The Switch-Witch is coming to our house tonight. A friend mentioned the concept of Switch Witch to my husband and I was immediately thrilled. A shared solution to the Halloween hangovers. Some genius parent came up with the idea of having a witch arrive at your home during the night to swap out any remaining halloween candy with a small prize. The plan is that we’ll leave the candy by the door tonight and she’s due anytime after bedtime. When I presented the idea to the boys they were thrilled, engaged, and don’t seem to even notice that they’re saying good-bye to a pound of chocolate.
Even though we’ve rationed the halloween candy to a piece a day since November 1st, I’m looking forward to returning to candy-free days. One and a half weeks of a sugar focus is long enough.
Better than the exodus of the candy is the reminder of how beautifully children believe in magic. O asked me this morning,
“Will the Switch Witch ring the door bell when she comes?”
Footer
Christine says
That is a great idea! I wished I had heard of the “Switch Witch” sooner! I did introduce the “toy fairy” pretty early on. If my children did not have their toys put away by the time they went to bed, they were informed that a toy fairy may come by in the night to pick up all of the left out toys. These same toys would then be returned bythe toy fairy on a later visit if they kept their toys tidied. It worked great to keep the toys (especially the lego which seems to get everywhere) from inflitrating the house. My boy is 9 now and still makes reference to the “toy fairy” when he has lost one of his toys even though the toy fairy has not visited for years.
Kelly says
At our house, the Tooth Fairie comes and takes unwanted candy at the end of sorting on Halloween. She leaves money in exchange. Nothing extravagant. She’s just looking out for the teeth.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Love it, Kelly. So sensible!!
Susannah Fox says
What about being honest and letting the kids know why you don’t think it’s a good idea to keep all the candy in the house? Why the need to put it on an imaginary third party?
We’ve always traded all the candy except 10 favorites for a set of Pokemon cards, baseball cards, a toy — whatever is the current craze — and had a family chat about how, if they ate all 200 pieces of candy, they wouldn’t feel well and would be more likely to get cavities.
Jen says
I tend to agree with Susannah. We let the kids have a free for all Halloween night which usually doesn’t amount to much. Then after we pick out 20 favorite pieces and donate the rest. No buy back, no prize just a you have 20 favorites that are rationed for special treats and the rest you don’t need. this year they are being donated to the school to be sent overseas. usually the candy gets forgotten about after a couple of weeks and I end up throwing the last of it away.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Oh geez, I don’t know. I mean, I think these perspectives highlight the different hues of parenting. My boys are young. And we do lots of explaining WHY to rules, etc. We are very transparent about what we do and why we do it. We talked about health and teeth when we rationed to 1 candy a day for 9 days (and the 4 pieces they got Halloween night). In the end, I actually felt I may have restricted them too much. But I really enjoyed using magic (the witch) to support the end of the candy. Not because I had to or wasn’t able to stand ground and take it away, but because they really enjoyed thinking about Switch Witch.
And just today the tooth fairy came to our home, too. Similar in concept. While they are young I want to have these traditions and bring joy and magic into the air….too soon the opportunity will be gone in a poof.
Jen says
Oh I totally get it. We do a lot of magical stuff around our house too. My daughter is almost 10 and still believes that the tooth fairy comes and that Tinkerbell visits and that fairies change the seasons. My boys are 2 and 3 and think they can talk to Lightening Mcqueen. It’s just in this particular case I wanted to just be straight forward and say you already got the candy there are plenty of other holidays for treats and gifts. This one we just give up the candy just because it’s better for our health. I definitely ride a fine line of being to restrictive sometimes. But it gives me a chance to be a hero mom when one day I declare we can have dessert when it’s not expected at all.
Viki says
They eat a piece each after collecting it then mom puts the loot away for safekeeping and it’s forgotten. For the week following Halloween they ask for a piece, and I say, maybe and ask me after dinner. If they remember to ask before brushing their teeth, they get a piece. Otherwise, the request is bumped to dinner the next day. Then we’re done until the Advent calendar and Easter.
We don’t do magic stuff- no elves, witches, fairies, bunnies or even Santa. Non-factual stuff makes our family life more complicated.
kelly says
I love the Switch Witch. We are fans of the magical and fantastical in our house. The Switch Witch came to our house too. Brilliant. Fun. Exciting.
Thanks for sharing!
And congrats on the tooth fairy!
Austin Walker says
That is great Jen that you guys have a program at the school has set up to send the candy overseas. I have donated it to our church group in the past. I think I will pitch that to the school board at our next meeting. Thanks for adding that!
Regards,
Austin Walker
Teen Acadimics Coach
Isabelle Kuhlmeyer says
Thank you for the idea! It worked flawlessly for our 4 years old!
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, MBE says
Awesome!!