Why my children won't be trick-or-treating

For the past four years, my kids have dressed up for Halloween.

Yes, we recycle costumes.

We have done the "neighborhood" and grandma's. 

We have done Trunk or Treat.

 And while it fun for the kids to wear their costumes, it is torture on the parents to get them dressed, buckled in and out of carseats, staying up to late and eating WAY too much candy.

And the candy put us over the edge last year.  Our kids don't often get candy.  And when they do it is a small piece here or there.  Most of the time, a treat in our house is homemade cookies or pie...not pure sugar candy loaded with dyes and colors.

It took us two days to detox them from their evening of fun.  They were crabby and cranky and had tummy aches.  Hubby and I vowed "never again"!

What put me over the edge this year was when I went to look for costumes.  Apparently, when girls reach size 5T, that's when they quit wearing cute costumes and start dressing as miniature hookers.  My daughter will not be an off-the-shoulder princess, a pirate's booty, or a sexy witch.  She and I were hoping for a ladybug.  And we were denied.

So, it was either make their costumes myself or we just skip Halloween all-together.  Since I have no time this year for costume design and construction and we still have the bad taste from the candy detox in our mouths (pun completely intended), we are taking the year off.

In our house, it's just another day filled with fun, games, toys and laughter.  But it won't be filled with buckets of candy and scantily clad young girls.