I joke every year about our local trick-or-treaters - the kids with no costumes, the teens with no costumes, the grandparents with no costumes who still hold out a bag expectantly - but let's face it: it's still worth it.
Because for every four surly teens toting trash bags, I get an excited toddler dressed as a superhero. For every six silent, expectant faces, I get a squeaky, "Trick or treat!" or "Happy Halloween!" And for every ten mosquito bites, I get one of those maybe-not-so-surly teens nodding at my steampunk pumpkin or glowing skull wreath and saying, "Hey, that's pretty cool." Heck, last night I even had a boy peer past my shoulder and geek out over our Harry Potter chess set in the front room. I'm still impressed he recognized it from ten feet back!
Our freshly painted (orange!!) front door.
Turn up the volume and you'll hear our spooky sound effects from Ambient Mixer.
Turn up the volume and you'll hear our spooky sound effects from Ambient Mixer.
I'm usually the candy-giver, but last night as the doorbell started to ring John was suddenly seized by the spirit, and dashed off to put on his Death Eater costume. Fully kitted up, he went across the street to show/startle our neighbors.
About three minutes later John rushed back inside, mask off, a stricken look on his face. "I made a little girl cry!" he said. I tried to ask for details, but he was already rushing back to his room to change.
While he was changing, a crying Snow White showed up at the door. I knelt down and gave her extra candy, and marveled again at the healing power of CHOCOLATE. (I think we're good now.)
Another ten minutes, and Dreamfinder emerged with Figment to try their hand at candy distribution. They didn't last long - that suit is hot - but managed to completely befuddle quite a few groups, and utterly delight at least one girl, who knew who Figment was, and one boy, who I think is STILL convinced he met Santa Claus. (Secretly hoping we get a Christmas list slipped under the door in a few months.)
While I'm the first to join in on a Halloween gripe fest about the lack of manners and greed and whatnot, it also occurred to me last night - specifically as a large group of non-costumed parents & grandparents all queued up for their candy - that maybe I should stop griping so much.
We live in an area where families are large and often struggling. Most of the kids who show up at my door don't have the luxury of Disney annual passes or fancy costumes, and live in a world where the color of their faces often dictates what they can do and what they can like. I saw too many of those faces already closed off, suspicious; too ready to not care if I judged or chided or sniped.
So if these kids, and these parents, and yes, if these grandparents, want to get together and go door-to-door together for free candy, then costume or no, I'm not going to be stingy with the fun-size Snickers. I'm going to smile and wish them a happy Halloween. I'm going to fawn over the giggling Supermen and fairy princesses, I'm going to wave to the adults, and I'm not going to begrudge that surly teenager his free candy, because God knows we all needed a little more sweetness in our lives back then.
Plus he said my pumpkin was kinda cool, dangit.
But, I mean... I can still gripe a LITTLE afterward, right? ;)
Anything interesting happen to you guys last night?
My 3 year old was a butterfly. This was the first year she really "got" Halloween; she was utterly delighted that people would give her candy, and she loved all the costumes so much, she almost walked into the street to try and get a closer look. (We did insist on "trick or treat" and thank you. And she mostly complied. There was one incident of "Candy!")
ReplyDeleteAnd we saw a guy dressed up as Beaker, complete with foam head! I was way more excited than she was, but it totally made my night. He even ran around his lawn going, "meep,meep,meep,meep!".
When the teenagers come I remember that there are so many other things they could be doing...negative things like drinking or "getting into trouble" or lonely things like just sitting in their rooms. I'd rather they be out doing something friendly and fun like knocking on my door for free candy, even if they can't be bothered to wear a costume.
ReplyDeleteHonest to goodness interaction my husband had with a three teenage boys with a dog in tow.
ReplyDelete"Good evening, sir."
"Good evening, gents. Um . . . any bags?"
"No sir."
"Any costumes?"
". . . No, sir."
"It was . . . kind of a spur of the moment thing, sir."
"Fair enough. Got pockets?"
"Yessir."
"Then let's fill them up."
"Thanks, sir. Have a good evening."
"You too, gents."
Aww, this is so sweet!
Delete-Just Andrea
Were British accents employed? Please, say yes!
DeleteThat's awesome! They sound like well mannered teen boys (a rare find) at any rate and, therefore, deserve a pocket full of candy. Though I'd be concerned about melty chocolate in my pocket personally lol
DeleteYou made my day, Darcy! :)
Delete-Zippy
Last night I was in my Raven from Teen Titans costume and at a goth club as that's where a goth should be on Halloween, haha! It was a fun time and i got a lot of cheering during the costume contest.
