Why the Switch Witch is a Terrible Idea

switch

I rarely get my panties in a bunch. But let me tell you, my panties are in a bunch...about the Switch Witch.

For the most part I keep my opinions to myself, but there are few things I am more passionate about than intuitive eating and rules about food. 

If you haven't heard to the "Switch Witch," she the witch that comes Halloween night and swaps  all or some of your kids' Halloween candy for a toy. From what I've read some "Switch Witches" take surplus candy offered up voluntarily by the children, while others simply swap out all the candy. In place of the candy the "Switch Witch" gifts children with toys or other gifts [This is is another ridiculous aspect of the Switch Witch concept. If you must ditch the candy why not have your children do something charitable, like donate canned goods to a food pantry instead of receiving another needless toy?].

The predominant reason behind it is to teach our kids to learn to eat only what they love.

"I think the Switch Witch has a life lesson to teach that a lot of grown-ups could use too: Eat what you love." from Real Mom Nutrition

I'll be blunt: The Switch Witch is a ludicrous idea based on a false assumption. 

The assumption: our children don't know how to eat intuitively; they don't know what kinds of candy they really like, so they will mindlessly eat ALL the candy unless we intervene.

Children are perhaps the MOST intuitive eaters and we have a thing or two to learn from them. Children eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full, sometimes to the frustration of parents who want them to eat more. Visit most any house at dinner time and chances are children are ONLY eating what they love, and in many cases the parents are working the opposite angle: trying to get their children to try new things and expand their food preferences, as opposed to trying to teach their children to eat only what they like.

I've watched my four year old spit out a York Peppermint patty declaring it "Gross!" I've also watched him lick all the frosting off his own birthday cupcakes because he doesn't like the "cake part." No parental intervention necessary. He eats only what he likes, and new things with our encouragement.

Go to any child's birthday party and chances are all the kids are running around playing and having a good time. Maybe one or two will swing by the table to grab a snack or two, or try to snag a cupcake before it's time, but for the most part they are distracted, doing what they love to do: play. And where are the parents? The parents are standing around the snack table.

If we allowed our children to mindlessly eat candy in the way the proponents of the Switch Witch imagine, then they would quickly learn from natural consequences that mindless eating is not enjoyable. A lesson that would most likely stick with them far longer than a Switch Witch who swaps candy for toys. Most parents aren't willing to let that happen, but natural consequences are a far greater teacher that contrived circumstances. We disrespect our children when we assume them incapable of self-regulation, you would be surprised-if you step back a bit- to find that you children are far more capable than you imagined them to be.

To be frank, removing the candy is more about us, it's parents projecting their food issues and hang-ups on to their children. Every argument for the Switch Witch I've seen starts with

"If I had a bowl of [insert vice food here] in front of me I'd mindlessly eat even if it wasn't my favorite food."

We assume because we eat mindlessly that children will do the same, and it's just not true.

I am no stranger to mindless eating. I've binged in ways that would make your jaw drop. It was desperate and disgusting and I felt so ashamed of it at the time. I've felt completely out of control and powerless against food. I've known what it is to binge in the utmost sense of the word.

Now I'm in a place where I can be faced with foods that I once binged on and NOT eat mindlessly. I can sit in front of a bowl of [insert vice food] and not feel compelled to eat it. It's not a mastery of self control, it comes from addressing why I binged. I didn't binge because of the food, I binged because of unresolved issues. We can try to control food as much as possible, but unless we look into why we mindlessly eat--what we are trying to cope with through the eating--then food will always have this compulsive power over us. Most young children haven't turned to food as a coping mechanism, and if they have then far more than the Switch Witch is necessary to help them re-learn how to eat intuitively.

Intuitive eating is about eating what you love, indulging in your favorite foods without guilt or shame and not labeling foods "good" or "bad," because when we label foods we also label ourselves when we eat those foods.

switch

Just say no to the Switch Witch, you aren't teaching your children anything and you're avoiding looking into the real reasons behind your own mindless eating.

Rant over. Panties un-bunched.

This post is not directed at any individuals, simply at the idea of the Switch Witch. If you choose to do the Switch Witch I'd be interested in hearing your reasons why.

Here's another great post on "Ditching the Switch Witch"

And I love this post from Allie "One Reason to Calm the %^$# Down About Kids Eating Healthy"

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