Have You Met the Halloween Fairy?

A belated Happy Halloween to all! Every year at Halloween, I kick myself for not sharing a family tradition with the preschools and elementary schools in my community before the actual event is past. This year, I again forgot about my goal of sharing this tradition until about 10:00 last night, so I'm sharing it now in hope that it will be of use to some of you for next year. When my children were little, a friend in my parenting group read an article about the Halloween Fairy which she shared with the rest of us. The article gave rise to a tradition that this group has all enjoyed ever since. Here is how it goes: On Halloween night, after all the kids are asleep, the Halloween Fairy flies through the neighborhoods looking for candy. When she finds candy outside the doors of neighborhood children, she takes the candy and leaves a gift in its place. So children who have spent a wild evening trick-or-treating and are left with more candy than they want or need (and far more candy than their parents want or need them to have!) can keep a small, reasonable amount of candy to eat (say 10-15 pieces, depending on their age) and leave the rest of the candy on their doorsteps with a note to the Halloween Fairy before they go to sleep. And Lo and Behold, when they wake up in the morning, there is a special gift for them on the stoop where the candy was! (Some candy taken by the Halloween Fairy has been known to mysteriously appear in the birthday pinatas of some of these children. I have no idea how that could have happened.) The Halloween Fairy tends to be rather modest with her presents -- a small box of Legos or a single Beanie Baby or a pack or two of baseball cards has been found to suffice. But the Halloween Fairy makes the morning after Halloween -- which can be rather dreary -- a special time for all involved, and saves many parents from the lengthy and tiresome battles involved in trying to keep their children from eating gobs of candy each day well into the month of November. So look for the Halloween Fairy in your own neighborhood next year -- and let me know if she shows up and brings your kids as much pleasure as she has brought mine!