How to Make Halloween Magic,Buy Candy, and What to Do With It - with Maria!

BoldLittleMinds MomCast
Written By Mom Identity Project

It’s the week that so many of us wait for all October long, the week of Halloween! If you’re like me, you’ve saved the best of your Halloween activities for this past weekend and the coming week. Some of you may have already used all of your Halloween fun and you’re ready to move on to the next holiday. Either way, this week is full of excitement and anticipation for costumes and the big day.

This week I had the pleasure of co-hosting our Halloween special with our official Celebration Correspondent, Maria from PrideandJoyLife. We talked all things Halloween, from our own childhood memories to our favorite ways to make magic with our own kids.

Childhood Halloweens: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Maria and I had a great time reliving our childhood Halloween memories. Maria walked around her neighborhood door-to-door with her friends while I remember running to and from the car as we drove along the dark streets of my hometown, hoping that the next house would have its lights on. Even though our traditions were different, we both fondly remember filling our pillowcases with as much candy as possible.

Halloween as a Parent: Creating New Traditions

Now that we’re parents, we both enjoy making the magic for our own kids and experiencing the joy of Halloween through them. Maria shares with us the magic of going around her neighborhood with her family and all of their friends. They branch off after starting together as some of the kids sprint off and others need more time to get from house to house. We both live in neighborhoods and love how this day feels straight out of a movie. In fact, this was so important to Maria that this was part of her decision making process when house hunting. Now that’s dedication to the Halloween spirit.

Safety and Fun

Even though Maria shared that her family enjoys the relaxed environment of her neighborhood and I live on a very low-traffic road, we both shared their tips for kipping our kids safe. I put blinking bike lights on the back of my kids to help cars see their erratic movements if they dart towards the road. Maria’s strategy is to load each kid up with a bunch of glow sticks before they get started down the road. Nowadays, there’s a Trunk or Treat practically every weekend day of the month, giving families a safe option, but when the kids are little or with a busy calendar, it’s hard to make room.

Where to get your candy

Maria and I have both thought long and hard about the candy purchasing aspect of Halloween. Maria typically shops online for her candy whereas I go to the store. We both realized we have a problem determining how much candy we’ll actually need and always over buy, which doesn’t help the leftover candy situation. We also agree that there is so much filler candy in each of the mixes. Who is eating all of the Whoppers? Because that’s all that’s left in our candy bowls when we get home.

What to do with all the candy?

I shared a story from a listener about an eventful Halloween taking her niblings trick or treating. The listener loaded the kids up with candy, taking trips to the car to lighten the load throughout. The months and months worth of candy was not a welcome surprise when the kids got home to their parents. Maria and I were stunned by the story and decided they would need time to process this when they got home.

My extra candy ends up in a coat closet, but my 3 year old now has a good enough memory to know this. Whenever we play Trick-or-Treat, he does straight to this closet. I may need to find another spot this year. Maria’s family has a fun tradition of emptying out the bags to sort through their hauls. They do a trade situation and then pick away at their candy for a few weeks until it enters a communal candy bin.

The Switch Witch: A Creative Halloween Tradition

Mary from The Modern Ramona and Laurel Tree & Me (she was the guest on episode 9) introduced us to the concept of the "Switch Witch." In this fun tradition, Mary’s kids eat some candy and pick out their favorites, but then they leave the rest of their candy out for the “Switch Witch” who takes the candy and leaves presents in its place. She loves this tradition as it brings even more magic to Halloween - and takes care of some of the excess sugar while they’re at it!

Simple Traditions: Creating the Magic Without Overwhelm

Maria is an advocate for low-maintenance family traditions. Her favorite event is family movie night. Recently she added a new celebration night to the mix where they do a few low key games, decorating, and snacking. The magic can be as simple as one jack-o-lantern and some orange string lights. I use my kids Halloween Jack-o-Lantern buckets as decor and toy storage during October to triple up on the uses.

Rapid fire Questions: Favorite Halloween Moments

We had a rapid-fire question round where we talked about all things Halloween, from our opinions on Haunted Houses (pass) to our favorite scary movies (pre-kids of course.) We also talked about how we love the idea of homemade Halloween costumes, but with kids a costume from a store helps to reduce the stress.

Embrace Simplicity: A Halloween Message

As we wrapped up our conversation, Maria left us with a profound piece of advice: don’t overcomplicate Halloween. The magic lies in simplicity—whether it's stringing up a few orange lights, carving a single jack-o-lantern, or snuggling with family during a cozy movie night. By leaning into these uncomplicated moments, families can create lasting memories that reverberate through generations.

Join us for our upcoming Thanksgiving episode where Maria will return to share more about family traditions and festive cheer. You can find Maria on Instagram @prideandjoylife If you’d like to contribute your own stories or need inspiration, you can email us at boldlittleminds@gmail.com or find us on Instagram.

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For Your Binging Enjoyment…

Transcript

Krissy: [00:00:00] Thank you so much for joining me on the Bold Little Minds MomCast for our Halloween special. I am honored to be here today with our celebration correspondent, Maria. Maria is a stay at home mom to four, ten and a half, seven and a half, five and a half, and freshly three. This day of recording is Maria's birthing anniversary, so congratulations to you, Maria.

