Halloween: Taking a year off?

[pigletgirl]

If you want a year off, take it! Participation is voluntary


I will have tons of candy ready, and my four kids 15, 13, 5 and 3 will be dressing up and hitting the neighborhood! Teens going door to door are teens that aren't drinking, causing mischief, or destruction. I don't care if you are wearing a costume or not when you come to my door, you will get a greeting and some candy. I have handed out candy to adults who have said yum when they see the options! Maybe thats why my house gets decent Halloween action....or its just my neighborhood? Some houses go together and have a food and drink spread along with adults sitting in the driveway with a fire pit. Our police drives around and hands out candy or glow products. Halloween is fun!

That does sound like fun. But we had rowdy teens last year and we'll have candy set aside for them. Once its gone, too bad. I don't want them taking from the little ones (which we get plenty off).

 

[Laura66]

I love giving out candy.

I don't stress out about kids not saying trick or treat, thank you or anything else. They are kids, this is a fun holiday and I am not their mother.

My house is also not Halloween Runway where I judge the appropriateness of costumes. I don't care if a kid has a costume or not. Again, it is a fun holiday and I am not their mother.

I don't care if the kid is 2 or 22. I give out candy regardless.

And I would NEVER question a child asking if they ask if they can have a piece for their brother/sister/dog. If you are stressing over a 5 cent piece of candy and kids not following your set of Halloween rules, you should probably leave the porch light off. There is no rule that you have to give out candy.

So, yes, I buy lots of candy and open my door with a smile. That said, I have never had a problem with any kid in the 30+ years we have been handing out candy.

This a thousand times!

I don't mind the older teens either! Costume or no! They could be out getting in trouble. So what if it's a candy grab!

 

[BlovesC]

If it's not enjoyable for you, don't participate. I wouldn't blame you, from what you've described!

Personally, I absolutely love Halloween and handing out candy. We live in a cookie-cutter housing development that was created in the middle of nowhere, in a very rural area. There's fewer than 100 houses in our neighborhood, but since our houses are so close together and have sidewalks, a LOT of local families bring their kids to our development for trick or treating. That might bother others, but I absolutely love it. Our doorbell rings non-stop all night and the kids and their parents have always been very polite. And even the poorest families make an effort to dress up in some way. I've seen some very creative home-made costumes and little touches, and a lot of adorable, super-excited kids! My DH always winds up freaking out that we're going to run out of candy because I can't help but give out handfuls at a time.

I don't know if it's a regional thing or because of the rural area or what. But, even though I loved giving out candy back home in NJ too, it was a very different crowd then. Almost no one up there wore costumes...we had lots of sullen teens holding out their back-packs and walking away without thank yous. I always held out for the 10-20% of kids who showed up in costume who made it all worth it! But down here, it's so far been an amazing experience each Halloween. It's one of the few things I'm going to miss when we leave Florida in a couple years.

 

[MrsDuck]

Halloween is my favorite. I could never take a year off aside from the sneaky candy grabbers. Now, Christmas on the other hand I could skip!

If you're burned out, don't participate. Start a new tradition or throw a party?

 

[alc571]

Our son is 7. When one of us returns with him, we shut the lights off. It's too hard to get him to bed with the doorbell ringing, and I figure it's only kids older than him that are still out there. It's usually around 8pm. Once he's done trick or treating, we will probably stop handing it out. Until then, I don't feel right about having a kid out collecting it from neighbours if we aren't giving any out to their kids.

 

[mhsjax]

Take the year off. I don't blame you. I hate Halloween, always have always will. Even as a kid I hated dressing up. We always had candy around, so I saw no need for all of that nonsense.

I am taking this year off, I won't be spending a ton of money on candy, I would rather do out and spend it on my family.

Halloween is something that I have to get through, in order to get to Thanksgiving and christmas. I know others love it, but I have no use what so ever for this holiday.

 

[aprilgail2]

I love giving out candy.

I don't stress out about kids not saying trick or treat, thank you or anything else. They are kids, this is a fun holiday and I am not their mother.

