candy
Don’t be spooked, let your little goblins eat the candy corn
Across the nation, parents like me are bracing for the annual sugar rush known as Halloween. I’ve got pounds of mini-treats to pass out to neighborhood goblins and ghouls. But many parents struggle to balance our kids’ mania for sweets with a nagging feeling that all that candy can’t be a good thing. Everybody knows: Candy rots kids’ teeth. Candy ruins kids’ dinner. Candy makes kids fat. Any and all sugars will pitch the fragile child into a lifelong battle with diabetes, obesity and heart disease. But a lot of this worry about children and candy isn’t about candy at all. It is about whether children have a right to their own pleasure. Consider the lollipop, the ultimate symbol of children’s innocence. The sweet lollipop is a few licks from the ill...
Candyland is a real place, and it starts on top of my fridge
The chocolate in most mass-produced candy bars is as waxy and luscious as any pillar or stick at a mall candle store. Candy corn tastes nothing like corn and it’s debatable whether it is worth bothering with calling itcandy. Jaw breakers, lollipops, and gumballs are choking hazards. Sweet tarts, Sprees, and Smarties are little disks of processed cringe, perfect for when you want to experience the feeling of your throat puckering. And classic Tootsie Rolls? Reminiscent of cough medicine, cat poo, and cement. I love them all. Halloween is looming and with it parents find themselves ranting about all the candy that will be in the house. Some kids harvest quite a bit and we are no exception. In fact, with several kids of trick-or-treating age I anticipate at least a dozen pounds of pure ...
Fun-Sized Season is No Fun for Peanut Allergic Kids
It’s not too early to start thinking about Halloween and Fall harvest parties. How do I know this? Because the stores told me. The moment the first bell rang on the first day of school, clerks everywhere sprang into action. Out with the lunch boxes and in with the treat buckets! If you don’t have your costumes chosen or created by now, you might as well start cutting eye holes in your Egyptian cotton sheets. Show me your treat sack. Here’s a rock. Because it’s the season of Fun Sized candies, I start getting nervous. Walking down aisles of candies, candies, and candies confirms we are a country deeply in love with our peanuts. I won’t mention brand names, but the deluge of Futterbingers, Nickers, and Peese’s Reanutbutter Goblets scream how popular dusty ...
Mama Drama: Calming the Candy Crash
Dear Mama Drama: Every year I dread the post-Halloween crash. My kids are exhausted and alternately hyper and cranky from sugar highs and lows. After they spend so much time planning costumes, decorating the house, carving pumpkins, and trick-or-treating, I don’t have the heart to limit their candy. How can I help them moderate their candy intake without ruining the fun? ~Crash Tested Mama (photo credit) Dear Crash Tested: The hype, anticipation, and preparation for Halloween do make it a holiday many parents struggle to manage. However, just like with other parts of parenting, it’s our job to set limits and create structure for our children. I’m assuming your kids are a bit older as you have experienced this a few times. First, I would talk with your children about what you notice when t...
Valentine’s Day Product Picks: Goodies for the Family
Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and while I am not one to give into the Hallmark holiday, this year, I couldn’t resist, but only because of Hank the Tank. It’s like once you have kids, you kind of see what Hallmark is all about. I have found two delightful Colorado-based companies that will bring a smile to your family’s faces. I feel if I am going to splurge on this holiday, I have at least got to keep the money pumping into the Colorado economy; it makes me feel better for my retail therapy. JJ’s Sweets Boulder, Colorado Not too many kids can claim their day is a candy man, but 7-year-old Liliana is one lucky gal! Her dad is the modern-day version of Willy Wonka. After years as a musician, educator and other assorted career ventures, JJ Rademaekers had an epiphany one night during ...
Sweet! Colorado is candy country you and your kids will love
This Halloween, instead of trying to pass yourself off as a costume- clad grade-schooler or rifling through your kid’s goody bag to claim the Halloween Parent Tax, visit one of Colorado’s prized candymakers to stockpile your own booty before the big night. Moms and dads will hardly notice that pile of jawbreakers and lollipops once they’ve reserved a private, hidden stash of locally made, Grand Marnier-flavored truffles. Colorado is home to a smorgasbord of independent confectioners and candy boutiques. Some sell their wares worldwide on the Internet, and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise stores serve as Colorado’s chocolaty ambassadors to places including Canada and the Virgin Islands. Many locals fondly remember the red-and-white barn in Wheat Ridge that ...
