Halloween let down

[disneyquestions]

I LOVE Halloween. Its my favorite holiday and I love to decorate for it (though we keep it PG for the little ones). In the past few years however, its been such a let down. First off, does ANYONE say Trick-or-Treat anymore?!? Its three lousy words kids - not to hard! And lets just totally forget about "thank you" because that just ain't happening.
And my lawn! Can anyone go around on the sidewalk, rather than stepping all over my grass, and knocking down half my decorations!? Yes, its great exercise for me to get up ever 3 minutes to go put it back up, but it was cold, and I didn't want to go outside that much!
I live on a great little street, with mostly younger kids, but you would never know it on Halloween because its a drop off street. I watched several vans drop off kids at the start of our street and just drive away. 10-15 kids got off each van! I bought 7-8 bags of candy this year, and guess what - we ran out!
My neighbor who is a HUGE holiday person, decorates for every holiday (even the ones most people wouldn't decorate for LOL) and even shes annoyed by it. I can understand that the neighborhoods these people are coming from aren't the safest, and I probably wouldn't want my kids going around them Trick-or-Treating, but does everyone really have to come to our street?! There are other nice little streets in the town!



OK, vent over!

 

[akhenaten]

My DH makes the kids say trick or treat!! LOL

 

[mommasita]

Sorry your night was so bad.

We had a wonderful time!!! VERYYYYY cold here. Snow the night before, but we sucked it up, dressed for it, and there were so many people out, we loved it!! Even managed to TOT for 2 hrs.

Most kids here were saying thank you, and trick or treat. So many people took pictures!!!! I love our community, that is for sure!! We also get vans from other cities, what can you do.

 

[hulagirl87]

I had 2 groups of kids come to the door. One group said trick or treat, the other group said Merry Christmas. sigh. Oh well! It was a sad night for trick or treating around here. It was cold and rainy and we didn't get nearly as many kids as we normally do.

 

[MomRN]

I admit, I live in a rural area. Houses are separated by anywhere from 1/2 acre to an acre. So we drive to the two nearest subdivisions that have houses closer together. On our way home we drive up to those houses on our street that have the lights on (which there were only 2, and those houses said we were their only trick-or-treater).

Also, I found myself walking through a couple of lawns because it was dark and I couldn't see their path. Felt bad afterward, but it was an honest mistake.

As for the trick-or-treat and thank you...my 4 yr old did an awesome job of that last night.

 

[disneyquestions]

I had 2 groups of kids come to the door. One group said trick or treat, the other group said Merry Christmas. sigh. Oh well! It was a sad night for trick or treating around here. It was cold and rainy and we didn't get nearly as many kids as we normally do.

I got two kids saying Merry Christmas to me, and looking at me, waiting for a reaction. I forget what I said - what the heck are you supposed to say!? I guess thats the point - trick the grownup! lol

I admit, I live in a rural area. Houses are separated by anywhere from 1/2 acre to an acre. So we drive to the two nearest subdivisions that have houses closer together. On our way home we drive up to those houses on our street that have the lights on (which there were only 2, and those houses said we were their only trick-or-treater).

Also, I found myself walking through a couple of lawns because it was dark and I couldn't see their path. Felt bad afterward, but it was an honest mistake.

As for the trick-or-treat and thank you...my 4 yr old did an awesome job of that last night.

DH and I walk with our kids (the are 4&5) and we tell them to say TOT, Thank you, and we even yelled "thank you" from the street just to make sure its said. As far as you walking across someones lawn, this isn't a rural area. We have sidewalks, and street lights, and I even have light up pumpkins lining my driveway and walk way, so there was no missunderstanding as to where to walk! It was just kids running across everyones lawn, trying to get as much candy as humanly possible!

 

[skater]

My DH makes the kids say trick or treat!! LOL

So funny - my DH makes our own kids say it - at every stop!

 

[Brit17]

I admit, I was a bit surprised with our trick-or-treaters yesterday too ... No one said "Trick or Treat" ... the majority of them didn't say "Thank You" ... some of them complained about the candy that we were handing out, and it was a good variety too ... most of them rang the door bell like it was a fire drill ... but the icing on the cake for me was when one of them told my dog to "Shut Up" ... OK, that was enough for me ... the lights went off and the candy store was closed ... you can roll your eyes at my candy, you can break my door bell, but be rude or mean to my dog, I don't think so ...

