Crying Foul Over Peeps

By Amy Coward

M&Ms. Snickers. Kit Kats. I grabbed a bag of each for Halloween even though we usually only have 2 or 3 trick-or-treaters. I remain ever hopeful that this will be the year when more show up. And if they don’t, I’m sure someone will eat it, though I’m not dropping any names. As I’m shopping the massive Halloween section of the store (no longer one lonely aisle), I am amazed at how large this holiday has become. The costumes. The decorations. The candy. It’s endless.

As if there weren’t enough bubble gum eyeballs and tombstone candies to choose from, other holiday candies have snuck into the offering as if we needed them. For instance, what in the world are Peeps doing in the Halloween candy? Green apple flavored peeps. Pumpkin spice peeps. Peeps in the shape of cats. The world has gone crazy. Doesn’t everyone know that certain candies belong to certain holidays? Candy corn is for Halloween. Caramels and chocolate are for Halloween. But peeps? I’m so glad I didn’t see jelly beans or malted milk balls. I might have caused a scene.

Let’s be clear. Peeps, jelly beans and malted milk balls belong to Easter. Candy corn and caramel belong to Halloween. Chocolate? Well, chocolate belongs to every holiday and every day for that matter. It’s practically a health food. But there are rules for other candy.

On October 31, we’re not going around the yard searching for eggs. We’re not going out to dinner and sharing a heart-shaped box of chocolates. We’re going door to door or to parties looking for treats and ghoulish surprises. And it’s not like there is a shortage of candy for Halloween so they had to raid the Easter closet. There are mountains of bags of candy bars, cupcake mixes with orange and black sprinkled icing, candy corn in four (yes, four) flavors – pumpkin spice, peanut butter, Starburst flavor and plain. Plus, if your family is not into the traditional candy, there are organic chocolate peanut butter cups, organic gummy bears or orange-beet cookies for the health-conscious. At any rate, there is no need to add Peeps to the mix!

Now I realize this is random and it’s not exactly a life or death matter. But it belongs right in there with wearing white after Labor Day. There are rules. We don’t grill hot dogs on Thanksgiving. We don’t wear red, white and blue on Christmas. We don’t eat corned beef and cabbage on the 4^th of July. The world has enough chaos without us interjecting more.

Feel free to drop by my house on Halloween where there is order in the universe. There will be no American flag waving at the front door. Just a wooden black cat and a Jack-O-Lantern to greet you. There will be no pastel-colored basket filled with bunny-shaped chocolates. We follow the rules. We’ll have M&Ms, Snickers and Kit Kats and maybe some candy corn.

No way are we serving Peeps.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it. 

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