By mid-August my wife had already purchased Halloween-themed T-shirts for herself and our kids. She also began rotating at least 10 different sets of Halloween hospital scrubs into her wardrobe at our local children’s hospital. And did I mention that she heads up the Halloween decorating committee on her surgical unit’s floor? Yeah, she’s a Halloween freak.
Forget Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving, or our wedding anniversary; October 31 is her favorite day of the year. But this year, her enthusiasm has been curbed by our son’s multiple food allergies.
My wife has already picked out our children’s costumes, but neither of us has any idea if we’re going trick-or-treating. For my wife, this amounts to tragedy. I’m not so sure it’s all that bad, especially for a toddler who probably won’t even appreciate all the commotion.
Still, we’ve decided to plan something special, just in case. Here’s our allergen-free Halloween game plan:
- We’re wrapping allergen-free chocolate squares and cookies—which we ordered—in cellophane. We’ll be able to replace any candy our son gets ahold of with these treats, plus small boxes of raisins and apple slices.
- We’re also stocking up on small, inexpensive toys that will distract him from candy. He loves 97-cent toy cars and bouncy balls.
- If we take our son trick-or-treating, we’ll feed him dinner beforehand (to reduce his desire to nosh from his bag), and we’ll watch him like a hawk.
But keeping our kid safe is only part of the mission this year. We’ll also be watching out for other children. At my mother’s house, where we always establish Halloween base camp, we’ll be doling out glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos, bouncy balls, and toy-filled jack-o’-lanterns instead of candy. (I ordered these novelties from Oriental Trading.)
At more than $50 for several hundred plastic trinkets, it’s pricier than candy. But the peace of mind is worth it. Not only will we be keeping our kid away from a sick stomach, a bad rash, or anaphylactic shock, we’ll be spreading Halloween cheer without endangering anyone else’s munchkin, superhero, or witch.
If you have a child with food allergies, here are some additional trick-or-treating tips from the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network on keeping Halloween safe for your urchins. And please tell me any ideas that you’ve come up with over the years!
(PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES)
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Comments (1)
I hated Halloween growing up, for the same reason: i couldn’t eat the candy! What helped was going to the houses that gave away pennies, nickels, dimes, all wrapped up in clear wrap with a ribbon.(this was California in the 1970’s) Another house gave out the little bottles with bubbles in it- again Calif in October is usually warm if not hot. Finally, we give out the little boxes of crayons you can find at 99 cents stores- kids and adults always like the crayons!! Good Luck!!