It’s almost Halloween! Eek! Typically, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love to dress up (yes, even now), decorate with all sorts of scary stuff, and watch all the trick-or-treaters.
Unfortunately, everything changed for us back in 2008. All of our fun events, crafts, parties, and trick-or-treating required a whole different level of awareness. Fast forward 8 years, and things typically go a lot smoother for us now. Typically…hopefully…cross those fingers auto-injectors!
This post is not a candy guide. I won’t be telling you which candy is safe for certain allergens. The candy world is quite convoluted, and confusing. And, when you have multiple allergies, things get even more confusing! We can’t even eat most candies that are on the “safe list”. So, I’ll leave that work to you, my warriors. As much as I’d love to be able to tell you which is the safest treat out there for you or your little warriors, it’s an impossible task.
Instead, I want to help you prepare for the big night, so that you and your warriors can stay safe. I’m going to share a few tips on how we handle our Halloween night. I want to spend my Halloween night exhausted from laughing, and walking, and being spooked! I do not want to be spooked by an allergic reaction.
First, a big shout out to Becky Basalone! Who? Becky is a Mama Warrior that probably doesn’t get enough credit these days. You might, however, have heard of the infamous Teal Pumpkin. Thankfully, the Teal Pumpkin has spread the word on food allergies, and how many of our kids were being left out excluded from feeling “normal” on Halloween. If you don’t already know, Teal Pumpkin is a project started in 2014 by FARE and Becky Basalone, leader of the Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee (FACET) in Tennessee. You can read Becky’s interview with FARE, here or an article written by Allergic Living, here.
So, send a big thank you out into the universe for Mama Warriors like Becky. Thanks to Becky there is so much more awareness and inclusion for our allergy warriors. Because let me tell you, back when Pig was diagnosed, no one really paid attention to that kind of stuff. No one was really worried about including us.
Back to How to Survive Halloween Night with Food Allergies…
It definitely took us a few years to get trick-or-treating right. I even have a secret to spill… Since Pig was so young, we just kinda never talked about trick-or-treating. She wasn’t in daycare or preschool yet, so we just didn’t talk about it. Instead, we would do a fun night in, just to avoid that scary outside allergen filled world.
Let me add here that if this is what you’re most comfortable doing, then, go for it! There’s no rule that anyone has to go trick-or-treating. In all honesty, while the kids enjoy it, it’s more fun for the adults. So, don’t be afraid to “cancel” Halloween this year (or any year for that matter). It’s o.k. to go against the grain and say No!
Eventually, once we started trick-or-treating, we survived by having treats on hand at all times. Because Pig had so many allergies, we couldn’t ever find a 100% safe candy, so I would bake mini cupcakes for her to eat post-trick-or-treating. After a long night of collecting candy that we couldn’t eat, she would swap her bag out for a cupcake or two. And you know what, she didn’t care. She’d had her fun…she ran, and played and did everything she wanted to do. She didn’t know what these unsafe treats tasted like, but she knew she could get one of her favorite cupcakes immediately.
Through the years we have created “habits” to keep our warriors safe, so, I figured I’d share them with you.
Here are some tips to help you have a great and safe Halloween night!
1- Decide! Do your homework ahead of time. Know which candies or treats, if any, are safe for your family. Even if you only find one candy that is safe, it’s ok! Whatever you do, please don’t give in and let your warrior have a treat that you don’t know anything about. It’s not worth it!
2- Educate! Make sure to remind your kids {sometimes on a daily basis leading up to the main event, because you know they forget (insert eye roll)} that they should assume all candy collected to be unsafe. This way, when you have to say No to a treat, you gently remind them of your previous conversations, and move on.
3- Stock up! Buy safe treats ahead of time, or make sure to cook your treats in advance. Expand your options… cupcakes, pancakes, ice-cream, juice boxes. Whatever it is that your warrior loves to eat as a treat. Get it done ahead of time and freeze them if needed.
4 – Pack! Do Not leave your epinephrine injectors or your action plan at home! You should pack this in a special bag that you can hang from your purse, belt loop, etc. You want this to be as accessible as possible.
5- Gloves! Have your kids wear gloves while collecting candy. This will minimize exposure on their tiny little hands. If your costume doesn’t include gloves, pick up a cheap pair at the dollar store to match their outfit! What costume doesn’t look cool with gloves?!
6 – Wipes! Pack wipes so that you can easily (and quickly) wipe their hands if they come in contact with any allergens.
7- Bags! Pack extra plastic bags. We always carry 1-2 extra empty bags with me, so that we can empty their collection containers/bags often. I’ve found that the emptier they are the less likely they are to touch what’s inside.
8- Non-Food Treats! Let’s teach our kids that we don’t need to eat candy to celebrate and have fun. You can do this by buying a few small items that your kids would enjoy to play with. (ex. clay, legos, small toy cars, crayons, etc)
9- Teal! Don’t forget your Teal Pumpkin. You want to make sure you’ve advertised that you’re a food allergy family or that you support those that are.
Oh, and before I let you go, I want to dote on my AMAZING neighbors for a minute. Last year was our first Halloween in our new neighborhood. When our neighbors learned about all of our allergies, they asked about safe candies…unfortunately, there aren’t any,and told them not to worry about it. My kids are used to it, and really just enjoy dressing up and knocking on everyone’s doors. Fast forward to Halloween night, and the neighbors we had gotten to know well, had gotten my girls mini notebooks in their favorite colors, a special pen, glitter crayons, stickers, and safe juice boxes. Oh, and that was the first year that the Teal Pumpkin made an appearance in the neighborhood too. Yup, this mama totally ugly cried!
This year we will have a Spider Man, Glenda the Witch and a Ninja, I can’t wait to see them all dressed up, and running around having fun!
What are you and your kids going to be for Halloween? Drop a comment below and let me know.
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