ReplyDeleteI trick-or-treated all through school, even senior year of high school. We were the poor family so, yeah, free candy was nice to have. We always did our best to dress up as SOMETHING, even if it was pajamas with pigtails and a bottle to be a baby. I took my six younger siblings out and as I hit my growth spurt pretty young, people probably thought I was older than I was but I was always polite and made my brother say trick or treat and thank you so I never got any gruff about it. There ARE years that I kind of just want to go out and do it as an adult as I do have a lot of costumes I could do but you never know if people will actually give adults candy. I just want to do it for fun now, maybe next year I'll tag along with friends that have kids and split the candy up with them. Would totally keep all the Twix though.
I wish I could edit that comment. It should say little brotherS as I have five of them.
ReplyDeleteWe found the house that gave out full size candy bars. It was like winning the lottery. Also my three year old went to all the doors by herself. As in specifically told me to stay back. I was so proud of my little miss indepependent.
ReplyDelete"Remember the house that gave out full-sized candy bars? YOU could be that house." -Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal)
DeleteI'm the house that gives out full size bars, haha :) My parents always used to do it, because their house is kind of on a hill, and you have to walk up it, and then up deck stairs to get to the front porch. A lot of kids would skip their house, so mom started rewarding the ones who made the trek with full size bars. My house is way more accessible, but I still like being the cool house with the full size bars. I buy at costco with a coupon, so it's not too expensive. This year I added flashing LED toys, those were actually MORE popular
DeleteI had to work, but I overheard the most hilarious conversations on my commute. One guy talked about stealing from a trick or treater and playing craps for candy instead of money, while another talked about forgetting it was Halloween and pulling a Glock out on a trick or treater, before going LOL oops I forgot. No candy, though. I had to try hard not to die of laughing. I also saw a trick or treater on my way home and was full of WAFF.
ReplyDeleteSomeone pulling a glock on a child is hilarious?
DeleteI agree. That is terrifying. I think you must be on drugs to be that paranoid early in the evening as well. It's not like children are knocking at the door at 2am or anything. Most towns have set hours.
DeleteAnd stealing from a trick-or-treater is hilarious?
DeleteHubby was out of town, it was raining and I have a sore throat. So I turned off the lights and watched TV (while eating the candy I had bought for the kiddies). Kinda sad, I suppose. I'll make up for it next year.
ReplyDeleteAs Halloween was on a Monday this year we didn't anticipate many trick or treaters. My husband had to work that night so he wasn't going to be home and we also are dieting. So I left the porch light off and played on my computer for most of the night.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is our anniversary and we normally love to give out candy but this year we just weren't feeling it. And since there was no traffic on my street at all I don't feel too bad about it. We'll do it up huge next year.
You know, there's always that one trick or treater who shows up who was either raised by wolves and/or is almost certainly on parole. Still, those seem to be the exception rather than the rule around here. Most of the kids were great -- excited and appreciative. For example:
ReplyDeleteLast night, we had an almost-teen show up just as we were about to turn off the lights (about 9:00.) He thanked me politely for his candy bar. When I offered another -- we still had tons -- he hesitantly asked if he could please have a Snickers for his Mom, because "they're her favorite." Mom, standing back on the sidewalk, got embarrassed, said "Oh, no!" and apologized for being so late, but explained they had gotten a late start because he had a lot of homework. So: 1) polite kid; 2) who was thinking of his Mom, even though there weren't many houses with lights still on and he didn't have much candy; 3) who delayed trick or treating until he got his schoolwork done. Needless to say, I gave him a few handfuls of candy, including several Snickers for his Mom. Kudos to both him AND his mom for doing it right.
sounds like you did it right too.
DeleteHow sweet! However, I wish I would have gotten the name and address of his teacher. I would have liked to have tp'd his or her house. What kind of grump gives homework on Halloween?
DeleteMy third grader had homework on Halloween too. I was in shock.
DeleteThat's sweet, Sharyn! We also had a very late trick or treater -- almost 9:30. Dad was still in his suit and tie, so I think that he may have been the delay. She was about 4 or 5 and our street was dark, so I gave her several handfuls of candy and a few of the glow-sticks I had left (those were waaaaay more popular than I thought they would be). She was so cute; she didn't realize I was trying to fill her treat bag for her and she kept turning around to go back to her dad.
Delete-Zippy
My 2.5 year old girl was a "happy T. Rex" for Halloween. She's obsessed with dinosaurs, which is the best! We never get trick or treaters because we live in a tiny neighborhood surrounded by busy streets, so we went to a friend's house and enjoyed the kids' costumes and trick or treated at maybe 5 houses before she was done. I'm looking forward to her having more stamina next year.
ReplyDeleteI really love your take on older trick or treaters.
