{"id":2307,"date":"2017-10-10T02:04:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T02:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.noevenable.com\/singingcircles\/?p=2307"},"modified":"2019-08-26T09:48:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T09:48:18","slug":"halloween-hack-how-to-trick-or-treat-without-the-sugar-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noevenable.com\/singingcircles\/halloween-hack-how-to-trick-or-treat-without-the-sugar-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Halloween with Littles – Minus the Sugar Crash!"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ text_font_size=”16″ text_line_height=”1.9em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”|15%||15%” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]Our family loves trick or treating.<\/strong> \u00a0This year, we\u2019ll join the masses on Fair Oaks Street, losing ourselves in a sweeping tide of Elsas, Moanas, tiny ghosts and wizards. \u00a0The children make sure we don\u2019t miss a single house, and we always come home with heaps of candy.<\/p>\n

The only problem is\u2026 \u00a0All. \u00a0That. \u00a0Candy. \u00a0For health reasons, we try to avoid refined sugar<\/strong>, and we\u2019ve held to that pretty well since my son was born five years ago.<\/p>\n

So how, you might ask, do we do Halloween?<\/p>\n

Good question! \u00a0I\u2019m happy to share that we have found a way to enjoy trick or treating without consuming the candy! \u00a0Sounds impossible, right?<\/p>\n

It sounds impossible, but it\u2019s true!<\/p>\n

My two year old and five year old enthusiastically collect heaps of miniature chocolate bars, nerds, and dum dums, and they voluntarily eat none of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How, you might ask, do we do this?<\/p>\n

The answer is that the children trick or treat to collect candy for Witchamaroo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Witchamaroo<\/strong>, as we\u2019ve told our children, is a Halloween fairy<\/strong>. \u00a0She is very small. \u00a0She lives in a pumpkin. \u00a0On Halloween night, Witchamaroo flies over the land. \u00a0She looks for houses where children have left out their Halloween candy for her to find. \u00a0She takes the candy, leaving a gift for each child in its place.<\/p>\n

In our family, we love preparing for the arrival of\u00a0Witchamaroo.<\/p>\n

Honestly, my kids are probably as excited about this part of Halloween as they are about their costumes.<\/p>\n

We sweep the deck, tidy the garden, and carve two very special pumpkins that, instead of faces, have doors and windows. \u00a0Last year we added stairs, cut from a sweet potato stood on end. \u00a0Light a candle, and it become the perfect refuge for a fairy to spend the night.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The children leave their bags of candy next to the glowing pumpkin houses.<\/p>\n

In the morning, they race to see what Witchamaroo has left them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our family of four lives in a one room studio, so we have to be very minimal with our toys, and I very rarely buy things for the children. \u00a0But with this present, I go all out! \u00a0For us, it’s an event nearly as big as a birthday.<\/p>\n

This is probably a response to my own sweet tooth – I LOVE chocolate, so asking everyone to give up sugar feels like a big deal to me! \u00a0I guess I feel like I really need to make it worth their while! \u00a0\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Who is Witchamaroo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Our family’s Witchamaroo tradition is based on the Switch Witch<\/strong>, a tale that is more appropriate for elementary school aged children\u00a0 The difference is that instead of being a sweet, tiny fairy, the Switch Witch is a conventional American halloween witch. \u00a0She is a hideous crone<\/strong> who rejoices in her hideousness, and likes to eat candy because it makes her even more ugly.<\/p>\n

I get the humor in this, and I can imagine it really appealing to older children. \u00a0But I\u2019ve never wanted to pass this story on, mostly because \u00a0I don’t feel great about how it portrays witches.<\/p>\n

Today, monstrous depictions of witches are ubiquitous enough that we don\u2019t often think about it, but I can never completely forget the misogynistic subtext to those images. \u00a0(Given that historically, \u201cwitches\u201d were actually the healers, herbalists and wise women our great, great grandmothers relied on in times of need.)<\/p>\n

So I replaced the Switch Witch with Witchamaroo<\/strong>. \u00a0Witchamaroo comes from a story called \u201cHow Witchamaroo Became the Pocket Witch,\u201d by the wonderful Waldorf puppeteer Suzanne Down.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You can hear my Witchamaroo finger play on our new Meadowlark Music Class Album, Falling Leaves, Rising Voices<\/a>.<\/strong> \u00a0If you decide to bring Witchamaroo to your family, this finger play is a great\u00a0place to start!<\/p>\n

I have a pumpkin big and round<\/strong>
\nInside, a fairy can be found.<\/strong>
\nKnock, knock, knock!<\/strong>
\nAnd out she flies<\/strong>
\nOn a broomstick swift<\/strong>
\nUp to the sky<\/strong>
\nYoo hoo! \u00a0Witchamaroo!<\/strong>
\nTell me where you are!<\/strong>
\nBut she is off to sweep the stars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for reading, everyone. \u00a0Wishing you a warm and wondrous Halloween.
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