12 October 2023 , 09:16
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As kids, one of the best parts of Halloween is getting to enjoy all the sweets and chocolate you scored while out trick-or-treating. But we all know that sugary treats like this should be consumed in moderation. As such, parents will often restrict the amount you can eat in one go, which also makes your haul last a little longer.
But one couple has caused a stir online after sharing exactly what they do with their children's Halloween candy each year after letting their little one fill her bucket - and the family tradition has been branded 'ridiculous' and 'mean' by some people.
The mum and dad from Utah in the US, took to Instagram to share their idea of the 'Switch Witch'. In a post, they explained how after taking their daughter trick-or-treating they let her pick out five of her favourite sweets from her bucket or bag to keep. The rest of the candy is then left out on the front porch overnight which is when the so-called Switch Witch comes to collect it.
In the morning when the little girl wakes, she'll find that the witch has left her a gift in return for the sweets. This is usually some kind of toy. In the video, the child wakes to find an Elsa doll has been left for her. In a voice-over, the dad says: "Trick-or-treating is fun but kids don't really need all that candy, so here's what we do instead. Our daughter goes out and has a blast trick-or-treating.
"When she gets home she gets to pick out five of her favourite pieces of candy to keep, then she leaves the rest of her candy in her basket and leaves it on the front porch. During the night, the Switch Witch comes to collect the candy and leave a gift in return. We heard of this tradition a few years ago and our daughter is just as excited for the Switch Witch to come as she is for trick-or-treating. This has been a great way to cut back on candy, but still enjoy Halloween."
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The parents, who are both trained in fitness and nutrition, post online under the name @emilyxlevi and have amassed a whopping 165,000 followers, including actress Hilary Duff. They captioned their post, writing: "The SWITCH WITCH is back! This has been such a fun tradition! And better yet, it's been a way to let our daughter enjoy every bit of Halloween without eating tons of candy. You can get fun with it and give your witch a name! The witch who stops by our house is Wilda."
The video has gone viral, being viewed over 12,000,000 times and garnering more than 570,000 likes on Instagram, plus many more on Facebook. A whopping 10,000 people have also taken the time to comment, with some agreeing with the couple that it was better for the children not to have so much candy, but others not a fan of the tradition.
One person replied: "I love this idea! I have a toddler and he doesn't need candy, but I want him to experience going out trick-or-treating. I don't eat candy and he doesn't need more than five pieces at two years old. What a cute tradition to start!" Another said: "OK LOVE THIS IDEA."
While a third admitted: "My kiddo is 10, almost 11, and we've been doing this since they were about three. Every year they get to pick the number of pieces of candy for how old they are and they leave the rest for the Switch Witch and they get something cool in exchange. We also teach eating in moderation, but they get so much candy, there's absolutely no reason to keep all of it. It would go bad before they could eat it all."
However, others didn't see the point and thought it was 'taking the fun out of Halloween', with someone else writing: "Dude, it's once a year...", a second agreed, saying: "This f***ing sucks.". A different user proclaimed: "Lol, sounds like a parent who just wants the candy." A few people suggested they simply just don't let their kids go trick-or-treating if they were just going to do this and branded the whole thing 'silly' and 'mean', while some pointed out that others at school wouldn't know what the Switch Witch was if she mentioned it and it would be confusing for them/her and eventually she'd catch the parents in the lie.
Meanwhile, a fellow social media user added: "My parents did this and it was so detrimental to my relationship with food. Everything was so monitored and restricted so when I had a chance to have some 'unhealthy' food when they weren't around, I went wild with it. Don't do this to your kids. Teach them that the candy will always be there so they don't have to eat it all at once. Build a good relationship with food rather than restricting the 'bad' food."
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.