It's 10:00 pm....

[tonilea]

I agree she shouldn't be taking them to homes of people she doesn't know that late. And, I know 10 pm seems really late to have little ones out, but it might not be that late for them. DH works nights, so DS stays up late and sleeps late. It works for our family.

 

[Mom2Nick]

The mom probably just got off of work and wanted to take her own kids trick or treating, not give that opportunity to a babysitter, that she'd never have again - one of the first times her kids can really understand trick-or-treating. Give her a break.

Doesn't matter what the mom's situation is - 10 pm is WAY too late to be ringing doorbells even if the kids were older.

 

[Mkrop]

I'm not sure everyone got that memo about outside lights. While you might think that is the official sign that a house is not handing out candy, not everyone agrees or understands this. It's an odd thing to get upset about, imo.

I am 39 years old, have trick or treated in many cities in PA and NY, and now my kids have been TOTing here in PA for 11 years. Everyone that I know knows you do not go to any house that doesnt have their lights on. I dont need a memo to know that.

 

[Imzadi]

Where in the original post does it say (s)he had her lights OFF?

The OP even mentions teenagers, like (s)he could have still been handing out candy to teens. I took his/her post to mean that taking small children out that late was unacceptable, not that a person shouldn't come up ToTing if the lights are off.

and we just had trick or treaters!!!!!
And I'm not talking teenagers......I'm talking mom with a 2 LITTLE KIDS!!
3 & 5 year olds!!!

That's just ridiculous!!

 

[LisaR]

Where in the original post does it say (s)he had her lights OFF?

The OP even mentions teenagers, like (s)he could have still been handing out candy to teens. I took his/her post to mean that taking small children out that late was unacceptable, not that a person shouldn't come up ToTing if the lights are off.

The poster mentions it in her second post.

I took the comment about teenagers to mean "unsupervised teens may be rude enough to ring a doorbell at that time of night but a mom should know better."

Do you call people on the phone that you don't know after 10PM? I am betting you don't. It is just as disrespectful to ring their doorbell after 10PM.

 

[Imzadi]

The poster mentions it in her second post.

I took the comment about teenagers to mean "unsupervised teens may be rude enough to ring a doorbell at that time of night but a mom should know better."

Ah. I missed her second post. No, I wouldn't have knocked on the door to a house with lights off.

 

[MoniqueU]

I wanted to call the cops last night because still around 10 there were a bunch of neighborhood kids out screaming and hollering at the top of their lungs. I don't let my kids just roam and hang out in the neighborhood at 10 at night even on halloween. It seems some people don't have a problem just letting their teens run holy terror through the neighborhood. One of the kids that was still out just recently got in trouble with a friend for throwing a giant flamingo into my next door neighbors window and breaking it. You would think his parents would make sure he was in for the night or at least in his own front yard but no. Too many parents think their parenting job is over at puberty.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

It is flat out common sense. If a house is darkened on Halloween, you don't go and ring the doorbell. It is also common courtesy not to ring doorbells at 10pm.

There's a whole other thread about the porch lights on/off and if it's a rule or not. There are several people over there who have never heard of this rule. So, I really don't think it's a matter of common sense. Obviously, if the whole house was blackened, you wouldn't go there but if it is lit up, all but the porch light, I can see how people might not realize they don't want ToTers.

I would agree with the 10pm thing IF it wasn't Halloween AND a Friday night. Like I said in another post, I fully expected ToTers late into the night this year and was surprised when they stopped at 8:30.

The bottom line is, if the OP was done handing out candy, she should have not answered the door. But she did. So how can she be angry at the mom and 2 kids?

 

[kmp1191]

There's a whole other thread about the porch lights on/off and if it's a rule or not. There are several people over there who have never heard of this rule. So, I really don't think it's a matter of common sense. Obviously, if the whole house was blackened, you wouldn't go there but if it is lit up, all but the porch light, I can see how people might not realize they don't want ToTers.

I would agree with the 10pm thing IF it wasn't Halloween AND a Friday night. Like I said in another post, I fully expected ToTers late into the night this year and was surprised when they stopped at 8:30.

The bottom line is, if the OP was done handing out candy, she should have not answered the door. But she did. So how can she be angry at the mom and 2 kids?

Wow.....never thought this would earn 2 pages....
First of all, yes, the lights were off. We hadn't even been home earlier in the evening to hand out candy, therefore only had the candy DD had gotten. Second~I never said I was angry at the mom...I said I thought it was ridiculous that she had two little kids out trick or treating at 10:00 at night. There was an article in the paper, and on the news about TOT hours and "rules". (Sex offenders are to leave their lights off ~ do not go to houses with lights off. NO, not all of the houses with lights off are sex offenders, but you still don't go to the dark houses.)
Third~if someone rings my doorbell, I'm going to check and see who it is. It may be a neighbor, it may be a relative, it may be the boogeyman...I don't care. I honestly thought it was a neighbor out walking his dog.....he sometimes stops and talks to DH.
I gave them candy because it was Halloween. They were friendly and said thank you and went on to the next house.....which was also dark.
I was merely saying I thought it was crazy to have little kids out that late.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I was merely saying I thought it was crazy to have little kids out that late.

Ok. So then all this talk about whether or not your light was on is irrelevant. That makes a difference. I agree with the PPs who have given many reasons why they may have been out that late. And they obviously had no problems getting candy that late because you gave them some.