My policy is that I will hand Halloween candy to any person on my doorstep who presents a vessel to contain it, but the highlight of my night was a tiny (maybe 3yo?) Superman who was just so polite! He said "thank you" and "happy Halloween" and I just about died.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this was my first Halloween in a new town. Previously, I lived in a neighborhood where most trick or treaters went somewhere that was else, so I'd get maybe ten or fifteen kids on a good year. I thought I'd overbought candy, but hoooooo boy am I glad I did! I lost count somewhere around 50. My new town loves a party!
I teach high school and I have a soft spot for the last-minute, some-what bashful teens. They're feeling nostalgic now for that time being over, I think - even as they desperately assert that they want to be grown up RIGHT NOW, I think part of them stays young on Halloween, and on that-spur-of-the-moment feeling, off they go. . . like I said, I've got a soft spot!
ReplyDeleteMy little Pikachu and Charmander had a great time. I insist on a proper greeting and a proper 'thank you!' ... and now I'm trying not to eat their candy!
I always like when teenagers come to the door. Seems like kids are encouraged to grow up so fast. If a teen is willing to risk being teased to keep having fun, who am I to say "sorry, you're too old for candy"?
DeleteWe don't get much traffic at our house, so we have not bothered to give out candy the last couple years. This year, my husband and I were at the Clippers basketball game. He dressed as Where's Waldo and I wore my Charlie Brown shirt.
ReplyDeleteI recall my very-tall-for-their-ages kids going trick or treating into their early teens. The older one had a Death costume that he wore for many years in a row, while the younger one often wore his basketball uniform as his costume. :/
I don't mind giving candy to older kids or adults, but yeah, I'd hope they'd at least make a token effort at a costume.
-Just Andrea
As a Brit the whole trick or treat thing seems utterly weird to me - from my pov, you spend the whole time telling small chldren not to take sweeties from strangers except for one night? Makes no sense to me. I find the idea of strangers knocking on your door in the dark asking for sweets kind of intimidating too, but before anyone gets too angry I'm a Brit, can't help my cultural bias :p I must admit I do love the dressing up part of Halloween though! I love that bit and can get all on board for a wee bit of dressing up but the trick or treating bit of Halloween makes no sense to me. I blame the Atlantic Ocean :p
ReplyDeleteAlthough trick or treating is still not really a thing over here we do get Halloween parties more often now and it's always fun to see what costumes people have dreamt up. Plus sometimes they give you great ideas for what to characters to dress up as for World Book Day in March! So yeah, our Halloween usually involves hiding from those few who try out trick or treating, stocking the big tubs of sweeties for Xmas or going out to a friend's Hallowe'en party. Or just sit and admire all the costume goodness on Pintrest :)
You're welcome to join me some year! I live in a "destination" neighborhood. That's where people drive to get to your neighborhood. Since we still have farmland and such not too far out, lots of parents drive their kids to town so they can walk. I understand it might seem odd, but once an entire society just jumps right into something, the strangest things can become a little magical!
DeleteThere are always parents who want to reinforce the "Don't take candy from strangers!" thing. Those parent's end up doing a "Trunk or Treat" hosted by a church or community group. They don't have to worry since the candy is bought by the group and it basically pre-vets the people giving out candy. It's super lame though and nowhere near as much fun.
One of the reasons we accept it to be safe, as a society, is because we understand that there ARE rules surrounding it. Most cities have "official" trick or treat hours. Some cities have an official trick or treat day that isn't halloween. Then you have the statistics on safety for this holiday. The few confirmed cases of a child being poisoned are by an adult who knows them and is usually related. When we tell children "Don't take candy from strangers" we're also inferring that the children will be without their parent in this hypothetical scenario and that the stranger is going to try to take the child with this bribe. This is rarely the case for the smaller kids in my town, and the teens almost always go around in groups or with their younger siblings. Kids also NEVER go past the front door when trick or treating as a rule.
So I think this is really long, but maybe it helps explain why we do this? I know in Germany we have a lantern night in Nov. where we get treats too. So it's not just American's being weird!
Growing up my parents neighborhood had no streetlights (it's a much older neighborhood on the edge of town). So growing up trick-or-treat was more of a let down since so many neighbors didn't turn on the lights and the kids would go to the newer neighborhoods to get candy. I stopped going out by high school. Though it's also a bummer because my mom ADORES Halloween. She does the whole house in spooky decor and dresses up as a witch every year.
ReplyDeleteNow as an adult I love dressing up on Halloween and decorating the house. The neighborhood I live in has lots of kids who come through dressed up in costumes. I didn't get a chance this year since I had to work, but next year for sure I intend to take the day off and be there giving out candy.
I dressed up for work, and everyone kept asking me what I was (a steampunk pirate). I had gears on my vest and a temporary tattoo on my cheek of clockwork pieces. Someone asked if I was pretending to be a robot.
Met some new geeky neighbors who went squee over my Baymax kigurumi, and a lady up the street who had a whole snake skin on display on the card table she set up in her driveway. It had the head attached and everything, and you could see the eye scales. She had just found it at the lake a few days ago. Super cool! Oh, and my 8yo had fun, too, and happily handed over all his Butterfingers.
