Monster Box

It is bound to be a spooky night. My Eli is going actual door-to-door trick-or-treating in the neighborhood for the first time. Why is he going for the first time at the age of 6? Well there are many reasons for this. For one, he didn't care for many years, nor would be be able to get him to do it if we tried. Last year we let him trick-or-treat in more controlled conditions where we could control what he got. By that time he could even say, "Trick-or-Treat!" (His medically required diet takes all Halloween candy off the 'OK' list.)

This year when my friends ask me if we are going trick-or-treating with that concerned look, I tell them about the Monster Box. He is new to our family this season, and has been a great success through a recent Halloween Carnival and also an "Angry Birds" birthday party just last weekend. It works like this: Eli goes Trick-or-Treating, (or in the case of the BD party, pinata smashing,) and keeps his candy and brings it home. Right when he gets home, he wants to do the Monster Box.

The Monster Box is a "Cars" shoebox from the shoes we bought for him to start the school year with, and it is full of stuff, like dried papaya and pineapple, dimes, quarters, Phineas and Ferb temporary tattoos, crazy drinking straws, gluten free animal cookies, (and other little sugary treats the the box carries limited quantities of.)

There is an exchange system connected with this box. He looks at the "exchange rate paper" and hands me the one, two, or three pieces of candy he wants to trade for and what he would like for them. He keeps exchanging until his candy is gone and he has a pile of goodies that are "special medical diet friendly." It works like a charm. He is excited to get candy, and I don't have to worry about him eating it. LOVE it! Happy Halloween everyone!