My house is also not Halloween Runway where I judge the appropriateness of costumes. I don't care if a kid has a costume or not. Again, it is a fun holiday and I am not their mother.

I don't care if the kid is 2 or 22. I give out candy regardless.

And I would NEVER question a child asking if they ask if they can have a piece for their brother/sister/dog. If you are stressing over a 5 cent piece of candy and kids not following your set of Halloween rules, you should probably leave the porch light off. There is no rule that you have to give out candy.

So, yes, I buy lots of candy and open my door with a smile. That said, I have never had a problem with any kid in the 30+ years we have been handing out candy.

I agree- I don't care if they wear a costume or not- I you knock you get candy. We also don't do the lights on or off thing here- the kids start at one end of the block and knock on every door, lights on or not. They start coming around 3 when they get out of school- unless its a weekend then they start around noon and keep coming until 830-900. You can choose to answer your door or not but kids will be knocking on it all night long.

 

[mhsjax]

I agree- I don't care if they wear a costume or not- I you knock you get candy. We also don't do the lights on or off thing here- the kids start at one end of the block and knock on every door, lights on or not. They start coming around 3 when they get out of school- unless its a weekend then they start around noon and keep coming until 830-900. You can choose to answer your door or not but kids will be knocking on it all night long.

Wow different ways of doing thing in different areas of the country. Around here, we never start before 6:00pm it just isn't done, even if on the weekend. YOu would probably be told to come back later. Also around here it is rude to knock or ring the bell if the light is off.

 

[JVL1018]

Wow if I had that experience, I wouldn't want to deal with them either.
We don't get a lot of kids, but the ones we get have been unfailingly polite. I have to ask them to take more than one piece.

Heck, when my kids were really little, I'd leave the bowl on the porch with a sign that said take two, and there was always plenty left.

The teenagers are actually very polite. LOL I do say something jokingly about no costume if they don't have one. But they're always good natured about it,

 

[aprilgail2]

Wow different ways of doing thing in different areas of the country. Around here, we never start before 6:00pm it just isn't done, even if on the weekend. YOu would probably be told to come back later. Also around here it is rude to knock or ring the bell if the light is off.

Most houses here have sensor lights so they don't come on until someone walks right up to the step.

 

[mhsjax]

Most houses here have sensor lights so they don't come on until someone walks right up to the step.

Well yeah, didn't think of that. What can I say, only half a cup of coffee this am and got up WAY to early.

 

[plutotek]

I do a yard display/haunt every year, so DW is the one that makes the candy decisions. If it was up to me, no costume/no candy would be the rule. However, I get my revenge as these costume scofflaws are usually the type that have the 'nothing scares me' attitude, right until one of my props pops up next to them. The only exceptions I have for the costume rule are the parents that take part in the fun, as that usually scores them their own treat.

 

[mumto3girls]

I agree- I don't care if they wear a costume or not- I you knock you get candy. We also don't do the lights on or off thing here- the kids start at one end of the block and knock on every door, lights on or not. They start coming around 3 when they get out of school- unless its a weekend then they start around noon and keep coming until 830-900. You can choose to answer your door or not but kids will be knocking on it all night long.

Wow. That is much different than it is here. Each community in our area has a designated night and time--6:00 to 8:00 I think. The kids may start a few minutes early--especially the immediate neighbors, but I rarely get more than a few after 7:30 or so. We also skip houses without lights on.

 

[JVL1018]

Wow different ways of doing thing in different areas of the country. Around here, we never start before 6:00pm it just isn't done, even if on the weekend. YOu would probably be told to come back later. Also around here it is rude to knock or ring the bell if the light is off.

We don't start until around 6 as well, maybe 5 if we're pushing it.
And I've always taught my kids that if there's no light on(after it's dark) it's rude to go up. I've never had anyone ring my bell after the lights gone off, it's the unwritten rule around here.