 

[Angelhalo]

I don't mind so much if they don't say trick or treat, as long as they say thank you!

Of the 100 or so kids we had last night, only TWO didn't say thank you! I'd say that's a pretty good outcome!

As far as the sidewalk goes, I'd rather them walk straight thru the grass up to the porch where I am. Their parent's are yelling "Don't walk in the grass!" I kept thinking why? Didn't people used to walk on grass in the old days? It just got irritating after a while. The grass is all about to die for the year anyway, just walk thru the grass and come get your candy already! LOL!

 

[disneyquestions]

I admit, I was a bit surprised with our trick-or-treaters yesterday too ... No one said "Trick or Treat" ... the majority of them didn't say "Thank You" ... some of them complained about the candy that we were handing out, and it was a good variety too ... most of them rang the door bell like it was a fire drill ... but the icing on the cake for me was when one of them told my dog to "Shut Up" ... OK, that was enough for me ... the lights went off and the candy store was closed ... you can roll your eyes at my candy, you can break my door bell, but be rude or mean to my dog, I don't think so ...

OMG - There were so many kids this year that were like "How many?" and when we told them "Just one." they were not happy! One kid even went as far as to take something, and then come back like 5 minutes later, put it back, and take a different type of candy! LOL

 

[luvflorida]

Awww...I'm sorry you had a disappointing Halloween last night. I bet a lot of people enjoyed your decorations, though. I know I love to see houses that decorate for the holidays.

We had around 75 trick-or-treaters last night and I was impressed with how polite they were. The majority of them said "trick-or-treat" and "thank-you". Many times, if the parents stood back on the sidewalk and let their kids walk to the door, the parents would be sure to yell an extra "thank-you" in case their kids forgot.

The juice boxes that we gave out in addition to candy/chips were a big hit, especially with the little ones. I had two grandmas come by, each with a toddler in a stroller. They opened the juice for the little ones and stood around chatting with me while the kids drank the juice. Friendly bunch!

As far as kids saying "trick-or-treat", that can be tricky. My husband and I went to a Halloween event with our daughter, son-in-law and two-year old grandson. We tried to get him to say "trick-or-treat", but he wouldn't. Of course, he's only two and doesn't say a lot anyway. He may have been a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces and costumed people, too.

We would prompt him to say "thank-you" and he would sign it as well as say it. There was one wonderful lady that really wanted to hear the kids say something and she told our grandson he had to say "trick-or-treat" to get candy, and when he just stood there staring at her, she asked him "what does a cow say?" and our grandson was quite happy to say "moooooooooooooo!" He got two pieces of candy!

 

[Mickeysgirl34]

Sorry that you had a bad Halloween
The teenagers who live around my neighborhood are a bunch of rude people.
So,me,Stephanie,Christina,Katie,and Lisa were out Trick or Treating,and this group of teenagers kept pushing us out of the way so they can get candy first,and they didn't say thank you. Then,we saw them at another house.The old guy who lived there didn't have any candy,so the group just screamed at him and ran off. We just stared at them. After that,I was watching for more Trick or Treaters at my house,and what do you know,it's them. They ask me,"Hey old lady,do you have any candy?!" And I'm like "OLD LADY? OH YEAH!" and I throw candy in their face and they leave crying You could see how much fun I had with that

 

[CandyMandy]

Relative to your yard decorations getting knocked down, that is unfortunately almost inevitable given younger to middle aged kids (in all their excitement) seek the "path of least resistance" while trick-or-treating, e.g. run in as straight a line as possible from house to house. If said straight line is across a yard, nothing short of a major barrier is going to stop them.

On that level, my brother in law started major Halloween decorating years ago and now has a full fledged "home haunt" every year (major outdoor graveyard in his front yard with all sorts of props and effects). To keep the stuff from getting trampled and damaged, the whole setup is fronted by a faux cemetery fence he built. There is a gate in the middle, which leads to a roped-off pathway through the graveyard. So kids when kids approach his house that is path they are forced to take.

The only problem he faces now are teen boys with shaving cream, who try to use it vandalize accessible parts of the display (the fence and gate). So he now stands outside all night in "deterrent duty" near the entrance to his attraction.