Maria: It's a big day over here. 

Krissy: Uh, I am so happy to have you here. I'm honored that you're spending part of this day with us and to help us all celebrate this really special, fun holiday in the mix of everything else that's going on.

Maria: It is an honor. When you asked, I was like, wait, this is literally my cup of tea celebrations. Let's do this.

Krissy: I am so, I'm so happy to have you here. So I wanted to start by talking about our childhood Halloweens. So tell me, what was Halloween like for you as a kid?

Maria: Literally anything 90s. Like when you look at a 90s [00:01:00] that is Halloween and 90 Hocus Pocus, like all of it, that is exactly. What it was. I was so lucky To have like when you think about the neighborhood where all the kids are in groups and running around together And going door to door and just with the pillowcases as our bags I don't know if you did that like that that was our candy bag like we had a pillowcase as our candy bag and just Went everywhere.

I mean, we probably circled mile of the neighborhood. It was the absolute best. And I have to say my mom, I think the reason why I tend to go towards the nostalgic simplicity of every magical moment is because that's how my mom did it. 

Krissy: No. Oh.

Maria: feel like when I think about my memories, it was so simply magical for me.

And so like we did just the classic. Pumpkin carving and we had the alvin and the 

[00:02:00] chipmunks Halloween song monster mash in the background and it just it all of that was just so wonderful and nothing Over the top crazy, but so special. 

Krissy: That's so cute. I love that. I grew up in the middle of nowhere. So, 

Maria: I was gonna say tell me 

Krissy: yeah. So my Halloween was vastly different. We're in New England. So it was freezing. So it was like, you know, the cute costumes, but also the puffy jacket underneath or, or even over, but most likely the princess costume dress over your jacket.

Maria: So what you're saying is the perfect place for Halloween was still really cold 

Krissy: Right. 

Maria: like all Halloween movies are 

Krissy: Yes, absolutely. Yes. I mean, 

Maria: lying 

Krissy: we would have like full snow some years. Like there 

Maria: Oh my 

Krissy: it is like this year. It looks like a very classic New England Halloween, but there's years where we've had like a foot of snow. So, um, 

Maria: Okay. Yeah, no, that's what, 

Krissy: It's very different,

Maria: That's different, different than the movies. 

Krissy: very different than the movies, and we would have to drive from house to [00:03:00] house, but it would be like the whole evening because we would go from one side.

Yes, we had to be there was no walking. There was no sidewalks like walking for the whole night. We would probably get five houses. So we would have to like, my mom or dad would be driving us and we pile in the car and she would stop at the end of the driveway and we'd like, yeah. Dash out of the car, go to the door and do the ding dong and then go back.

And of course. 

Maria: right back in the 

Krissy: Run right back in the car.

Maria: Was it hot in the car, cold outside? Like, did you remember any of that? Or that was just like a part of the 

Krissy: Right, I think, probably, it was probably this whole thing, but, you know, that's, we didn't care. That was not a thing. We, yeah, we had a couple of Halloweens where we ended up in a neighborhood, but for the most part, that's my memory, is just jumping in and out of the car, and then we obviously ended up at, like, my mom's friend's houses, where we were probably talking there forever, on a school night, like, spending the whole night, so.

Maria: And you always know you have more time. When the moms really get talking, you probably see your friend, you're like, we have a good hour to go play now. 

Krissy: Well, no, but [00:04:00] you wanted to get back in the car. It's like, this is candy time!

Maria: Yeah, you're like, this is my candy time, mom. No, no, no, no talking today. 

Krissy: Right, we can do this another time. We gotta, this is, this is serious.

Maria: Wait, this is so cool. I, think I just live in an 

Krissy: Yeah.

Maria: where we have so many, it's just like literally suburbia everywhere.

There's not a lot of farmland or anywhere. I have to ask my friends who lived in more rural places if that's what they 

Krissy: Right. 

Maria: true. Everyone's experience is So different. 

Krissy: different. And then when I became a teenager, I was so excited to stay home and hand out candy. I wanted to see all the kids and decorate and costumes, 

Maria: teenager. 

Krissy: We had like three kids maximum, if any, there are some years there were absolutely zero kids. And that was the most disappointing thing for me as a teenager.

I would like had the costume, the things, yep, nobody, 

Maria: my gosh. 

Krissy: right?

Maria: so then how is it like as a mom then for you? 

Krissy: Well, I live in a neighborhood and so 

Maria: is it, is it [00:05:00] like so different, vastly 

Krissy: it's magical. We go to every single neighbor's house. We're walking up and down the road. There's groups of people and other kids and you're waiting and seeing their costumes. It is the movie now.

Maria: You know what's hilarious is when my husband and I, Mr. Pride and Joy Life, shout out, when we were looking to buy, I remember we looked out in a rural place about 45 minutes from, maybe 30 minutes from where we are now.

and I remember thinking like he, he didn't grow up in a quintessential neighborhood where you did like what I did when I was growing up either, and I remember saying to him, We were looking when was it we literally were looking for our house in like starting in April and I was like, ooh I don't know how trick or treating would work and he literally looked at me and he's like it is April Trick or treating like we can figure that out and I was like, No.

Krissy: No.

Maria: I want to make sure we're in a neighborhood where we can Run to each other's houses.

