Do kids know the Halloween "rules"?

[JimmyPicker]

In my area, no one goes by outside lights or porch lights. If there are lights on in the house, that house has candy. That's the way it's always been. As far as trick or treaters showing up at 6 when it's not even dark out -- that's the law here. Trick or treating is from 6pm until 8pm.

 

[ford family]

Sitting in the dark!! lol.

We have a thing here which is largely in decline called mischief night. Kinda like trick or treat but the kids all play the tricks.

Years back I would have been sitiing in the dark, behind my front door, with my high pressure yard washer just showing an inch outside of my letter box.

We do have some problems here now that we have adopted Trick or Treat from the USA in that sometimes gangs of teenagers can cause problems in urnan areas and large corporation estates by aggravated demanding of goods. A lot of old people can be very scared by the thoughts of this.

Last night it was our pleasure to give out chocolate to 3 well behaved families of young children, all with doting parental escorts.

Funny you should mention "mischief" night. We were at a dinner party last night and talk turned to who was going to the village bonfire (tonight) and I asked who remembered mischief nights when they were kids. Complete blank! Mind you, they were all southerners and my childhood was in Yorkshire so it must be a northern thing. It was on the 4th November and had no connection with Halloween as it was to "celebrate" the last minute plotting of Guy Fawkes and his fellow Catholic terrorists.
As for Halloween trick and treating, it was agreed that it was a ghastly American import that has got out of control. One of our friends is a policewoman who left early as she had been called out for night duty to help quell some of the more violent "demanding money with menaces" elements of Halloween.

ford family

 

[mjkacmom]

Yes, and I found the kids to be extremely polite this year, with thank you's and "happy halloween!" I turned my light off, and saw ToT's on the street, and no one came to my door, even though my lights were on. I did end up with my neighbor's bowl, and one group of kids helped themselves to the whole bowl (I don't have a very big bowl), but all in all, very polite.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

The kids here usually follow all of the rules. I did have one set of 3 kids with masks last night just stare at me (I sit on the porch with the bowl of candy so I don't have to keep opening and shutting the door with my huge dogs having a fit). I said "what do you say?" finally they buckled and said "trick or treat". They didn't get candy until they said it. That's MY rule. They looked about middle school age.
Robin M.

 

[mlynn]

Last night I had a group of kids and 4 parents come to my door. I gave the kids candy and the parents said don't forget our bags. 4 adults. Now I had jsut given the kids (6 kidsin all) HOW much candy did they want
Thats not the worse of it. My husband got home so I could take my kids out and he could give candy out. I ran into that group again at a house who left the bowl on their step with a note saying take one please. Well we were behind that group and the one mother walked up and dumped the whole bowl into her bag. I couldn't believe it. I turned to her and said "can you be any more greedy. Thats just sick!!" I walked away but I couldn't help shaking my head everytime I saw her.

 

[Aardvarks]

Funny you should mention "mischief" night. We were at a dinner party last night and talk turned to who was going to the village bonfire (tonight) and I asked who remembered mischief nights when they were kids. Complete blank! Mind you, they were all southerners and my childhood was in Yorkshire so it must be a northern thing. It was on the 4th November and had no connection with Halloween as it was to "celebrate" the last minute plotting of Guy Fawkes and his fellow Catholic terrorists.
As for Halloween trick and treating, it was agreed that it was a ghastly American import that has got out of control. One of our friends is a policewoman who left early as she had been called out for night duty to help quell some of the more violent "demanding money with menaces" elements of Halloween.

ford family

Heh, and did you collect wood for the bonfire ( progging Shipley, Chumping in Bradford) or push a Guy around in an old pushchair to collect all your pennies.

Did your teath rot from Bonfire or Plot night toffee or toffee apples and ginger bread?

Did you bake potatos in the ashes and embers of the bonfire (lord knows what carcinogens we must have exposed ourselves to).

What about pie and peas...........really mushy peas with either a splash of vinegar or mint sauce?

Did your face get all hot and red from facing the fire and yet your back was freezing, did you have a cold nose and next day every kid in school had either a cold or a sore throat? or coughed a lot ?

And di your overcoat stink for a week because the weather was too wet to have it washed, and anyway, you needed it for school?

 

[Anne34]

No such "rule" here- the kids go to every single house, lights on or not. In fact many houses do not have a porch light here and most of the others have a sensor light that only goes on when you approch the doorstep. We have a sensor light so most of the time the front is dark but that doesn't keep any kids away (nor would I want it to)- you knock on every door- if they answer fine, if they want to ignore it fine but there is no such rule here -and I actually asked people at the fall festival a few weeks ago and no one had ever heard of that.

We don't follow any rules here either -- We're in the Chicago suburbs. Our trick or treating time is from 4 - 7 pm. (I still answer the door to teenagers who come later hoping to get big handfuls of leftovers!!) In the beginning, it's still light out and people don't have their porch lights on. They start it early to try to keep it safer. It's too hard to see the kids when its dark. Daylight savings time moving back a week has really helped us. It used to be dark way too early!!

 

[ford family]

Heh, and did you collect wood for the bonfire ( progging Shipley, Chumping in Bradford) or push a Guy around in an old pushchair to collect all your pennies.

Did your teath rot from Bonfire or Plot night toffee or toffee apples and ginger bread?

