Halloween Fallout

Or should I say, Halloween, make your teeth fall out?

The Children had a marvelous time on Wednesday, both trick or treating and handing out candy. Q will literally run down our driveway to meet you at the sidewalk to give you candy. Needless to say, he tends to shock more than a few kids by doing this.

At around six o'clock (I love writing out the time) Wonder Woman and Darth Vader made a sudden appearance, as did Shaggy (my husband), and off we went to gather some loot. And gather loot we did.

We were gone for about an hour or so ... which in the whole scheme of things, is not a long time. When I was trick or treating, we used to be gone from 1 -5. Granted, this was always the Sunday before Halloween, but we were out the door at one, and back in after five.

I don't know what the difference is, but there were not a lot of kids out this year. I could have easily gotten by with two bags of candy, and I'm not talking the big ones. While we were gone, my mother in law handed out candy to four kids. After we got home, there was nobody until just before eight o'clock. I think our total was maybe forty kids, and that is being generous.

And, even though I'm in the Chicago area, and the running joke is that you have to plan a Halloween costume to go around winter jackets and snow pants, it was actually a very nice night. I managed with a turtle neck under my t-shirt and a sweater coat. Last year it rained, and I remember as a kid, trick or treating in the snow or in very cold (freezing) weather.

So ... what did my kids come away with ... I weighed it out, and here's the totals:

• 1 pound, 4 ounces of candy is being taken to my work (sweet tarts, suckers, the chewy or sticky stuff we can't eat)
• 5 pounds, 6 ounces is being kept here (although some of it has been frozen to bake with later this year - I'm sure I can find a recipe for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats)
• 10 ounces of chocolate bars are being taken to my husbands work, because I know that they like these particular candies, and we don't
• 1 pound, 1 ounce of snacks - pretzels, goldfish crackers, etc
• 3 pounds leftover from our house (some of this has been frozen too)
  

This does not include the play doh, mini flashlights and other assorted toys they received.

That is almost 12 POUNDS of candy that is currently in my house. Holy crap.

If I were to eat it all, not only would I make myself sick, it would probably result in a net gain of 21 POUNDS on my body, specifically in the hip and thigh area, and a loss of probably $600 from my checking account for dental bills.

I hope you weren't tricked, and were treated well.