So, I had a sweet tooth when I was a youth. Had it removed – and, I think I gained a shiny dime.

Not a bad return for something I didn’t pay for – or earn. Yeah, even as a kid I was a capitalist.  🙂

Full disposure, I probably procured candy with my bounty… though I am sure, in the interim, I felt rich.

What did you do with your Tooth Fairy loot, Constant Reader? Please, please, please do not, however, tell me how much she gave you in exchange? My parents were thrifty, well, cash-strapped, so that the Tooth Fairy was likely my Grandpa. He was born at the turn of the century, the only child of immigrant parents, and to him, a dime would have been a fortune. He likely never heard of the Tooth Fairy, though he was from the land of the famed brothers Grimm, who compiled fairy tales that titillated me as a child. As much as candy – maybe.

A subject is called for – and intended – so, enter stage right, please…drum roll, too:

Whachagonnado with the leftover Halloween candy?

One mom I know marches her children to their dentist where they fork over their loot – in exchange for a toothbrush. In the color of their choice.

Another takes her children to the local shelter to donate the candy, still in the special plastic pumpkin carrier, she purposefully gave them for the special night. There, at the shelter, she allows each child to select their final candy before they pass the treats along… how much do you bet the three-year-old silently stuffed his car seat with the small packages of his loot on the long, long ride to the shelter.

How much do you bet the older child threatened him to hand over all the candy when they all got home – or else he’d tell mom? 😉

So, what are you going to do with the leftovers? Put your story in the comments, please and thanks.