That was one of my when we were looking for houses Trick or treating accessibility was literally 

Krissy: [00:06:00] I 

Maria: point on our must have 

Krissy: don't blame you. It's, now that I am living it, I'm like, how do we live without this? And now my, yeah, my neighbors are so wonderful. Yeah. 

Maria: up with? I was like, yeah. 

Krissy: It's like a movie. Yeah. My neighbors are like so wonderful. They, I live in a neighborhood of like Grammys and they all have like special things for my kids. So we'll show up and they'll be like, Oh, my, the kids are here, let's go get the, the things.

And it's just so cute. 

Maria: the magic back around to them. It's the best. 

Krissy: Now my kids don't care. They are very like, yeah, but they're getting there. They're getting there. Three and a half.

Maria: say, I feel like the magic number, at least for the oldest, like my oldest, when he turned six, 

Krissy: Okay.

Maria: and then we went with friends, so then like, it was at, and then because my daughter was then four, she was either three and a half or four at that point, and she saw the older kids doing it, then she got into it.

Anything younger, like four and under, then And especially if you're not going with like a, a group, [00:07:00] it's hard for them to understand the concept. But when they get it, you're like, this is so magical. Also, also while trying to make sure that they don't like run into the road and like all that.

you know, you're still sweating. But like, it is more magical when they get the concept and they're like, oh my gosh, I go to this door, I get candy. Oh, I'll run to this one, I'll get candy. 

Krissy: Right. We are lucky to live in a neighborhood that doesn't have a lot of cars. It's not a main way, so I'm not so worried about that. But you know what we do? We put, um, little flashing, like, bike lights on their bums.

Maria: I'm about to make a reel. I was just thinking about this today. I didn't make one last year. We do glow sticks. So we get a whole 

Krissy: Ooh.

Maria: sticks, and each kid gets to put it on, like, all over them. And then we have the pack that is full of glow sticks, and we know where everyone is.

It's, it's the best 

Krissy: That's so smart.

Maria: from my, um, my across the street neighbor friend who works in an ER. She was the one who was like, no, this is essential. She was like, you need to do this every year. And I was like, absolutely, I will never not do this now.

Krissy: I can only [00:08:00] imagine the things that you have now started to prep on many levels having a neighbor that works in an ER. That's a whole different episode.

Maria: yes. She literally is like, this is what you don't do. This is what you don't do. This is what you do. And I'm like, tell me everything. 

Krissy: Tell me it all. Yes, the glow sticks. Check. We have them.

Maria: Yeah. Now I can't go down. I'm like, did we get the glow sticks? But they have them. They're actually at spirit Halloween. They were selling them.

for 3 at the checkout.

So it's like a whole thing of them. So I think people are catching on. 

Krissy: Yes. 

Maria: Safety. 

Krissy: Glow sticks are fantastic. 

​

Krissy: Now, we, we didn't have What kids nowadays have when we were kids, there was no trunk or tree or like this, like magical, like everybody's all in one spot for many, many weekends. 

Maria: Yeah, 

Krissy: There are probably every single weekend day for like the whole month of October. You can find something to trick or treat at.

Maria: We, growing up, we went to the pumpkin [00:09:00] patch, and I even think we did it on a weekday. Day? So I don't even think my dad was there. I think it was like, when can it be in the schedule? And then it was, the family thing was the pumpkin carving. 

Krissy: hmm.

Maria: my mom was like, okay, between everyone's schedules, because I'm one of three, so I know the hassle, the hustle of it. She was like, alright, on Wednesday at 9am we can make it to the pumpkin patch. like, that was it. 

Krissy: Right.

Maria: it's like, you spend the whole Saturday at the pumpkin patch, you do the hayride, and then, you know, you have your trunk of treats, you have everything.

Krissy: Do you do those with your kids now? The trunk or treats?

Maria: We only do because our school didn't do it. 

Krissy: Okay, 

Maria: we would not be doing 

Krissy: sure.

Maria: before my oldest and now my, my older three are now in school, but before they were in school, we did not, we just did trick or treating, pumpkin carving, Halloween movie nights. That's what we did. But our school now has it, the elementary school does.

And so it's, it's like the, it is the talked about [00:10:00] event for all of the 

Krissy: Yeah. 

Maria: is 

Krissy: Yes. It's mandatory.

Maria: It is mandatory. If you 

Krissy: Yes.

Maria: go, they're like, Ooh, just kidding. They're all very sweet, but it's like a bummer if 

Krissy: Oh, 

Maria: it. 

Krissy: Yeah, I can imagine. 

Maria: it? 

Krissy: No, we haven't. I've always every year I look at them and I put them in the calendar. But it's just such a, like at this point, three and a half and two, it's like another thing. We had one, 

Maria: it. 

Krissy: right? We live right down the street from elementary school. Like we walk there all the time and they had for the first time this year, this big festival.

My husband went to the grocery store with the kids and came home and was like, there's food trucks and ice cream. Let's go. So we're like, let's get everybody ready. Let's go. And my three and a half year old was like, I want to watch. Moana. I just got home from the grocery store. I am not going. And so that's what we did.

Like, it was his nap time, but it wasn't, he doesn't nap anymore, but it was like his rest time.

