Switch Witch

So every year about this time when the holidays are pitter-pattering their gargantuan feet off in the distance, some discussion threads appear on my mommy boards about the relative merits and blasphemies of such things as santa claus, tooth fairy, easter bunny, etc... I have glossed one of these threads before, and that's about it because they all virtually say the same thing, different words, different posters:

Lying to children is BAD!!
No! It's magical!

You're going to destroy their trust in you!

I'm creating a magical childhood!

They always find out before they're ready and it crushes them for life!

I found out before i was ready and i turned out fine!

ad nauseum.
Ok, so i'm making fun and the posts are a bit longer and perhaps a tad more eloquent, but you get the gist. And i respect everyone's various beliefs and delusions and while I *personally* have no issue with lying to my children:

(no, raelin, the ice cream is all gone and yes, santa will bring you more presents if you give me a bit of your cookie.....)

I have no issue with those who choose to forgo the whole holy trinity of consumerism: santa/easter bunny/fill-in-the-blank.

However, this is not what this post is about.

I bring up the threads because i popped into one the other day about halloween candy and what various families do to handle the sugar overload. This I have an interest in because i do attempt to keep sugar at bay in my house, both for Raelin and me and i guilt Kevin heavily, but he isnt' playing, so mostly for Raelin and my own inner sugar demon.

So, one mom said that her husband came up with this idea of telling the kids that if they left their candy out on halloween night, a little goblin would come and take it and leave a present in its place. Hmmmm... i thought. Turns out that said mom's husband is not exactly original, because several others chimed in that yes, they do this and it works great. Kids get the fun of trick-or-treating, get to eat some candy that night and keep a few faves, and then offer the rest up to some creature.

The best name? The Switch Witch!

Brilliant! I thought.

So, i run this by Raelin the next day.

"So, Raelin, I heard about this thing and want to know what you think of it."
"Heard about what?"
"There's this witch...She's called the Switch Witch. And if you leave her your candy on Halloween night, she comes and takes it and -------- leaves you a present instead!"

Raelin's eyes grow big.

"She leaves me a present?.... But...does she have a dog?"
"I dont' know honey, maybe. What do you think of that? Would you like her to come to our house? I hear she only comes when she's invited."
"Will she come down the chimney?"
"Oh, you mean like Santa? I dont' know."
"I think she will...will she ride a broom? how will she carry the candy?"

Uh, ok. Do you want the goods or not, kid?

"Yes, she rides a broom and i don't know how she carries the candy"
"She has a bag."
"well, there you go. See, you knew the answer. So, Raelin, should we invite the Switch Witch?"
"I think we should. And i would like a doctor kit."
"A doctor kit? you mean, like the one we saw at Planet (toy store) the other day?"
"Yeah... and that book that Daddy wouldn't buy me at Bookland."
"Ohhhh... you mean the My Little Pony one?"
"Yeeeahhhh...."

(my kid is no dummy)

"Ok, well, I'll pass that on."
"Can the Switch Witch be seen?"

etc...


Raelin has changed her mind a few times about the SW, but i think when it comes down to it, she's in. Between now and Halloween, I think we will have more or less concocted not only a biographical sketch of SW, but a medical history and perhaps a family tree. She's pretty much *the* topic of conversation. And Kevin is psyched because he pretty much thinks he's the SW and will thus be the one with the bag of candy... ha! Have I a trick for him!

I'm adding another fictional character to my children's childhood, and i feel pretty good about that.