Trick or Treat

I'm guessing that half a jar of Dark Chocolate Almond Butter is not on the Paleo Diet- which is a shame because that's exactly what I've eaten (by myself) since I bought the jar on Monday. Granted, almond butter is on the diet and I eat it smeared on bananas- making me justify my inability to stay away from the stuff since I'm eating with fruit- but it's still chocolate and it's still in excess, which isn't exactly part of my diet- but I've been sticking to it pretty strick-like for the past three months, and I see no harm in indulging in some treat action from time to time. It's just not living if you don't.

Tis the season for fighting the urge to gorge on treats- Halloween always kicks it off for me. The annual sack of Halloween candy, which I can't deny my household, has already been consumed and it's not even Halloween yet. I bought a bag of the good stuff (mini Reeses cups, Snickers bars, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers) a week ago to keep in our jack o lantern bucket and it didn't stand a chance against the Hines household. I have no self control, nor does my husband- and it's hard to deny an adorable child a piece of chocolate... that is until it has been consumed and the child turns into a sugary shrieking, emotional time bomb hot mess.

I'm very thankful that we killed the bucket of candy early and got it out of our system. Jude was starting to march around the house every night chanting "Choclat, Choclat, Choclat!"and I was starting to feel edgy and crackish at the end of the day after dinner, pacing the kitchen, itching for a chocolate fix. We are just now kind of getting back to normal- and even then, we're still cheating.

When I was little, my mom never bought my brother and I candy or junk food. We got stuff like raisins and beef jerky as treats in our lunch. At the time I thought it cruel of her to deny us the sweets that most other kids got- but I get it now. She's a smart lady and she saved herself a ton of headache. By the time we got a little older, Chris and I weren't interested in candy. We trick or treated, and took the time to sort out our booty and take inventory for the fun and novelty of it- then it would sit in our buckets untouched for weeks until mom would come and haul it into the trash. This is probably why we've always had such an immaculate dental history of no cavities.

I'm hoping to ween Jude off the sugar teet that I've unintentionally gotten him attached to these past few weeks. It's hard being a parent- both wanting to keep your kid healthy and happy and wanting to put a smile on his/her face and watch them light up when they eat something sweet. But since I have a difficult time with self control and overindulgence for myself, I have to be extra careful with my kid.

In an ongoing attempt to lead by healthy example, I have officially turned into my mother, having signed up to bring fresh fruit instead of cookies and cupcakes and junk to his school Halloween party. I got fun trick or treat bags, Halloween stickers and a "prize" for each one in an attempt to make the fruit cups I'm going to put together more fun. Kind of like a, "Ha ha! Tricked you! No candy! This treat bag is just filled with fruit!" treat bag.

But hey- fruit can be fun. Healthy eating can be fun. We'll see though.

Pre schoolers are a mighty tough crowd to please.

Best. Chocolate Bar. EVER.