Candy concerns

For most people (mostly the under 12 set), Halloween is all about the candy and costumes come in at a distant second place. For me, Halloween is equal parts spooky decorations, family traditions, fun costumes and delicious candy.  Unfortunately, candy is usually my dilemma...I'm trying to find the perfect amount of candy to have on hand.  It's crucial to have just the right amount:  too little and we run out thereby disappointing adorable trick-or-treaters, too much and I end up eating it all and my butt gets bigger.  And no matter how much I buy each year, I always hope to have a few pieces left over for me. Just a few.

Buying candy might be the scariest part of Halloween for me.

This year, we have 335 pieces of candy for trick-or-treaters:

I sorted the candy by what the Big Guy and I like and what we don't like. The stuff we don't like gets distributed immediately (Whoppers, Milky Way, Three Musketeers, Baby Ruth, etc.).  

I reserved a good supply of what we do like (Snickers, Twix, Butterfinger, etc.) to distribute last. That way, if there's any leftover candy it will be the stuff we like. And by "a good supply," I mean I reserved a full 1/3 of our Halloween candy supply for us.  Like I said, I don't want to be stuck with too much candy leftover.

Of course, if enough trick-or-treaters are coming to our door, I'll give out our reserved candy.  But not before I pilfer my own kids' candy bags to give out the stuff I won't eat or don't want them to have. And not before making a quick check in the basement to see if there are any old birthday favors to give out. Or before I check the pantry to see if I have small packages of crackers or gum I can hand out to kids.  And not before I give out any candy left from last year's Halloween, and any loose change I may have around the house.  Just keeping it real! 

But, per my iron-clad rule about Halloween, trick-or-treaters not wearing costumes won't get anything at all:

Because if you come to my door on Halloween looking for candy but not wearing a costume, I don't consider that trick-or-treating. I consider that to be lazy youth looking for a sugar handout. 

Get a costume, slacker! 

And don't even get me started on the repercussions of ringing my doorbell before or after the official trick-or-treat times set by the city (4:00-7:30pm for Aurora).  That's when things really get scary!