the candy. It’s a peanut free school. WHAT?! What have we done over the past generation or two that has made kids so allergy-ridden? I say, when a kid can eat solid foods give him a scoop of Jif peanut butter to build up his tolerance. Why does EVERY kid need to suffer when ONE kid has an allergy. Literally, there is one kid in the entire school that has the allergy, but God forbid (it’s a Catholic school so that’s fine to say) the other kids benefit from a teacher’s generosity! The candies were individually wrapped then put in plastic goody bags and sealed and were going to be given out with the instructions to be opened at home. I think the kids should have a choice. If they wanted a goody bag then they should be offered the chance to take one. Just because there is a possibility that a piece of the individually wrapped, then bagged, then sealed candy might have been processed in a plant with nuts, all the fun is taken away. So keep the allergic kid home from school that ONE day…I’m sure he/she knows how to work an Epi-pen by now. (Too harsh?)
So I say, let’s go back to days of yore with Paydays, and Snickers and Peanut M&Ms and bring on the apples from the old ladies…because in those days the razor blades wouldn’t ruin Halloween for everyone!
For a scary costume...stick one of these on your kid!
And just so you know, I’m aware that some kids are so allergic that they can’t even walk by peanuts and I’m sure it is an AWFUL allergy to have, but I don’t see why the other kids need to miss out!
