Busy Busy Sugar Sugar

This is typically a crazy time of the year. Fall festivals, hayrides, pumpkin picking and, of course, candy candy candy. Tonight was no different. Attending a Halloween Happening at our local township's park was definitely on the agenda. We have been talking about it for weeks. Unfortunately it started at 5:30, which enabled me enough time to get home from work, grab an apple and granola bar, pack a bag and buckle my 2-year-old into the car seat. Of course he chose the granola bar over the apple...lovely dinner.
He did wear his costume, which i was happily surprised at the lack of a fight to put it on. The child prefers to be naked, after all. So Mommy was happy, as it was chilly outside and the costume doubled as a warm suit. Then the fun began...or should i say the candy fest began. EVERYWHERE we turned there were treats. Cookies, cupcakes, candy...the healthiest thing at the festival was a bag of pretzels (which was chucked into the bottom of the goody bag as his little hands reached for the gummy worms). I was lucky to have my parents and sister at the event with me to distract the 2-year-old pleas to unwrap the gobstopper he just won in the candy scramble - 'wait, what's that...a magician...cool! Let's go see the magic tricks' as i slyly dropped the gobstopper in the nearest trashcan. Great thing that kid's attention spans are closely related to that of a gnat's.
Magic show - we watched for a good 10 minutes before he remembered the candy fest occurring behind the performer. OK - back to sugar...ugggghhhh. It was then i asked my mom how she handled us around Halloween and how the candy situation went down when we were young. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a sugar-phobe...i like my sweets but i do try to encourage healthy eating. My mom just kinds of chuckled and said - you do your best to distract and limit the candy consumption. OK, and how am i supposed to do that????
So a scrumptious dinner of bottle caps, cookies and cupcakes for tonight. I feel bad about it, i wish i had time to cook every day and SIT DOWN for dinner every night. I don't want to aide in creating bad eating habits for my son but i guess sometimes, like everything else, it is just unavoidable. Saturday - Halloween - I'm afraid...very afraid...
Needless to say, I'm all prepared and have the slow cooker out for tomorrow night's meal. The candy is hidden and the teeth are certainly brushed. Any interesting ideas on how to divide the candy he is about to receive on Halloween?? Bribery, manipulation and any other suggestions are welcome :0) Thanks!