ReplyDeleteOur neighborhood has tons of kids from tiny to hulking, and hundreds came by last night. Many did not have costumes, or had just some makeup used as facepaint in an attempt at a costume. Many did not have bags. Next year, we are handing out masks and bags as well as candy. Also, my name is Mary and we met at DragonCon a couple years ago. I can't figure out how to make it show my name!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of handing out masks and bags! I may start collecting mid size paper bags now. I wonder if I can get the masks in bulk and just go nuts...
DeleteMy policy is, if you show up at my door on Halloween, you get treats. You never know why some one doesn't have a costume. Their family may be hurting financially. They may be trick or treating for a sick kid. That surly teenager may have suddenly decided last minute that last year wasn't the last year they wanted to trick or treat and they need just one more year.
ReplyDeleteMine too! Some kids/teens have sensory issues and wearing a costume is not going to happen for them. Some people may be in the body of the teenager but have a learning disability that puts at the age of 5 year old - do I want to say no to them? The more candy I give away, the more I don't eat. <3
DeleteYou're so right- often, Halloween costumes can be pricey and everyone deserves to have fun regardless of money!!
DeleteAnd then there's the problem of living in a colder/wetter part of the country where it might be Halloween, but it's also raining and you just have to wear a coat. I had to explain that to my husband (who's from a warm state) that no, those girls were wearing costumes, they were just *also* wearing coats that covered most of the costumes.
DeleteI live up a flight of stairs form the street and some years I get 5 kids, and one year I ran out of candy. (4 pieces of candy, 5 teenage boys. I managed to scrounge up some weird-flavored mints of the last kid.)
I've had the idea a couple times in the past to have a stack of cheap masks on hand to give to anyone without a costume, but I always forget before actual Halloween. I just got an agenda/planner for next year, though, so I'm going to leave myself a note to get masks next year and hopefully I won't loose the agenda by then...
ReplyDeleteYou should go get them now, they'll probably be on sale, then change your agenda entry to " put out extra masks, they are in ..."
DeleteThe best costumes we got were two pikachus, an Ash Ketchum, two Optimus Primes, a toddling pumpkin and a wacky inflatable arm-flailing tube guy. (And two dogs) And we didn't have to eat the gross pumpkin donut laffy taffy ourselves.
ReplyDeleteLast night, as always, I went up to my Mom's house to hand out candy with her. I wore my light-up Back to the Future Part II light-up Nike Mag shoes and had multiple little kids get more excited over my shoes than the candy.
ReplyDeleteOne kid yelled from across the street - "I LIKE YOUR SHOES!!!" and then only less quietly to his mom said, "they light up" Then just in case I missed it, he repeated, "I LIKE YOUR SHOES!!!" I yelled back thank you and it made me chuckle.
Those shoes are little kid crack, I tell ya.
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ReplyDeleteWe did door-to-door trick or treating for the first time with my two kids. My son was dressed as an Enderman and most people didn't know what he was, so we were really excited whenever anyone recognized him. As we were trick-or-treating, we came across another family who recognized his costume right away. The one younger girls' mom was saying that they had worked so hard on her daughter's homemade costume, but no one seemed to know who she was. I took one look at her and said, "She's Scarlet Witch!" Both the mom and little girl were so excited I knew who she was supposed to be. She even dug her hex fireballs (made from yarn) out of her trick or treat bag to show me the full effect. Made my night.
ReplyDeleteWe handed out candy and non-food items, sitting out on our driveway and the kids were all so cute and polite! 24 even had a dad trick or treating with his tiny newborn dressed as a pumpkin (I know who is getting those treats!). But I think the highlight for many that stopped by our house was my husband in his inflatable ostrich costume! We had a lot of variance in costumes, but I was happy to give candy and the other goodies to those who came up and asked!
ReplyDeleteI grabbed a pie pumpkin at the supermarket during the last-minute candy run and hastily hacked out a clumsy jack o'lantern just before the trickortreaters got going. Then when they were done I thought "well, shame to waste a good pie pumpkin" and cut Jack's head in half and baked him. The baked pumpkin puree looks like it will make an awesome pie but I'm still a little bit haunted by the memory of Jack's mutilated face wistfully smiling up at me from the baking sheet as he went into the oven. NOOOO JACK I'M SORRY
ReplyDeleteKimstu
Forgot to mention that my standard trickortreater-greeting line is a cackly "Oh my, what delicious-looking, I mean DELIGHTFUL-looking children!" I should really go for creepier decor though or at least wear a witch hat.