I don't foresee any time where I'd stop handing out candy based on if my my kids go out or not. My kids are probably on their last year or trick or treating, and it never even crossed my mind to stop buying candy for the kids. There are tons of elderly people in this area that give out candy. I'd say 3/4 of the houses my kids go to, don't have kids under 13 living there.

 

[mumto3girls]

Take the year off. I don't blame you. I hate Halloween, always have always will. Even as a kid I hated dressing up. We always had candy around, so I saw no need for all of that nonsense. I am taking this year off, I won't be spending a ton of money on candy, I would rather do out and spend it on my family. Halloween is something that I have to get through, in order to get to Thanksgiving and christmas. I know others love it, but I have no use what so ever for this holiday.

I actually enjoy Halloween more as an adult than I did as a kid. I don't like the scary aspect of it--hate haunted houses, scary movies and grotesque costumes, makeup and decorations. I also never really liked dressing up much. My dad thought it was a celebration of evil so it wasn't a big deal in our house--my sisters and I usually wore hobo costumes my mom threw together at the last minute. But I do like fall decorations--pumpkins and cornstalks, mums etc and I enjoy the excitement of the kids and the general atmosphere in the neighborhood. My in-laws will stop over to see our kids dressed up and will bring them candy. We'll head outside for pictures and usually do a big group shot of all the kids in the neighborhood and then the kids usually start off in a big group with the dads trailing behind them ( sometimes a few moms too). If it is nice out my neighbor and I will pick a driveway and hand out candy in one of them and spend the evening catching up with each other and other neighbors as they pass by. My husband will usually put music on for us. After the kids are done they come into our house,dump out their bags and see what they have and the eating,trading and negotiating starts. My husband gets into the act too, using the leftovers of what we were passing out to get his favorites. That part can be hilarious.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I would skip it since you don't enjoy it.

I used to love Halloween but over the past 2 years, people have stolen decorations from our front porch and our front yard, lots of rude kids coming to the door and my husband who wants me to hand out candy but doesn't bother to be home to do it himself have burned me out.

I'm undecided about decorating outside at all this year and don't want to give out candy but my husband wants *us* to (but it will be me doing it).
If I decide to hand out candy, it will only be for a couple of hours early in the evening and then it's lights out.

One of the biggest neighborhoods in our area had specific hours last year 6pm-9pm. I know someone who lives in that neighborhood who said it was great doing that.

One thing I do enjoy doing is putting together a gift bag for each of my teens with candy for them. This year I picked up Disney themed candy while I was at Disney World and I will buy some of their other favorites to put in the bags.

 

[Angelhalo]

I used to like Halloween. Now I loathe it. The kids AND the parents keep getting ruder and ruder.

I can't stand the teenage kids who aren't even dressed up who just show up and stare at you. Yeah they could be off getting in trouble....OR they could just be off BEING GOOD KIDS and not doing something they are too old for and not willing to put any work into. Why does it have to be one or the other? Either they are jerks with no costumes demanding candy , or they are getting into trouble? What a sad state of affairs if those are the only options for them! Harrumph!

Last year I had parents digging through my bowl looking for "The good candy". I had small kids breaking decorations in my yard and their parents just standing there watching them, not even bothering to stop them from destroying my property.

I am just so over the increasingly entitled attitudes of both the kids and the parents. Blah!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Then there's the teens who get their kicks from bag-snatching. They're too lazy (or their parents told them they're too old) to put on a costume and go trick-or-treating so they run past a little kid, grab their bag of candy, then jump into a friend's get-away car and take off.

 

[LSmith]

.

 

[NFLDERS]

I agree- I don't care if they wear a costume or not- I you knock you get candy. We also don't do the lights on or off thing here- the kids start at one end of the block and knock on every door, lights on or not. They start coming around 3 when they get out of school- unless its a weekend then they start around noon and keep coming until 830-900. You can choose to answer your door or not but kids will be knocking on it all night long.

Yikes! Sounds like something right out of the movie Halloween!

While I love the beginning with the song I'd not like knocking into the Night!
I would definitely be going out and if it fell on a wk end away for the night.