This week was Halloween week.  We were bombarded with candy, cupcakes, and all of the processed yummies that go along with the holiday.  We were also bombarded with the artificial dyes that come with these yummies.  So at the end of the week we eliminated these dyes.  I wish I could say that we accomplished this painlessly, but we didn’t.

One of the best days of the week was our homeschool recess party.  There were cupcakes, cake pops, bowls of candy, donut holes (my personal fav) and capri suns…oh my!  The kids were overloaded and we all enjoyed every minute of it.

A few days after the party, on Saturday, we went downtown to trick-or-treat from storefront to storefront.  Super fun and the result was more candy and happy kids.  I was not about to make my kids throw away their candy I figured it is a holiday and they deserve to enjoy it.   They were so stoked with pumpkin buckets full of candy!

Sunday night, the middle of the night, and we are awoke by a frantic Ava Rose.  She is sick.  She had a very upset tummy and was sick for about three hours.  She woke up Monday morning feeling great so Shane and I simply blamed her condition on too much candy.

Now it is the day of Halloween.  We trick or treat come home and pass out from all of the excitement.  Again, in the middle of the night Ava is up for about 3 hours sick.  Again, we think too much candy.

Tuesday morning comes and Ava wakes up feeling great and very hungry.  We limit the amount of candy she consumes, much to her dismay.  Again, sick at night.  Now the fun really gets started.  We are dealing with Ava’s tummy issues and Audrey comes down with croup.  It all seems like a blur now.  I do know that in our bed to my left was a throwing up three-year old and to my right was a barking baby.

Wednesday goes smoothly and Ava sleeps well at night.  Thursday and Friday we continue to limit her candy consumption but she is sick both nights.  About an hour prior to actually getting sick she gets very restless, as if she knows what is coming.  While she is sick her little heart races.  We finally start to think it may be the dyes in the candy.  Ava has had previous issues with dyes.

On Ava’s second Birthday she had an awesome Mickey & Minnie Mouse cake made by the grocery store.  Two days later she was covered in hives.

July 2010 - days after her 2nd Birthday

She was miserable.  The only thing we could figure was it was the dye in her store-bought cake.  I had previously had a minor reaction from a cake from the same store.  It is either green or yellow.  The store even told me that it was not that uncommon of a complaint.  The doctor told us to try to give it to her again to confirm our suspicions but uh…yeah right, we’ll pass and just avoid those dyes!

So back to the present.  It’s Friday night and we start to research dyes used in foods.  I have to say that this is truly some scary shit.  These dyes are bad bad bad news.  The side effects of the dyes are horrific.  Many countries have banned them…but not ours.  Our family has been eliminating processed foods so naturally this would be the our next step.  Saturday morning we pull our all of the candy except the chocolate out of the kids pumpkin buckets.  I explain to the kids that the Halloween Fairy (cheesy I know) will be coming to take this candy but she will leave them something.  They are bummed but accepting.  The fairy left them real chocolate bars in all of the fruity, yucky, candies place.  The kids were fine with this and had chocolate for breakfast!

I wish I could say that Ava was instantly cured of her yucky tummy but she wasn’t.  She was up  for 3 hours last night after not eating candy all day.  Maybe it will take a while to get it out of her system or maybe it is something else completely.  I am keeping a food journal this week.   I am also wondering if it is a seasonal allergy since we have been sleeping with our windows open.  I am just really hoping that Ava Rose finds peaceful sleep tonight.

I can assure you that even if it isn’t the dyes that are making her sick they are no longer welcome in my home or in my families diet.  It is amazing the effect that they can have on children’s behaviors.  I think everyone should be aware of the harms.