Maria: Yeah, honestly, and to him, that was where it's at. When they're so young, they don't 

Krissy: No.

Maria: it's okay, you know? Like, [00:11:00] it's really okay. If you do it, that's like a, I think of it as like a mom memory versus like a kid memory. 

Krissy: Yeah.

Maria: know, like those sorts of extras. So if you can't get to it, that's okay. That was just like one of your memories that will come.

You will end up going to a 

Krissy: Right. 

Maria: one day, and then there you go. There's the memory made. 

Krissy: Exactly. Exactly. Do you go with a big group of friends?

Maria: So, we always check in with my kid Wait, trick or treating or trunk or treat? 

Krissy: All of it. Tell me all of it. 

Maria: Oh, well, both. We do 

Krissy: Yeah.

Maria: with all the friends because we're very lucky to have all of the neighborhood friends. We only live a mile from our elementary school 

Krissy: Oh, good. Perfect.

Maria: and like all the kids live in the neighborhood and we're all on all the streets.

It's lit. It's crazy and fun. so for trunk or treat, it always is after soccer games and all the kids are on the same soccer teams and everything. So we always figure out like, okay, what time are you going? Because it goes for like three hours. So you don't stay the whole three hours. So we just coordinate.

We go together. And then for trick or treating we all meet at our [00:12:00] friend's corner house. And then we all go 

Krissy: Cute.

Maria: the glow sticks and then we go And and while we're doing it, I mean We don't end up sticking together like as a whole group as the trick or treatings happen happening because we have fast kids We have middle kids.

We have slow kids. We have toddlers. We have babies, you know So we start together and we try our best to stay together. But if we don't it's okay 

Krissy: Right? 

​

Krissy: So we have a fun listener story about trick or treating that I want to share. So this is why I'm not allowed to take my nibblings trick or treating. So that's nieces and nephews. If you don't know. My, my sister figured that out. Uh, now to be clear, I did not do anything unsafe or teach them to do anything unsafe.

Setting suburban Alaska, temperature somewhere around 20 Fahrenheit and dark, right? Being new to the family, I offered to take my then boyfriend's nibblings trick or treating. I promised we would use a [00:13:00] car and not a sled, but that my boyfriend would drive and any moose were my problem. What? My, the adults take off leaving us with three kids ages seven to ten ish.

So like right in that prime spot. They have pillowcases ready. I tell them each to get a garbage bag. They are in no way prepared for trick or treating with a master. I knew the apartment complex to take them to and taught them to load two thirds of their haul into the garbage bag into the car. So they always had a couple candies in there.

So like, that's like patting your tip jar. Did you do that? Right? Leave some in there. Okay. With a little sweet talk in their enormous eyes, those garbage bags were mostly full by the time we got back. Apparently, we were supposed to stop when the pillowcases were full, or the porch lights went out. Not on my watch!

Also, it's really on their parents for telling us to use a car instead of a sled. Kids had Halloween candy long into March. My boyfriend was delighted. The kids were so hyped from the hall alone. They only actually had a couple of pieces [00:14:00] that night that they didn't go to sleep until midnight, just stroking that little horde like dragons.

This isn't, this is a masterful story. I had grown up trick or treating like a little grifting grinder. So I thought their reactions were a bit over the top. But apparently that's how they all grew up. To those kids and my boyfriend, I had unlocked the magic of Halloween and I admit I was kind of feeling myself, even though when I was a kid, I got two garbage bags worth myself and hadn't felt we were all that successful.

Their parents didn't discover the candy until the next day as they got home late. Five angry calls later, grandparents got involved. I felt much better. You see, to me, the spirit of Halloween is about harmless mischief, having fun with kids, and just a little bit of razzle dazzle. I'm myself, I'm a mom myself now, and quietly biding my time until we raid again.

Maria: Oh gosh. What would you do?

Krissy: Oh my, coming home and your kids have like months and months of candy? I, I mean, I would be [00:15:00] grateful first of all. Right. Like, thank you for making this magic for me, but like, are we donating to the troops? Like, what are we going to do here? 

Maria: like, it would be a necessity at that point. 

Krissy: Right.

Maria: Or like, keep the candy, I guess, to be re I don't know how long expiration dates are on candy, 

Krissy: Yeah. I don't know. 

Maria: Halloween. 

Krissy: What candy do you take? What, what do you take from their hoard? What's your tax?

Maria: Oh my gosh. I always feel bad because it's my oldest favorite, but Kit Kats. Like,

Krissy: I love Kit Kats. Yes.

Maria: love I never come across Kit Kats in my adult life. And I love, like, regular Hershey bars, and I feel like those are readily available. Like, 

Krissy: Yes.

Maria: those anywhere. And you can get Kit Kats anywhere.

But there's something about the Halloween Kit Kats that just do it. And I love the Reese's, like, the filled pumpkins or the ghosts, but they're not In the trick or treat bags, just the regular Reese's. So like, I let them keep those. But I [00:16:00] do feel bad for my oldest when I'm like, reaching for a Kit Kat cause he, that's his favorite. And I, I do tax that. He doesn't know though. I do it after the fact. 

Krissy: That's okay. Yes. I think it's, they forget. They don't even notice. There's just so much. 

Maria: bit of time. Yeah. What's your favorite? 