DeleteI also have a policy of handing candy to anyone who comes to the door, costume or not. We had a couple of teenagers whose faces made it clear they had been told off by at least one house, they looked nervous. One explained that his little sister was sick and disappointed so they were trick or treating for her. I had some fake blood and a cheap black plastic tablecloth that we ended up not using and I was also giving out fangs, so they became instant teenaged vampires. When I went out to check the mail this morning, I found the table cloth neatly folded on the porch and a note that said thank you. I also send candy bars out to Mom or Dad. This year one young father, after his precious princess batgirl gave him his M&Ms trotted up to the door to say thanks. It was a really nice Halloween.
ReplyDeleteHe returned the tablecloth! And left a note! I teach 8th grade, and some days, I despair for our future, but stories like this give me some hope! <3
DeleteI totally agree (high school teacher here). This made my day even better!
Delete-Zippy
I love your heart. Thank you for making this world a better place.
ReplyDeleteI posted this also on FoE:
ReplyDeleteLast night after I did a few houses with my toddler, then left my oldest to continue on with my husband, and came home to hand out candy. There was a girl dressed as Hamilton, and as I placed the bowl of candy in front of her, I said, "Be sure to take at least three pieces, because you can't throw away your shot!" Her face lit up, and she said, "Finally! You're the first one to get it!" We traded a few lyrics back and forth, and she went away smiling. Totally made my musical geek heart happy!
We just moved to a town that LOVES Halloween. After a party Saturday and trunk-or-treat Sunday, we didn't leave the house Monday evening.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to trunk-or-treat, so they graciously gave me a pass on my decor this year (black plastic table cloth and star battery powered lights from dollar tree with "May the force be with you"in yellow). I spent Halloween brainstorming, and have already started planning my design for next year: the rooftop scene from Mary Poppins. I'll be Mary and my husband as Burt. I doubt I'll be able to convince my kids to play along,but I'm so excited!
My niece took her 2 year old, dressed as a black cat, out trick or treating. At every house she insisted they look at her kitty tail, and in between houses stuck her entire head inside her bucket to admire her treats. Halloween is for the young, and the young at heart. Loved your post.
ReplyDeleteSo for the first time in my life I didn't dress up. My hubby and I did argue candy superiority though and, since we're a destination neighborhood, we take some pride in offering quality candy selections, offered in a galvanized washtub this year! I brought out our wireless boombox and had a bunch of candles in lanterns since our porch light was broken. I put on a halloween playlist and got a kick out of trying to queue up the occasion song to costume when I could! I had so much fun. I had a little Pickachu seriously picking out his candy when he finally looks at me and says "Hey! *super serious face* I love this song." I had put on the Pokemon theme song since I had seen him from down the street! I looked at him all serious, "I played it just for you." *grins* I also made a Darth Vader do a slow march down my stairs to the Imperial March. And asked a young teen Elvis if she could give me a swivel, and when she realized I had queued up "Hound Dog" went above and beyond, giving me a hip swivel, an air guitar and then she got really into it and started singing.
ReplyDeleteI had some young teens who were puns, a girl in a black costume with a yellow dotted line and a plastic fork under one of the lines was "A fork in the road" and her friend was wearing a hat and a fake mustache and a shirt with "Blessings" on it and she was "A blessing in disguise" and I made them take extra candy.
If you didn't say "Trick or treat" or say "Thank you" I wasn't gonna deny you your piece of candy, but I also wasn't going to tell you that you were welcome to more than one. The frustrations came when parents carried their kid up and refused to even interact with me and just shoved the kid into the candy bin and would say "Pick one" and then didn't even bother teaching their kids to interact with the host. But they were certainly in the minority.
Most older kids thanked me on their own. Most younger kids who forgot would get to their parents "Did you say 'Thank you?'" and I would smile as I heard a guilty "Thank you!" tossed back to me.
I love halloween. If my light is on and you show up at my door and you get candy. I might tease you, but you get candy. I don't have time to waste on bad feelings on a night that's supposed to be about fun.
As the mother of a 1.5 year old, I felt a little self-conscious about taking him trick or treating (there's no hiding the fact that he is too young to eat all that candy, especially ones that can be choked on!). However, my husband and I both love Halloween, and I was pretty certain he'd get a kick out of all the decorations (we take frequent walks around the neighborhood, and all month he'd been holding his fist out whenever we passed a certain house because he wanted to fist bump the skeleton sitting on their porch), so we took him anyway. He loved it! He didn't get overwhelmed or frightened, and very quickly figured out that the candy came from the large bowls sitting next to people. We carried him most of the time, but set him down so he could walk up to the people passing out candy. He started beelining straight for the bowls, completely ignoring the people who were trying to give him candy. Next year, hopefully he will have the "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you!" down, but for now we just said it for him. It was a really fun and special evening with our "little monster."
