Sugar Mumma

Come Halloween, there's going to be a lot of sweet stuff in our home.

This is bad news for my thighs. Very bad news.

Our apartment is in a secure complex, so the only trick or treaters we got last year were other kids that lived in the complex. I'd conveniently forgotten that minor detail when I was in Costco yesterday... and bought a massive bag of chocolates.

I made sure this mix had choccies that we all like. The mix I'd bought last year included chocolates which we hadn't tried before - we weren't expecting to have so many left over. It turned out that I didn't like a third of them. Ever tried Whoppers? They're a cheap and nasty tasty version on Maltesers. Mmm... Maltesers.... The rejected fun-sized Whoppers languished in the pantry for far too long, before finally getting thrown out.

It took a long time for the Faery's Halloween bounty to be consumed. Being new to Halloween last year, I found out about a week too late about the Sugar Sprite Fairy, Halloween Fairy, or whatever it is that other families call her. This is where the fairy comes in the days after Halloween, and exchanges a large part of the confectionary haul for a toy.

I wish I'd known sooner. Instead, after the sugar-high frenzy during the first few days of November, I restricted the Faery's intake to no more than one a day. After a few months, she stopped living for her chocolates, and only asked once or twice a week.

Sometimes, I sneakily dipped into her haul for bribe supplies.

Sometimes, I sneakily dipped into her haul for... me.

(Hey, I never claimed to be awesome at this parenting gig.)

How long did it take for her haul to deplete? Until early July. I kid you not. Eight months! And it wasn't even a large haul because she was scared of the dark and didn't want to trick or treat for very long.

I cannnot go through that again. Far too much bargaining and sulking when the 'treats' were withheld. Oh, and an accompanying toddler's bounty thrown into the equation this year, too.

Yes. The Sugar Sprite Fairy will be making a visit.

Then my next dilemma will be where to hide the exchanged haul of treats - because someone will have to eat them when the kids are in bed.

This is bad news for my thighs. Very bad news...