Krissy: I am very, it changes every year. Last year was the Kit Kats. I, yes, I was very into Reese's, like Reese's only. And then we had this one magical Halloween where our bag had these. Butterfinger, like, Reese Cups, they were like, Filled and they were so good.

I, and they discontinued them. So now I am like not a Reese's person anymore because these butterfingers changed my life. I'll still eat the Reese's, but yeah, 

Maria: And not to be like never to be seen again 

Krissy: never to be seen again. I Googled it. I went deep, deep diving into it and they just discontinued it. So RIP 

Maria: criminal. 

Krissy: in my taste buds. And now I just live with kit kats and I like to mix it up with Swedish fish.

I like [00:17:00] to have the, yeah.

Maria: I also don't come across Swedish Fish too much either, so like anything that I feel like I get, like I, oh, M& M's, classic, Tootsie Roll, let me, let me ponder this a bit. When you are buying. Halloween candy, because I just bought ours. Why do they mix it the way that they do? I feel like the Tootsie Rolls are overrated.

Yet, that's the filler. They put Tootsie Rolls in everything. Do I like a good Tootsie Roll occasionally? Totally. But, like, I could do without all the Tootsie Rolls. But then, if you go for, like, the Twix, it's, like, Twix mixed with, like, other stuff that, like, like a hundred or a thousand grains that, like, people don't necessarily want to eat. Or I fight not to be the fan favorite, so why can't, me out, hear me out candy makers, why don't we do this? Let's do Reese's, Kit Kats, Butterfingers, One Thing a Lollipops, [00:18:00] Skittles, 

Krissy: Right. 

Maria: you know what I mean? Like all the classics, throw them all in a bag. I will pay 20 for a hundred pieces of all of those scattered.

But they only give you like three or four. 

Krissy: right.

Maria: and usually it's like you get two good ones to like Jolly Ranchers I don't i'm not a Jolly Rancher 

Krissy: Sure. 

Maria: they're the filler also. So i'm like, what what are we doing? 

Krissy: How do we? No, I agree with you. There's always something like whoppers. 

Maria: Bombers 

Krissy: What do you think about whoppers? I swear there's somebody like a CEO or somebody at this company who that's their favorite candy. And they're like, we have to keep this in production. What can we do? Let's fill the Halloween candy with them!

Maria: I think you're on to something, because I have yet to, that's what's left in our bowl. I'm like, no one wants the Whoppers. No one wants all of the, the tiny Rolls. Like They got to, I feel like moms could make a really good bag of

Krissy: They really could, yes. Maybe we should [00:19:00] start, like, 

Maria: a 

Krissy: I mean, I suppose they do this where you can buy the individual just one thing. 

Maria: but it's 

Krissy: But it's so exploring me. Yep, exactly. Mm hmm.

Maria: ones that aren't as good, like I just from Target, 20 for like five pounds, and it's 

Krissy: Mm hmm. 

Maria: of filler stuff and I feel really bad. So I'll get two regular bags of something to throw in. That's going to go first. 

Krissy: right. I usually buy a chocolatey base like a thing of chocolate and then I always buy like the sugary base. 

Maria: that's 

Krissy: One of each, mix it together. 

Maria: you buy yours? Do you have any, like, 

Krissy: I always go to Target. I do. So I always go to Target and I have like a formula there. Yes. First, I always look for, because there's usually a similar pricing, like there's always a sale of some sort where it's like all of these ones from this size of this are 20 whatever.

Maria: Like, in store there's better deals, or is it also online? 

Krissy: I go in store [00:20:00] because I like to see, first of all, what are all the mixes? And then I kind of weed it out. Like where's my sweet spot? Where's the one that has just the KitKat and just this and just that. Yeah. And then you look for the sizes. So the number of pieces, you can't just grab that little one because sometimes that little one is, is really overpriced, but sometimes the big, big, big one is overpriced.

So it's usually the mid range one where you get a price per dollar, a piece, a dollar per piece or whatever the price per piece of candy. It's essential to try to figure that one out.

Maria: I'm gonna have to give it, like, more brain power next year because I 

Krissy: Yes.

Maria: it online, but I'm also not good at understanding how much is two pounds of candy. 

Krissy: neither. I need to see it. 

Maria: like, that should be a lot, 

Krissy: Yes.

Maria: and it's like this tiny little bag. And I'm like, I just paid 15. 99 for this tiny little bag.

So I think, I think you're onto something. Just go in the store, 

Krissy: Right. 

Maria: for the middle bag, 

​

Krissy: [00:21:00] I need to see it. Yeah. Cause we always end up now we have like the kids candy, but we always have like an extra bag, like gigantic bag of candy just in the closet for us to eat for the rest of eternity. And we keep them in the closet. So we have like a coat closet where our extra candy goes.

And now my kid's at the age where he can remember that. So like when I said, we're going to, let's play, let's play trick or treat and pretend. The first thing he did was go over to the coat closet. I'm like, Oh, like this is the spot, right? This

Maria: and seek and he's in the coat closet for a long time, you know what's happening. 

Krissy: year I'm going to have to find a new spot. Yeah, exactly.

Maria: I know. Well, that's when you, it's like when your kid starts to like spell and understand words too. You can't like talk in code anymore. You're like, oh, I can't spell these out because they know literally how to spell. They know What I'm saying.

