Some people wanted to judge me harshly for not letting my kids go trick-or-treating this year. I’m sure some of you may want to now as well. But let me explain.

This past Thursday night, there were crazy high wind speeds where I live. Also, there was so much rain, our front sidewalk was flooded. If we had let them go, all of us would have gotten soaked and at least one of us would have gotten sick.

Instead, the kids all got dressed in their costumes and CJ and I set up trick-or-treating stations around the house. At our manned stations, the kids were asked math or reading questions in order to earn a piece of candy. At unmanned stations, they had to preform a physical activity (like jumping jacks) in order to earn candy. As an added bonus, this also helped tucker them out for bed.

Everyone had tons of fun and no one got wet. Win-win as far as I’m concerned. Just because you don’t participate in the “norm,” doesn’t make you a bad parent. As long as your kids are happy, that’s all that matters.