This afternoon I'm going over to the kids' school to drop off a veggie tray for my daughter's kindergarten Halloween party. "Moooooommmmm," she keeps saying, "Bring CUPCAKES!!"

This year the school has asked that the treats we bring for birthdays and parties be things that are on the healthy side. I have no problem with this, since I try and feed the kids stuff that will actually help them grow and thrive.

When my son turned 10 earlier this month, he took pencils and mini notebooks to hand out to his classmates instead of the brownies that I usually make for him to take (from scratch, they're awesome). He wasn't too sure he liked the idea, but at the end of the day he said that most of the kids told him they'd rather have what he brought than cake. Maybe they're just super-polite fourth graders.

It will be interesting to see how the kids like their low-sugar Halloween parties, which will be the first parties of the school year. My guess is that they'll have just as much fun, if not more since they won't feel nauseous from all the frosting and chocolate. Besides, they all know that once the sun goes down they'll have all the sugar they can handle. And then some.