Krissy: What do you do with your extra candy?

Maria: just throw it all, so we put each kids [00:22:00] into a bag, because so at the end of the night, at the end of Halloween, we do that classic, we come back, everyone finds their own spot on the floor, they take all of it out, they want to see it all, and then they will trade the ones that they don't like, like my oldest doesn't like Reese's, my daughter, my 7 year old, loves Reese's, so she's like, here, I don't want this, I'll give you this, so they swap, and I did that growing up too, that was the best 

Krissy: Nice.

Maria: And I will say, my older sister and my younger brother, like, we had a good thing going because we all liked different things and didn't like the other. So it was good. Um, so we do that here too. They all swap, they get their candy, and then when they're done, I just take a plastic bag, write their name on it, throw it in, and then we keep it in the bags. Until Decemberish 

Krissy: Yeah.

Maria: And then everything put into a big, we have like a bin 

Krissy: Mm hmm.

Maria: as our, like in our dessert, we have a dessert cabinet.

Krissy: Yeah.

Maria: I [00:23:00] mean, it's literally just one area in a cabinet, but there's our cabinet.

Krissy: Right.

Maria: it into a bin and then it stays there. And that's just a free for all. 

Krissy: This is a story from Mary, who was a guest on the pod. She is the person who she runs modern Ramona and the Laurel tree and me. And she tells this great story about the switch, which have you ever heard of that?

Maria: You know what? I did start hearing about that. Was that last year that that?

became a thing? 

Krissy: I'm not sure when. So she, what she does with her kids. Yes. 

Maria: a little fuzzy on it. 

Mary: One tradition that I had started with my kids and I am so glad that we do this is the Switch Witch comes every year on Halloween night. So the kids get all excited, they get dressed up, they go out trick or treating and their mission is to get as much candy as they can. They're so excited about it because they know how much the Switch Witch loves candy.

So we go out, we go trick or treating, we come home, we go through all the [00:24:00] candy. Pick out, you know, a bunch of our favorites, things that we really want to keep for ourselves because it's a lot of work. They get to, you know, enjoy some sweets on Halloween, but the more candy they give to the Switch Witch, the happier she is.

So, they keep a couple pieces for themselves, they fill up a bucket with all their extra candy, and we stick the candy out on the porch, and then go to bed. The sooner we go to bed, the better, because then the Switch Witch is gonna come, and she is gonna take all the candy that we left for her, and she's gonna leave.

Some really cool surprise. So then the kids get all excited in the morning. They run downstairs. It's like christmas morning, but halloween And they go out on the porch and they see that the candy is gone the switch witch took all of it And they both have a really cool present that they can unwrap and play with So it's a win win for everyone.

They get to trick or treat, they get the [00:25:00] experience, they get to come home and they get to enjoy their candy, maybe even put some aside to save, to have a piece like every night during the week. But they also aren't having months worth of candy on them. And they get something cool. It's really exciting.

And I'm so glad we started that tradition because, yeah, it saved us in a lot of ways.

Maria: So, for the families that, like, want to limit the

Krissy: Right.

Maria: like that's perfect.

Krissy: What a, what a great option. And then you're not like hiding it in the coat closet. You're not dealing with the whoppers.

Maria: Yes, seriously. Because it is, you, like, almost have to audit it.

Krissy: Right.

Maria: a great option.

Krissy: I love it. I love that. 

​

Krissy: What are some of the traditions that you have that make Halloween magical? Because you have a lot of easy go tos that aren't overwhelming and don't make you feel like a failure for not doing them. No,

Maria: that is the key. Just anything [00:26:00] simple. And the thing that I find to be the most important Easiest traditions to carry on is anything Low maintenance and the whole family together. So just start with Halloween movie night. So the very first friday in october Is when we'll start our first halloween movie.

So like we love spooky buddies. I don't know if you've ever seen that movie It's so cute. It's like air. Did you ever watch air bud growing up?

Krissy: no, but, but I know the like, oh, yes, oh,

Maria: very cute It's the it's air buds little puppies and they are like it's like this whole halloween adventure It's not really scary.

So like that's you know, you always have to toe the line of scary movies with little kids So we just have like a whole list of um Halloween movies that we like to do like Halloween BooFest, Curious George, and we'll pick one. And then we just all get peeps that are [00:27:00] Halloween themed and then popcorn and the kids think that it is the best thing in the entire world. And with like the ambiance, I mean, I just get like orange lights. They, it, it really just sets the tone of like something special. I don't know. There's something special about a little orange light. Some ambiance and then a good kid Halloween movie night and it just it's so simple and we do it every Single Friday night and it has to be so like every single Friday night of October has to be a Halloween movie And then the other thing is just the pumpkin patch We don't do anything crazy added over the top if we add things in it's just for fun That's not a tradition.

Like if we do like a fun treat That's just an added bonus for that specific Halloween year. But our main things that we do are Halloween movie nights, every Friday night. So we come together, we spend quality time, but it just seems like a little bit more special. 

​ 

Krissy: [00:28:00] If you want to go check out all of the activities that Maria does on her website, please go do that on the Instagram because they're also lays them out so perfectly for you. So a quick rapid fire of questions. I'm ready. What's your favorite Halloween candy? We already went over this. Favorite Halloween tradition?