ReplyDeleteMy highlight of the night was a baby dressed as Pubert Addams. He was perfect. I also don't like giving out candy to people not in costumes, adults and/or surly teenagers who use hoodies as a costume. It takes five seconds to be a cat or a zombie. This year felt different though. When we were kids, our neighborhood was packed with trick-or-treaters. People would come as early as 5:30 or 6:00. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I love the costumes and spending time with my family. Over the years, things have changed and so many of my friends and co-workers say they hardly see any trick-or-treaters. Very few houses even give out candy. My own family isn't as into it as they were before. This year it was almost seven and we had only seen about 3 families come through. I was starting to get worried and a little depressed. A lot of people can't take their kids out because of how dangerous and ridiculous things are now in our country. I was really worried that Halloween had finally died in our neighborhood. It kind of hurt. However, once seven rolled around, families started coming in droves. I guess I was so thrilled that I was happy to give anyone that came by candy. Although, I did tell one group of boys w/o costumes that they needed to get it together for next year. There were only a few non-constumed kids all night and actually a few costumed adults that didn't even try to take candy. Although I almost flipped when I saw a toddler using a cheapy plastic newspaper sleeve as a trick-or-treat bag. He was part of a group of boys and their dads. I just happened to have a walmart shopping bag on the table so I took his candy and put it in the bag. I was about to give his dad a death stare when it hit me. My neighborhood isn't all that great and a lot of families don't have money. There were probably a ton of kids that didn't even get to do Halloween. But all of these boys had nice, quality costumes and all of these dads were looking out for their boys. Maybe they just overlooked the bags. His dad was actually grateful that I helped and went out of his way to say thank you and tried to get his kid to say thank you. I hate the idea of lowering standards but with the way things are, sometimes we just have to cut people some slack and be kind.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a similar neighborhood, (although most kids do have a costume, even if it's just a sports team uniform). We toted extra glowsticks as we treated. We passed them out to families who didn't bring light sources. There was a girl dressed as Freddie Kruger who heard we had glow sticks came over and said "Trick or treat" and then allowed me to help her put the bracelets on over her awesome costume.
ReplyDeleteEh - if handing out candy for one night makes someone else have a better night because of such a small offering - it's worth it. And kids already grow up too fast - it's the one night it okay to still be a kid. Besides...aren't we all big kids at heart in some form or another?
ReplyDeleteOur neighborhood was hopping, but we got a late start because we were coming home from work and I made the kids eat some real food before we headed out. So with my sorcerer (Gandalf, filling in for Yen Sid), my Mickey (the sorcerer's apprentice), and my broom (our 2-year-old daughter), we set off. Many people thought our broom was a hula girl, but the delighted laughs when her brother's explained that she was the broom were priceless :-) We came up to one house that was pretty decked out with creepiness, broom baby still in the wagon. She looked nervous and started making little worried noises. Then my husband asked "Do you want some candy?". She quickly answered "Yeah", hopped out of the wagon and pranced up to the door, on her tippy toes and broom skirt a-swishin', with candy in her sights. Not even our neighbor's animatronic werewolf in a cage could rattle her. Her older brothers were keeping their distances, and she walked right past it, like a boss.
ReplyDeleteI handed out candy. I wore a shark hat and one boy warned me to "be careful because there's a shark on your head." A lot of kids who don't live in our neighborhood come over here. I figure, a lot of those kids don't live in particularly safe places, so coming here is ok by me. Almost everyone said thank you or happy Halloween. Thanks for modelling generosity, Jen and John.
ReplyDeleteThis year and last year we had nowhere near the amount of trick-or-treaters as we've had previously, which makes me a little sad. I also took up the thought that it's better to give the teenagers candy than for them to be somewhere else causing trouble, and I ignored the group of teens whose only "costume" seemed to be flannels. However one memorable moment was when a group of 10-12 year olds came up to the door and all started singing "Jingle Bells"... well, I say singing, it was more like screaming. But points for originality I guess!
ReplyDeleteHighlight of my evening - a just barely toddling ladybug who was having her first trick or treat and I was her first house. Mom was snapping a bunch of pictures as I crouched down to offer the bowl. That little one's face lit up and it just made my night! My daughter, who just turned 15, dressed as Darth Fabulous (a sort of Lady Vader). She walked around the block with our neighbors who were Leia, Rey, Kylo Ren, a storm trooper, and Chewbacca (ranging from 13 down to 2). But spent most of the night handing out candy or dancing in the driveway. She said this was the best Halloween ever (which did this mama's heart good as we just moved here this summer and she is still finding her place).
