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As stated, we no longer hold out a bowl. We (and other neighbors) have told them. Most of them don't understand, or pretend not to understand, English.
You can play that card to. Maybe you are the hard of hearing neighbor. Open the door, drop a piece candy to the kids bag. Then close your door. No fuss, no muss.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite
OP - It's time for you to quit handing out anything on Halloween night, or else time for you start handing out tricks instead of treats to the people who are annoying you. Or you could pretend to give them something and stick your EMPTY hand in their bag. Put real treats only into the bags of younger kids who you know are from your neighborhood. "No" is an acceptable and universally understood word. Learn how to use it and don't be afraid to say it.
I have a friend who hands out tricks instead of treats to non-neighborhood kids, over-aged teenagers and adults. He conceals small cloves of garlic or little pearl onions or roasted wasabi-coated peas in his hand and drops one item into each individual bag so they can't see what it is until they get back home.
Well there are a few ways you can go.
1. Quit handing out anything on Halloween night.
2. Perhaps setup a neighborhood party for the kids. The parents can all pitch in on the party/candy. Everyone in the "neighborhood" has a nice time, and the kids get candy.
3. Perhaps setup a neighborhood candy parade before dark. All the trick-or-treat age kids get to parade together around and get their candy. Anyone that shows up later, is not from your neighborhood.
4. You could always have two bowls of candy. One with the good candy for the neighborhood kids. The other filled with pre-filled bags of the crap bulk candy. IE: pez, candy charms, dumdum, etc.
Last year, I had a minivan pull right up in front of my condo. Four kids got out and came up on my front porch. I had my candy bowl, and before I could say a word the biggest one, a sullen-faced overweight boy of about 12, stuck his paw in, grabbed a handful, and turned and walked back down the sidewalk without saying a word. I was so angry that I looked at the other kids and said, "that fat one took all your candy. Go get it from him", and I went in the house.
Not my finest moment, but if you're gonna truck your kids in to another neighborhood for free stuff, teach them to at least fake some manners.
hahaha I love it! Just perfect, and well deserved.
What is it with minivans and rotten kids?
Quote:
Originally Posted by redplum33
I just turn off the lights on Halloween.
I used to. Last year I got brave and just kept the porch lights off. Not one knock! Previously they'd bang on the door if they saw a sliver of light anywhere. (must've been the minivan kids)
Quote:
Originally Posted by petsandgardens
Even the times we left a bowl at the door as the crowd thinned out...we saw children taking one candy respectfully. And parents looking on advising the youngest ones.
I really think it depends on the area. I got called into work one Halloween. I left a box with candy on the front steps (outside). I was gone less than an hour and of course there wasn't one piece left. I expected that but it would have been nice to be wrong. A neighbor had someone stop by one Halloween and stepped back into their house. Their candy was in their ENCLOSED front porch with the outside door closed. They heard a noise and walked back to the porch, to find a kid had come inside the porch without knocking or ringing the doorbell, and was stuffing his bag as fast as he could. He was NOT a neighborhood kid.
Both these incidents were during the minivan days. When I was still giving out candy, we'd of course see neighborhood parents and kids and they were fine. Polite, say please and thank you, take just one etc. The minivan people were the worst. The parent(s) wouldn't pay attention, it seemed like they would rather be anywhere else but there. The kids were rude and never smiled. No one talked. No manners whatsoever. I'm not wasting my money on people like that.
I'd go to the door dressed as a crazy old lady, have 3-4 litter boxes right inside the door with some unwrapped tootsie rolls sitting right on top. Then as you are handing out candy grab a tootsie roll from the litter box and dust it off and eat it right in front of the kids/parents. Then say that is the best candy I have!
I'm guessing nobody will be searching for seconds from you again!
Well, sure, you were a kid getting candy. Not an adult that is actually buying the candy (which can be pricey depending on how many kids show up), and dealing with the sometimes rude and grabby people who aren't from the neighborhood - or even the same town.
Do you go out and buy more candy when what you have runs out?
Buy whatever is in your budget. If you run out, you run out. Turn off the lights and move on with life.
Also, prepare yourself for the inevitable discussion about how you know these people are "out of neighborhood."
Easy. They arrive in cars. I live in a nicer area of a town with not-so-great demographics. I can't tell by "profiling"- my neighborhood is diverse enough that anyone on foot with no car nearby could be my neighbors' kids or grandkids. It's the cars that give them away.
Having said that- the kids I encounter have been uniformly polite. I always put candy in the bag and they nearly always say, "thank you". I've never had a parent or grandparent ask for candy although I DO wonder who eats the candy in the bag of the cute 6-month old being toted around by his/her parents. One little kid asked if I had any more Twix (I get a mix of mini-candy bars from Costco) and I gave him 2 more!
So, I continue to hand them out and turn out the light when I decide I'm done.
Why doesn't the neighborhood have a block party the day before.
how would that help? Who would plan it? If the OP can't figure out how to hand out a piece of candy, do you think he or she is up to planning a party for the neighborhood? Do you think it would keep kids from trick or treating on Halloween? I don't.
Do you go out and buy more candy when what you have runs out?
Buy whatever is in your budget. If you run out, you run out. Turn off the lights and move on with life.
I don't know. I can remember some neighbors got "tricked" when they legitimately ran out of candy one year. I can't remember what the kids did to their house though.
I like the idea of buying a ton of cheap candy for those situations where you get a lot of visitors. Keep it in a closet for next year if you have a surplus.
I had to double check the date of the original post as I could not believe someone would post something this whiny months before Halloween.
I'd love to have tons of kids trick or treating at my house again. I lived in those large neighborhoods for years. It was fun. We live in a 25 house subdivision out in the country. I don't care when I see cars dropping kids off at the end of the drive way. I figure if they've made the effort to come out here, then they deserve a real treat. We hand out full size candy bars. Last year it was all I could do to convince one boy to take 3 of them.
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