When witches go riding, and black cats are seen.....

When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers...'tis near Halloween.

So, how many of you have Halloween candy in your house, and how many of you hear it calling too many times every single day since you bought it?

One of the reasons for my success is that I NEVER have things in the house that would call to me..."I"m here...try me...eat me". Halloween candy is right at the top of that list.

So, my Darling Daughter asked me last night, what Halloween candy I was buying. She wanted to mull over my purchase in case I wasn't buying something up to her expectations. "Raisins", I said, "if you are going to be here to hand out anything". "RAISINS, MOM?" "Yep. I'm not buying anything that would be interesting for any of us to overeat on, and I can use the leftover raisins in my bran muffins." "Nobody will come to our house, Mom...it's embarrassing!" "GOOD!" "Mom, you would be better just leaving the light off." "OK, I will do that, then."

I have not handed out Halloween candy for a few years. It has just been me in the house, and I have a strenuous objection to kids older than, let's say 12, going around with barely a costume on, and around here, a pillowcase to fill up with candy. That is something I am not going to participate in. I love to see little kids with their costumes, all excited about this miraculous holiday where EVERYONE gives you candy, but around here, it has turned into something where if you don't give out good candy, older kids throw pumpkins, cause mischief, and are just generally awful, and this is a nice neighborhood.

So, no raisins, lights off out front, and I'll be reading.

I hope you all go out with the kids, or go to a party, or stay home and answer the door, and have a great time. I hope if you have kids, that they are beyond thrilled by now.

Here is something my wise Mom did years ago with us 4 scamps of hers. We were allowed to eat as much Halloween candy as we could eat on Halloween night. The next day, we were told, that all of the candy was being donated to poor kids. So, we ate as much as we could and handed the rest over. I still don't know where the poor kids were, or if there even were poor kids, but Mom ditched the candy after a day. I think now, as a parent myself, that was a brilliant tactic. Teach your kids about giving to others, and get rid of the awful stuff ASAP. Because I only had one kid, I was able to monitor the candy, dumped a bunch of it every day, and I got rid of it slowly. I would not allow it to be in her room, as that was a recipe for disaster.

Halloween can be fun. Buy raisins. Ask my Daughter how good of an idea THAT is!!

Spark on.