It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…

Well, it seems like Christmas is coming quicker than we realized. The stores are full of decorations, Christmas trees and lights. TV is playing at least a couple of Christmas movies a day. And next week in Cold Lake is the yearly Santa Claus parade.

I look forward to the Santa Claus parade every year. Growing up as a child on the east coast, Christmas parades were always held during the day. I loved watching the parade, seeing all the hard work people put into the floats and watching the young children get so excited when it was time for Santa to drive by.

I feel Cold Lake’s Santa Claus parade is more special because it’s held at night and you have the added “specialness” with all the Christmas lights. Instead of driving around to view Christmas lights during the season, you can pick a spot in town and watch them drive by you.

The one thing I don’t like about the Santa Claus parade…is the candy! Some of you may remember my comments on this from last year:
“The parade was wonderful this year. The floats, decorations, lights and music were beautiful. It was so great to see so many local businesses participate. What wasn’t wonderful was the amount of candy that was thrown to the children. It was like Halloween – Part 2. To hear my child be more excited about the amount of candy she collected than seeing the floats or Santa Claus was disheartening. I can see a candy cane or two being given as acceptable, but handfuls of candy, chocolate and bubble gum was not necessary. To me, it takes away from the purpose and meaning of the event.”

I have the same thoughts with the parade coming up next week. I don’t look forward to my daughter adding to the already large Halloween stash that is still in our pantry. I don’t look forward to her excitement being greater for the candy being thrown than the float that it’s coming from. I don’t look forward to being concerned with all the young children running into the street to collect the candy.

The purpose of me writing this blog is in the hopes that some local agencies, businesses, organizations, and maybe the City of Cold Lake would read this and think twice about throwing candy this year during the parade. If you have leftover Halloween candy, throw it out. Don’t give any more to the kids. They don’t need it. Let’s make the Santa Claus parade about the parade, floats and lights again!

If you have any nutrition topics you would like me to write about or have a question you would like answered, email me at thedishonlcn@gmail.com. I would really like to hear from you!