Oh, that's hard. Um, okay. I will say, honestly, Halloween movie night. Halloween movie night. I love it. Haunted houses, love or pass? I've been to it. Don't love. Fun ones, yes. Scary ones, absolutely not. Not me. The last time I went to one was in my 20s, and I was, my coping mechanism was to, like, make friends with all the scary people.

Like you're doing so good. You're doing great, honey. No, I, we went, uh, Mr. Pride and Joy life and I went and it, I was terrified. Yeah. I, I [00:29:00] check, done, never again. There's one like right down the road from us that is so good, but I'm like, uh, no, thank you. Like, I don't, I like the ambiance of it. I will go in and like eat something on the picnic tables, but like going into the thing, it just is too much.

Maria: I just, uh, too realistic. What's your favorite Halloween movie? Focus, focus. Yeah. I have a black cat named Binks. Oh. So like. Yes. It has to be. It has to be. Favorite scary movie? Or none? Uh, no. I used to be a huge scary movie person. Um, I'm going to say Strangers. Ooh. I don't know if you ever saw that. That was the scariest movie.

It was so realistic. That, that shook me to my core. Funny story. So I like, can't do like Supernatural, but I love the Purge movies. I haven't seen those. It's like probably very similar. They came out after, after. You know what? I probably would. Uh, before mom, it's like, [00:30:00] before kids, I would have loved them.

Krissy: After kids, I can't do it. After kids, yeah, everything is so different. It changes you. Everything's too realistic. I'm like, oh no, oh no. And then I think about their family, and I'm like, oh, oh, I wasn't made for this. Like, where am I going to hide in the purge with all my kids? They're never going to stay quiet.

1000%. Nightmares. Yeah. Okay. Um, favorite Halloween costume as a child.

Maria: My friends and I one time were old grandmas. So we got, we just, we just, I don't know what it was, but that was one of my favorites. We were in robes. We had grandma masks. We had grandma hair. I loved it. Oh, that's so cute. One of our listeners, Christina Lucia, who is an author of the Bella books. Yes. She submitted that her favorite Halloween costume as a kid was she went like.

Krissy: She was a teenager. Like they should not have been going, but it was still like really cute. And all of the, and all of the adults were super [00:31:00] nice about it. And she was ginger spice and all her friends were spice girls. How cute is that? Phenomenal that I would have given them all the candy. That is wonderful.

So cute. I love that. Um, favorite Halloween costume that your own kids have dressed up as. Ooh, you know what? I will say, I've loved every single year because it shows their personalities. So, I don't know. Um, okay, I'll, I'll try. This year, my littlest is going to be Elsa. She hasn't done it yet, but I know that that's going to be my favorite because it really speaks to her.

Maria: Um, my, my other daughter, she was, Mal from Descendants. Okay. And she just nailed it. She had the wig, everything. Loved it. My oldest, he was a zombie pirate and that one he actually wants to be again this year. And so I think that that's like he's finding his groove. He's making some adjustments to it. So I really like that he likes that.

It makes me happy to see him. And then my [00:32:00] My five year old, he was Hulk one year, and he was so cute. I think he was when he was three. And just those little muscles on the little kid is just so adorable. So cute. What are your favorites of your kids? So, our first Halloween costume is actually, like, ridiculous.

Krissy: Um, it was a baby shower gift. Okay. So we had to use it. It was Michael Jackson. Oh, oh, that's amazing. And he had the glove and everything. It was so cute. So this little like soldier out costume. So that was adorable. Um, with my second one, he was born at the end of November. So for Halloween that year, I had like a big jack o lantern on my belly and then the next year he was the jack o lantern.

So that was so cute. Right. I just made him my pumpkin. Yeah, that's a nice progression. That's cute. A little follow up. There's something about babies in the jack o lantern costumes. It just feels like a rite of passage. Exactly. It was just too cute. And now my three year old wants him to be a pumpkin again.

He's like very set. Like this is what we're going to do. I'm like, no, he's not doing that. [00:33:00] Um, be like, it doesn't fit, but he wants to be. He was an astronaut last year. He wants to be an astronaut again this year, and he wants his brother to be an astronaut with him. So I think they're both going to be an astronaut.

I have the costume, but I also have a Marshall paw patrol costume. Should he choose to do that instead? Yes. My five year old last year was chased from Paw Patrol. And that one is a second, like, it's just, is it the hat with the ears? And they keep it on. It actually is a nice, like realistic one because anything with too much, they don't really like to keep all the extras on.

Maria: But the hat and then it comes with like a little backpack. I don't know if that's what yours. Yeah, it was very realistic for like the toddler is. Yes. I was like, okay, this is a good one. So cute. So either way, I think we've got some good choices here. What are your, those your costumes for this year? What?

No, so, um, my oldest is going to be the variation of a zombie pirate, not scary though, because he's very sensitive to like, he doesn't want to scare kids, which I'm like, you're so sweet. Um, and then my daughter, well, so then we have Elsa, [00:34:00] then we have, um, My five year old is going to be Sonic, and then my I know, and he looks so cute in it.

