The Plot Bunny Farm

For those who don't know (most of the world), Nevada was admitted to the Union on October 31, 1864. Now there may be some legal issues surrounding that, being that Lincoln only signed the state into existence to get the silver and there's that pesky phrase in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the US Constitution that states, "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union" (Congress, not the President). However, the upshot of this admission is that Halloween is also Nevada Day within the state, and a holiday for state employees.

This is great when you're growing up. Halloween's a holiday. No school! You get to spend all day working on your costume or going to parties, or whatever, and then go out trick-or-treating. The next morning, we might sneak a piece or two of candy before breakfast, but we didn't make a meal of it. That's the way it was when I grew up.

Sometime since, the teachers started complaining about kids coming to school on sugar highs and having to deal with them. Trick-or-treating was moved to October 30. I can see their point of view, but doggone it! It's not traditional!

What's up with parents letting their kids have that much candy, anyway? This morning, I got out my son's plastic jack-o-lantern and emptied out the candy left from last year. Yes, that's right -- leftover candy. There's some in the cupboard from Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter, too.

It's not that we deny him. And it's certainly not that he doesn't like chocolate; he runs a close second to me in that.

We set limits. We put the candy up where he can't grab it whenever he likes. It's out of sight, so he's not always asking. He has to eat all of his dinner to have a single piece of candy (or cookies, or a slice of cake, or whatever else sweet may be around) before bed. And he has to remember to ask.

How hard is that?

Anyway, I've got dibs on the leftover chocolate!