ReplyDeleteI was dressed in a low-key comfortable Pirate getup, sword at hip....I had two interactions worth noting during Choco-distribution.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, early in the night, a 10-ish year old boy walked up in a PERFECT Mobster get up. Full Al Capone, with a toy tommy gun and everything. Three others were with him. So he is standing back a ways, as I give two pieces a kid.....he steps up, and holds up his gun...."I figure you give me three, this fella doesn't go off, disturb tha neighbors." I paused, raised an eyebrow, and my sword slowly pulled from sheath, and I calmly drawled back: "See, mate, I wager it's not wise for a wiseguy to test a pirate, aye?" He grinned and took his two pieces, happily laughing that I played along a bit.
The other was a boy-friend girlfriend who came up, the boy was slumming with a 404 Costume not Found T-shirt, but the girl had home-made a VERY nice Megara from Hercules. I actually called her by 'name', and she lit up with happy that I knew her character....then she slapped her boyfriend on the shoulder! "See, I told you you should have done Herc!" I lost it, and gave her two extra candies.
HAlloween's a joyful evening for me even if I don't trick or Treat in my neighborhood any more...I'm already inspired for next year's decorations, worrying my dad, I'm considering taking advantage of the Hacienda style of the house, and being in South Florida on the Treasure Coast, and dressin' the front door area as a Spanish Fort, pirate captured. We'll see!
I like your attitude.
ReplyDeleteAnd if it can help inspire the grinchy guzzlers to do likewise, so much the better.
My mom remembers what it was like being dirt poor with a funny accent, being looked down on by other teenagers who honestly had done nothing themselves to earn the nice clothes and all.
She'd be the first to say that adopting your way of looking at other people might not work for, say practical politics, but is by golly the most liberating and happy-making way of approaching life.
We get very few trick or treaters any more (even though our neighborhood is full of kids, I think they all flee to the MEGA neighborhoods that are close by.)
ReplyDeleteStill, I spent the afternoon coloring up a teal pumpkin for the front door, and felt pretty good about my choice to give out comic books and cheese curls (undeniable fact, Herr's cheese curls are the best snack food in the world. They did a run of tiny Halloween-sized bags this year and I nearly keeled over with glee.) The kids were eh about the cheese curls (it's ok, they'll learn) but most of them seemed genuinely excited about the comic books, so, mission accomplished! Also there was a middle school aged girl who dressed up as a squid. She got Squirrel Girl comics and also probably my vote for president of the planet.
I'm lucky to live in a lovely neighborhood where pretty much everyone gets into the spirit of Halloween. All the kids give the proper 'trick or treat' and 'thank yous' and if they dont, their lovely parents make sure they do. Even the teens are so polite. Since pokemon go was big this year, I wore my Bulbasaur costume I made a few years ago and did cool green/blue makeup. I even drew vines as the wings of my eyeliner. All the kids loved it and the parents too even though I was mistaken for Sully or Stitch a few times. The best part of my night was when the cutest little Pepa Pig smiled and stared at me for a solid minute after I gave her candy before deciding she would thank me with a curtsy. It tickled me and her mom who didn't know where she had learned that from. I'm sure she thought I was a princess because of the makeup and fluffy tulle skirt I had on. I was a beautiful/fashionable Bulbasaur.
ReplyDeleteThe secret is not to go trick-or-treating as an adult.
ReplyDeleteThe secret is to go *caroling* as an adult.
A bunch of folks singing about Cthulhu on the front porch? Oh yes, take the entire bowl, please.
And if you want to be really, REALLY scary? Dress up in Victorian finery, and aing *Christmas* carols.
Warning: this may lead to candy being thrown at you.
Dressing in Victorian Garb and going around singing Christmas carols is a GREAT idea for a group Halloween costume!
DeleteTo be honest - I'm not a big Halloween person, Christmas is my schtick! One year we played carols and handed out candy canes! :) Just to mess with people!
DeleteFor many years my friends and I dressed in costumes and went Pumpkin Carolling for everyone we knew. (When in grad school, we mapped out the addresses of all our professors and went to their homes.) I have a big collection of Pumpkin Carols like Great Pumpkin is Coming to Town, I'm Dreaming of the Great Pumpkin, Pumpkin Shells, Here We Come A-Pumpkining, etc.
DeleteI spent the evening volunteering at a local Haunted Barn. Funds raised go to their program for disabled adults and youth. We had 10 scenes set up in rooms devised from old horse stalls along with creepy decorations. Some rooms have black lights, others have fog machines, flashing strobe spotlights, or Halloween lights (eyes, pumpkins, etc). There were rooms with clowns, spiders, butcher shop w/eyeballs & bloody body parts, projected old scary movie scenes, bloody dr/nurse scene, a elementary school Harley Quinn (~6 yrs old) & her clown brother (~8 yrs old), bowling with skulls, etc. (Our little Harley fell asleep two nights & slept through all the scaring noise and screams -- people thought she was a display on the toddler bed with her blanket.) We had the option to request "no masks/no scaring" tours as well. The hours were 7 to 10 for the 2 weekends (Friday/Saturday & then Halloween), but we stayed until everyone who had tickets made it through. I dressed as a skeleton/corpse bride. I also brought a black Halloween bucket that I stuck 2 glow in the dark arms and a spider on the handle along with a mix of wrapped candy and nuts. I offered treats to the workers and the kids who were a little young or had the "no scare" tour. The other people in the Barn knew there were littles coming through when they heard my "happy Halloween" and candy offer, so they were prepared. It was great fun. Hubby had no trick or treaters at our house. We're a bit out in the county and most of the kids have volunteer firemen parents and go to the Halloween parties in town an at the fire stations. (I always buy candy just in case someone does come to the house -- we've had 4 in 12 years.)