He's like, I'm gonna run. I'm like, you're gonna do it. He's so cute with it. And then my older daughter is going to be Stitch. She's in a very big Lilo and Stitch series. Stitch is having a resurgence, so there's a lot of stuff going on. Stitch things out in the world and it's very cute. It's like a stitch dress that she puts the hood up on.

And that also is a very realistic for like kids outfit. So I'm like, everyone is like finding their groove. It's very nice this year. That's so cute. I can't, I hope you send some pictures. I want to see. Oh, I will. I will. You too. Um, let's see. Do you prefer now it's like without kids, let's take your own kids out of the situation, but do you prefer giving out candy or going trick or treating and be part of being part of everything?

Oh, if I, if kids are out of it, I probably would love handing out the candy. I've never done it before though, because I've always, [00:35:00] I came out of college, had my son a year out of outside of college. So we went straight into it. So I think I will love being like, Older that stage of like giving it out But I will say there is that magic to like being the one going with the kids right now doing the trick or treat I know but like as as a 30 something year old woman by myself in a costume trick or treat I don't know how well received I would be I suppose it would be like with your kids being like old or maybe you're like going with other people's kids I don't know.

Oh. I don't know. Mmm. No, but I think at that point, like if my own kids aren't, then I think I would like to be the giver. Like, I think I would like to see all the different costumes and yeah, I'll be that like old granny. Yeah. Like really excited to see them. You're going to be so great at that when you open the door.

Oh my gosh. Trying to guess the costumes. Oh, I will. Each time will be such a surprise to me. I'll be like. I can't believe you came to my house. I know. I'll be so honored that they come to my house. [00:36:00] Homemade or store bought costumes. Oh, well, we always do store bought, but because my son wants to do a variation of his last year's costume, we are making some adjustments.

So this is the very first year. I will let you know next year, Halloween. Yes. If it was too much to do the homemade. But right now in this stage of life, I'm going to go with store bought. What's yours? So my, for myself, I have only ever done other than like when I was a kid, homemade, I put them together.

Krissy: Like I was Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Hurtig with my friend one year. We were like the, it was so cute. We weren't, it wasn't Halloween. I think it was. but we wore roller skates around the school and things like that. So like, I love trying to, the creativity of putting it together, but you're right with kids.

I'm like, you know, here pick something out. I found the happiness of taking them to the store and seeing their excitement and this stage, you know, maybe like when they're older and they want to be involved with it, we'll get there. But at this point [00:37:00] I'm okay with the easy button. And it's cute that they get to like go through it and pick it out without Yeah.

Yeah. I can see that. Well, your costume is adorable today. I absolutely love it. And I want to give a shout out to the little hearts playroom for letting me borrow their Sarah silk for my costume today, because I think this kind of put it together. You are the perfect miss Rachel. I wore this to my three year old's birthday party, obviously not with the headphones.

And, um, it was just so cute. This one little girl was, I liked it. She was like looking at me like a celebrity. I wasn't likey. I mean, honestly, you pass for her, like, you look like her, you have, like, the voice of, I mean, you know, I've always told you that your voice is such a entertainment voice. I would be, if I was that girl, I'd be like, I'm in the presence of royalty right now.

Maria: Miss Rachel's with me in this room. So if you're local, I am available for parties. She'll send you her schedule. Yeah, definitely. Like, let me know. My husband doesn't mean Blippi. So. Oh my gosh. You [00:38:00] guys would rule the world. I know. Rule the world. Miss Rachel and Blippi. Just retire now. Yeah. Do it. Oh my gosh.

Krissy: Do you have any final words of wisdom for us for this Halloween special? My words of wisdom are do not overcomplicate it. There is such magic in just the simplicity of. The holiday that if you just literally, if you're looking to spice it up, just go out, get orange lights, one jack o lantern, one, like, just, The lights enough will make it feel at night like you are in a Halloween house.

Maria: Turn off the lights, put on your orange lights, and then put on a movie and snuggle with your kids. It doesn't have to be over complicated, and it will become so nostalgic to you for that family time. So just lean into the simple, It will be great. I agree. I have those, you know, like the Halloween buckets with that are [00:39:00] the jack o lanterns that, those are the, they take trick or treating, but those are also my decor and they triple as like toy storage.

Krissy: So they're just on the, yeah, exactly. So yeah, and yeah, don't overthink it. They love it. Anyway. Maria will be back with us for our Thanksgiving episode. I am so excited if you have stories that you want to share with us about your family traditions for Thanksgiving. Giving, please do please take a moment to leave us a quick rating review.

Like the episode. If you're on YouTube or five stars, if you're on Spotify or Apple, make sure you subscribe on any platforms you have available to you and share this episode with your friends. If you'd like to share your story, please reach out to me at bold little minds at gmail. com. Or you can find me at bold little minds on Instagram, whatever.

And, Maria, where can we find you? You can find me, I'm 

Maria: mainly on Instagram at Pride and Joy Life. I have a TikTok. I'm not great at keeping up with the TikTok. You're good at keeping up with your TikTok. 

Krissy: at the [00:40:00] same time. Yep. 

Maria: Yes, I have a Facebook as well, but really if you're looking to be a part of the Pride and Joy Life life, find me on Instagram.

That's where I am. Fantastic. 

Krissy: Well, thank you so much for listening and we will see you next time.

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