 

[lizbaby007]

I totally feel you, but don't give up!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Last year was my first Halloween in this house and it was a major letdown. We only got 12 trick or treaters and they weren't even really dressed up.

This year we got closer to 50 and everyone was so cute!! They were super polite telling me how much they loved the pumpkin I carved and my "decorations rock"!! Almost all of them said "trick or treat" which I replied Happy Halloween to and then they said thanks after I gave them some candy.

I think most of the church parties were on Wed and Sat so we had a ton of families who actually went out together this year. Sigh. I wish Halloween was on Sunday ever year

 

[Halloweenqueen]

My favorite night of the year! We had over 400 TOTers last night! We do a big yard display and garage haunt.

I was up to the wee hours breaking everything down so it could fit back into the garage. Now I'm taking a break from packing.

Don't give up. Spread the word and put some decorations up early to attract the TOTs.

 

[N&B'smom]

I must say where we went TOT'ing, just around our neighborhood and in a development I was shocked at the kids AND adults parading all over people's lawns! My DD was the only one walking around, up the driveway and to their front porch. She also thanked everyone. I'm not sure if she said Trick or Treat though...I was more worried about the other two!

 

[pigletgirl]

Here I am munching on some yummy reeses and kitkats! We 'trick or treated' with our friends, and helped give out candy to the little ones. They were all so cute. I wish there was an actual age limit on trick or treating because i really dont see the need to give stuff away to high schoolers.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I had 2 groups of kids come to the door. One group said trick or treat, the other group said Merry Christmas. sigh. Oh well! It was a sad night for trick or treating around here. It was cold and rainy and we didn't get nearly as many kids as we normally do.

Hey Neighbor, the weather was awful wasn't it?

We still had 119 ToTers despite the snow/sleet combo. That was about 1/2 as many as usual but still more then I thought we'd get with it being so bad out. My kids say ToT and thank you, and most of who came to my door did, but I will admit there were more "only one piece???" and "how about more?" then I wish I had heard, but it was still a good night.

We don't have sidewalks so the lawn it is, doesn't bother me but then again we've lived here for 15 years without sidewalks, maybe I am just realllly used to it.

 

[Kirby]

I'd have loved to have had some TOT'ers to complain about. Like a previous poster, we live on a bigger lot and the houses are too far apart to make going TOTing feasible. We always had to take our kids to another neighborhood. I love Halloween and really miss walking around with the kids.

 

[SanFranciscan]

I LOVE Halloween. Its my favorite holiday and I love to decorate for it (though we keep it PG for the little ones). In the past few years however, its been such a let down. First off, does ANYONE say Trick-or-Treat anymore?!? Its three lousy words kids - not to hard! And lets just totally forget about "thank you" because that just ain't happening.
And my lawn! Can anyone go around on the sidewalk, rather than stepping all over my grass, and knocking down half my decorations!? Yes, its great exercise for me to get up ever 3 minutes to go put it back up, but it was cold, and I didn't want to go outside that much!
I live on a great little street, with mostly younger kids, but you would never know it on Halloween because its a drop off street. I watched several vans drop off kids at the start of our street and just drive away. 10-15 kids got off each van! I bought 7-8 bags of candy this year, and guess what - we ran out!
My neighbor who is a HUGE holiday person, decorates for every holiday (even the ones most people wouldn't decorate for LOL) and even shes annoyed by it. I can understand that the neighborhoods these people are coming from aren't the safest, and I probably wouldn't want my kids going around them Trick-or-Treating, but does everyone really have to come to our street?! There are other nice little streets in the town!



OK, vent over!

I have never gotten a trick-or-treater here, probably because the children cannot be seen from the street. They would have to come inside a central hallway. I felt disappointed the first year or two. I thought that I was missing out on the cuteness of it all. Yet yours is far from the only complaint that I have heard about large numbers of trick-or-treaters coming into communities in which they do not live and making the neighborhood look like a dump before morning and creating traffic jams all evening while the candy handlers were running out of candy early.

I don't even have children, but I found myself sympathetic to parents who had made the effort to make Halloween fun for the children in their communities and who resented people coming from "unsafe" neighborhoods and creating a hostile environment while contributing nothing to the scene-setting they were so willing to take advantage of.