Photo by Aus_Chick on Flickr

So your kids come home with a bag full of tooth rotting goodness - what is a parent/caregiver to do?

1. First go through the candy and make sure there is nothing obviously wrong with any of the candy (unwrapped, pins, re-wrapped, nothing you recognize, etc.).

2. Make sure there is nothing your child might be allergic to (peanuts are a big one, coconut, chocolate) - remember the kids just want to eat the candy they don't care if they end up in the hospital!

3. Next, put a limit on the amount of candy that can be eaten in a day or even a limit as to what can be kept.

4. If you decide not to keep all the candy, find someplace where you can donate it -- homeless shelters, libraries, women's shelters, food pantries, nursing homes -- or send non-melting candy to the troops (this could be a neighborhood or classroom effort) via Operation Shoebox. Burns Park PTO suggests Lunches with Love.

5. Take a bountiful load of candy to work with you and put it in the break room! Do not keep it on your desk! (you don't want your co-workers to blame you!)

6. Make kids brush their teeth after they have a candy snack.

7. Put one piece in their lunch - make it a surprise every day.

8. Find out if there is a dentist nearby that pays for candy... some pay up to $1 per pound.

Here are some suggestions for next year's Halloween -- sans candy -- especially if you have a smaller group of kids to give to.

* Give away stickers.
* Give away fruit roll-ups or fruit leathers if you have a small number of trick-or-treaters.
* Give away quarters (again know how many trick-or-treaters you might have - could get expensive)
* Give away gummy candy packages (at the dollar store the Scooby Doo packs are I think six for $1 - yes, I know this is candy, but it is made with sugar and not high fructose corn syrup.)

If you have bazillions of kids that come to your door each Halloween, you might want to at least look at the ingredients - don't give out candy that has high fructose corn syrup in it. That might be easier said than done, but there are candies with sugar only.

This is a great opportunity for your child to learn about giving to others, sharing, self discipline and making choices.

Kim Kachadoorian is a regular contributor to AnnArbor.com.