Retirees and Trick or Treat (55, dumped, state, adult)

[Lodestar]

We love Halloween and we love kids. Right now we're in the process of decorating our yard. These days, though, we shut the light off earlier than we used to.

DH starts buying candy at the beginning of the month. Buys all his favorites. He just can't wait to dig in.

Bachelor Son was here the other day and saw me working on a sad little life-sized crying toddler with her face covered with skeleton hands. Maybe I can post a picture when I get her done. She gives me chills! He was joking about what a big kid I am about liking Halloween.

When the kids were little we always dressed up to walk them around the neighborhood.

Here's a couple from years gone past:

[TuborgP]

We still love trick or treating. Like others have said we live in a sub division we have a number of non subdivision families coming through. Many of the parents are in a group with their kids and you often see moms with a glass of wine walking.

[Lodestar]

Here's this picture of the little girl I got my inspiration from. Only my little girl has jeans, mary janes and red curls with a pink bow in her hair.

Can't decide if I feel sorry for her or if I'm terrified.

[BOBNCHI]

Bah humbug!!!!

[Signs9]

I still live in the same neighborhood where we raised our kids. We've been here for 26 years and know all of our neighbors on the cul de sac. In the beginning when the neighborhood was new we had tons of kids. Over the years the number has dwindled quite a bit but last year we had more than the year before.

What we do is my neighbors and I who live on the cul de sac get our candy, chairs, candles and some drinks and sit out in the middle of the street. We have our own little party during the trick or treat hours and call the kids over to us in the street. It's a great way to get caught up with neighbors and we've been doing this for over 20 years.

[Lucy_C]

I love the trick or treat! We're in a great neighborhood, and near several other great neighborhoods, so we gets tons of trick or treaters - usually around 150!

I can't wait! I bought a pumpkin t-shirt to wear this year!

PS - my husband does not share my joy of the trick or treaters, but he does enjoy how excited I get for them.

[Mightyqueen801]

I loved it when my daughter was a kid and we lived in a nice, quiet suburban town. It was too far away from the ghettos for the vans to come park so we'd have mostly local kids. I lived near an elementary school, so there were a lot of children around.

Now I'm also in a quiet town, in a condo complex, and I like getting the little local kids who come early, but we do get the parents from nearby towns who bring their unruly brats in by the vanload to collect candy. Last year five of them spilled out of one car and came up to the house. The biggest one shoved his hand in the bowl and grabbed as much as he could and then just turned away without saying a word. I pointed at him and said to the other kids--"He just took all your candy. Go get it from him" and then I went back in the house and shut out the light.

Not nice, but I am so sick of these trashy parents who can't be bothered to raise their kids with any manners and then have the nerve to bring them to strangers' houses on Halloween. I think this year I will just look out for the little ones early on and then shut out my light.

[MI-Roger]

The number of Trick-or-Treaters has declined from nearly 200 children 20-30 years ago to 35-50 children in recent years. We still pass out candy. Two years ago we decided the low number of children didn't warrant our participation, plus we lived smack in the middle of four other homes who did not participate, so we followed suit. Neither of us enjoyed it.


We do notice far fewer homes participating. Many home owners are now doing the Trick-or-Treat thing with their grandchildren in the grandchildren's neighborhoods. Fewer van loads of kids being dropped off on our street as neighborhoods of larger homes have been constructed around us. These large home neighborhoods get the drop-offs, even though the kids need to walk two or three times as far between homes.


Last year we passed out bags of potato chips. I get P-O'ed too easily by parents looking at our candy offerings and saying "Our son is allergic to nuts", or "Our daughter can't have chocolate", or "The kids don't like those cheap candies". Followed by "Do you have anything else?"


"Yeah, but only a suggestion. Stay the H at home and buy your own treats!"

[jrkliny]

Can you imagine if there had never been a Halloween and someone proposed it.


The event would include kids wandering around neighborhoods at night asking for treats such as candy and threatening tricks if they did not get any. They would cover their faces with masks so they could do mischief without being held accountable. Of course they would also be at risk due to some crazy individual spiking the treats with sharp objects or poison. The event would also include depictions of real and imaginary terrors such as ghouls, ghosts, zombies and the like designed to scare small children. Toss in a few drunk adults returning from parties and trying not to hit the kids playing in the dark streets.


It is way, way past time to retire this holiday or perhaps substitute it with another more sane harvest time celebration.

[Formerly Known As Twenty]

I love trick or treat and passing out candy, but the weather hasn't lent itself well to having too many kids (or grownups) on my doorstep looking for goodies. Hopefully this year I'll have more candy actually passed out than taken into work the following day.

Handing out Halloween-themed pencils *and* a nice variety of candy to choose from (Pixy Stix seem to be an especial favorite with the kiddos) is what I generally do instead of handing out just the sweeties. The pencils with the skulls are always the first to go. :-)