Did you bake potatos in the ashes and embers of the bonfire (lord knows what carcinogens we must have exposed ourselves to).

What about pie and peas...........really mushy peas with either a splash of vinegar or mint sauce?

Did your face get all hot and red from facing the fire and yet your back was freezing, did you have a cold nose and next day every kid in school had either a cold or a sore throat? or coughed a lot ?

And di your overcoat stink for a week because the weather was too wet to have it washed, and anyway, you needed it for school?

All of the above plus stinky breath from chewing licorice root!

Ahh, memories!!!

ford family

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

When I was a kid, the house without lights on barely existed. I lived in one of those Detroit suburbs with the little houses right next to each other, short walkways to the door, and sidewalks..a Trick or treater's dream! It was very rare when a house did not give out candy. But we knew there was not candy to be had at the house without a light.

My kids know this, too. There are A LOT of houses here that don't have their lights on, but for some reason this group of kids (including my own) forget every year-the RULE. And they go to all the neighbors in our cul-de-sac and then proceed to the ONE nieghbor there that has their light out. They don't ever participate, and every year before we can stop the kids..they are up there on the porch ringing the doorbell. So then we adults have the "talk" and reexplain the "RULE" and we carry on.

I wouldn't even think about not giving out candy. Since we go out and my DH is usually involved with something else, I leave a bowl of candy out. This year I had three pieces left over, so I estimated correctly! I feel that since I trick or treated when I was a kid, it is time to "pay back". Just because my kids become too old for it, doesn't mean (in my mind) that I am relieved of the obligation to give to the next generation It will be a very sad day to me when all the houses are dark on Halloween night.

 

[#1hockeymom]

Our kids (only one went out, the other is way too old and was working last night), know the rules about lights on, say "Trick or Treat", and say thank you. We had a VERY polite crowd this year, and by crowd I mean over 700 kids/teenagers.

What I can't believe is a few posts I have read on the DIS this year. Parents upset that no one was giving out candy, or giving out cheap candy, yet they say "we" took our kids out. Who was giving out the candy at their house? When our kids were younger one of us always stayed back to pass out the candy.

It upsets me that so many were upset with teenagers trick or treating. WHY? They were out having fun, they weren't getting into trouble, they weren't out partying. All good in my book! Wear a costume, get a treat!

 

[JimmyPicker]

What I can't believe is a few posts I have read on the DIS this year. Parents upset that no one was giving out candy, or giving out cheap candy, yet they say "we" took our kids out. Who was giving out the candy at their house? When our kids were younger one of us always stayed back to pass out the candy.

No one was home. My husband was working. I was out with the kids. BUT!

I leave lots of lights on, and put a sign on the door that says in big letters "Candy" with an arrow pointing down. There is a big box full of all different kinds of candy, and the kids are free to take what they want.

And all the kids know this, because I know all the kids that come to my house (way out in the boonies) and make sure to tell them beforehand that there's plenty of candy at my house.

 

[#1hockeymom]

If there aren't two parents, or one is still working, I don't have a problem at all! Have to do what you have to do. Its the ones who are out in pairs, with no one at home except a dark house, who (at least on message boards) get upset if they don't get good candy or too many houses are dark. Well, duh!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I know the rules well, but admit to being terribly confused by them this year! Apparently some homeowners have forgotten the rules!

We walked past houses that were dark; however, my kids insisted on going up to a house with no porch light on but the lights inside the house all ablaze, and darned if they didn't hand out treats! "See? I told you, Mama!"

Some of the houses had the motion-sensor lights, it's true; others left a candy bowl in the dark (would have missed that one except it was our friend's house, so we went up to say hello), still others had every light inside and outside their house on but no one was home.

On some houses, after the 2nd unanswered knock/doorbell ring I tried to scoot the boys away, but then would see an elderly person shuffling to the door. They were the sweetest, always commenting on the costumes and telling the kids to "have fun!"

This year we had just a few groups of teenagers (not dressed up, just begging for candy), but not nearly as many vanloads of kids being dumped into the neighborhood as last year. That was odd to see 5 or 6 large vans pull up and kids just pour out!

 

[Aardvarks]

This year we had just a few groups of teenagers (not dressed up, just begging for candy), but not nearly as many vanloads of kids being dumped into the neighborhood as last year. That was odd to see 5 or 6 large vans pull up and kids just pour out!

Yeah, gotta love those people who leave all the lights on and a tub of candy out front with a sign saying, 'help yourself'. Might as well add, we are out walking the german shepherd, and the window round the back is non too secure, so just go ahead and help yourself.

Do you peeps not get opportunist break ins at this time of year?

 

[aprilgail2]

Yeah, gotta love those people who leave all the lights on and a tub of candy out front with a sign saying, 'help yourself'. Might as well add, we are out walking the german shepherd, and the window round the back is non too secure, so just go ahead and help yourself.

Do you peeps not get opportunist break ins at this time of year?

Not because even people that ARE home leave bowls of candy on the front step so they don't have to get up and down and give out candy- especially at meal time, you can see them sitting there eating dinner and the bowl of candy is on the front step- VERY common around here. The people that insist on the mom AND dad going trick or treating with junior also leave the bowl of candy on the front step since no one is there to hand it out- why they don't just alternate and have mom take them and dad hand out the candy and then swap off I don't know...