The Good Witch

Inclusion is my passion. Food allergies or elimination diets can feel excluding. So many life events seem to revolve around food. I often make and bring food that is as similar as possible to the food being served so that munchkin 2 feels included. This is true for birthday parties, as well as holidays.

Halloween is no exception, and is particularly brutal, as dairy and soy are in almost every popular candy.

Halloween is a month long event in our house. We go camping at an amazing campground that has a Halloween Weekend. My husbands place of employment traditionally offers one day that the employeers children come dressed up and trick-or treat in certain areas of the buidling. We host a pumpkin painting/carving party, and then of course, there is the night itself- Halloween. By the time all is said and done, we have a rediculouse amount of candy. Restrictions due to food allergies could put a real damper on the whole month, but with a little bit of forthought and a lot of enthusiasim, it is still a wonderful holiday for everyone.

Very early in our allergy adventure, our first "allergy aware" Halloween, I thought about how I could even the playing field so to speak between our oldest two children, and how I could also get the candy out of my house. At the time, I had a co-worker whos son was serving our country and she was collecting candy to ship over seas. To include the children in the disapearence of the candy that invades our home every year, I created "The Good Witch". By the time I finished sharing The Good Witch with our children, they were just as excited, and she has become apart of another wonderful Halloween tradition. The Good Witch comes the night of November 1st. This is for two reasons. 1- It gives our children a whole day to revel in their piles of candy, and 2- It allows the Good Witch to purchase her small presents at a discounted rate. The day after Halloween munchkin 2 counts out how many pieces of candy that she has collected that she can actually eat, and then munchkin 1 counts out the same number of pieces-his choice. They place the extra candy in a special bucket, and that night, the Good Witch comes, leaves a nice note, and a small unwrapped present. In the past, the small present has been a (discounted) dress up item for each of them. (Gotta love the day after Halloween sales!) This year, the kids are getting something a little different. I was able to purchase a gooosebumps dvd for munchkin 1, and munchkin 2 loves the book The Princess In Black- and the second PIB book is being released right about now- just in time for the Good Witch to bring it.

It is important to note that certain candies that are safe in their "full sized" form, often do not have the same ingredients in them in the "fun sized" form. Soy often finds its way into "fun sized" candies. When in doubt, chuck it out!