Getting Real With the Pumpkin Fairy

I don't know if you have heard about the Pumpkin Fairy before but it is all new to me.  Now that Z finally gets Trick or Treating and has a real love for candy, I have been trying to come up with ideas on how to help him consume less of the sugar.  No I am not a crazy mother who won't let her child eat any of the loot, just want him to eat less.  I have a friend who's dentist actually pays his child patients by the piece if they bring in their candy the week after Halloween.  This idea got me thinking, what could I do??  Then I discovered the Pumpkin Fairy.

Now the idea is that you have your children pick a few pieces of candy and then put the rest of the stash at the end of their bed Halloween night.  When they wake up, the Pumpkin Fairy (or Sugar Plum Fairy as Kara over at Simple Kids calls her) takes the candy and leaves a special (non sugar) treat in its place.  Now I think this idea is very sweet but I just don't want to add to the many illusions that are already going on in my child's head.  I mean between Santa, the Easter Bunny, the tooth fairy and our two elves who come in December.....there is a bit of an overload. Usually once they figure one out, the whole thing is over and so I didn't want to add another less common known fairy who could be easily discovered.

So what to do???  Well I decided to be straight with Z and played a little "Let's Make a Deal".  I told him that on Halloween night there will be a present wrapped.  He can either take his candy stash or he can pick 5 pieces and take the present.  He has already decided that the present is the choice he is going to make.....I think I am going to get off easy this year ;)