The Great Pumpkin Tradition
The Great Pumpkin has been visiting our house for many years. What started out as simply a way to exchange all of the candy that Logan received and couldn’t eat due to his allergies has turned into a really fun family tradition. I can’t imagine Halloween without it . The children immediately start dividing up their candy as soon as they get it and talking about what The Great Pumpkin will bring, It has proven really useful as we have discovered that Madison is celiac and needed to be gluten free as well. The super fun part is that I can envision my children continuing the tradition with their children. Isn’t that what traditions are really for?
Here’s how the Great Pumpkin rides at our house. We attend various events through the month that give the children candy. candy that is gathered during the month of October gets put into a giant bowl. Now, for the record, this is candy from therapy appts, Trunk or Treat and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We also do 2 streets of trick or treating in a neighborhood near us that seems to fill our bags which is a good thing because that is all Logan can handle since he is now too big to actually trick or treat.
On Halloween night, we go through the acquired candy picking out a few pieces to keep that Logan and Madison can actually eat. I literally mean a few pieces. The more candy the Great Pumpkin gets , the better the present he leaves behind. All of the remaining candy goes out on the porch to be picked up by Dad or Papa , The Great Pumpkin who takes it home to his pumpkin patch to share with all the baby pumpkins.
In return for the candy, a gift is left in its place. It could be a small gift for each child or one that they can play with together. The Great Pumpkin has brought art sets for Madison and Legos for Logan. This year, a note will be left for the Great Pumpkin explaining that we need the candy for gingerbread houses. In return , I bought Haunted Mansion Life which both children really wanted. Sort of an exchange. We have done this one other year but usually the children want to leave the candy. There is some preplanning involved as in I have to actually be sure to have a gift to put outside. Also, a friendly reminder to whoever is snatching the candy is always a good idea too.
After the candy is put outside, the children are instructed to stay away from the windows.
The Great Pumpkin won’t come if anyone is waiting for him. Just ask Linus.
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