ReplyDeleteHalloween is for having fun and being generous. Glad you had a good one!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Halloween. Bought lots of candy and I was ready and excited. Weather was beautiful in the Chicago area, which is unusual. And...I had three trick or treaters show up. Three! Very disappointing. So I drowned my sorrow in mini candy bars.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that MY door is painted orange too! We repainted the house this summer in some wonderful colors I found in a magazine (A grey green, cream and the door is a pumpkin spice color). I only had about 10 - 11 trick or treaters and they all came at 7:30 for about 10 minutes and the night was done! I had 3 littles with their mom and the rest were middle school age - all DID have costumes.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first year I did the teal pumpkin thing, buying some cheap flashy LED things to give out alongside candy. I was kind of shocked how many kids skipped full sized candy bars in favor of cheap LED toys! I heard one kid say "Why would I want a dumb ol' candy bar?" and another day "I'll get candy at all the other houses, I want a finger light!" and another shouting down the street "THAT HOUSE HAS FINGER LIGHTS!!". So looks like next year I'm buying another box of flashy lights!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Halloween has disappeared. Even the grandkids don't bother coming over anymore. We've lived here, in this same house, for almost 30 years, and we used to get a lot of kids. But somehow progress has passed us by, and we have no streetlights or sidewalks in our neighborhood. It's VERY dark, so we get absolutely no trick-or- treaters. Our dogs didn't even dress up this year. We still hold out hope and buy candy...only 4 bags this year (!), poor hubby is starting to learn, he usually buys 4 times that much. It'll still be around for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple of gangs of large "kids" running down the street laughing and yelling, but that's the closest we came to having trick-or-treaters.
I live… outside of town. And by that, I mean, I live down an almost-a-mile driveway, 15-20 minutes (on a dirt road) outside of a town of approximately 1000 people (mostly elderly) in a county with a population density of 4 people per square mile. Now, generally, I love this level of isolation… but… it makes me really sad on halloween because I know there is a snowballs chance in hell we'll ever get another trick-or-treater ever again. I have to live vicariously through posts like yours! Handing out candy is probably one of the only things I miss about living somewhere urban/suburban.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are such amazing costumers that you should find one of those cute kids (or maybe 2?) and make them something cool next year. Just a thought. And on the teens, hey, at least they're not out causing trouble, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd my kid not only made sure he said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" to everyone, he also was canvassing for votes (he was dressed as Cthulhu for President 2016: Why choose the lesser evil?). Everyone got a "Thank you, vote Cthulhu!" and a Nixon-esque victory sign. :-D
We live in rural Alaska (it's a 2.5 hour drive to WalMart - that's how rural we are), and this is the first place I've ever lived where we get trick-or-treaters.
ReplyDeleteThere's not much to do out here, and there's lots of drug use, alcoholism, mental health issues, and a LOT of entitlement mentality.
We only saw about 12-15 trick or treaters this year (more last year), and only a handful had actual costumes. But considering all the worse things kids could be doing instead of getting candy (for example, a 12 year old stole our Jeep earlier this year), I'm happy to encourage them to be going around, in a group, having "good clean fun."
The craziest thing I saw on Halloween was a kid with no sleeves (we already have snow-cover). The best costume was a bottle of Sriracha. And the cutest was a 4-year-old Iron Man.
I meet with some friends in a bar for dance and beer. I'm a fan of dressing up, but not all my friends. so I was surprised when half of us were in costume. A good beginning! and later I found that this bar had a contest of best costume, and I won 2 meal at restaurant!! that's what I call a really good night!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I should come over next year and be a mermaid or something for them. You know, add even more magic to their night. My house does get a few but it is kinda rare. I usually sit out in a little pool and freeze for the 20 odd groups that come by. So perhaps I can lend a hand where more lives can be touched.
ReplyDeleteThis Halloween wouldn't have been bad weather wise, but I changed it up and ended up helping a friend with his touring show, American Murder Song: Wake Tour, that just so happened to be making a stop in Tampa on Halloween night. So I kitted up in my Victorian dress that I use for my Wand Maker Apprentice and headed out to the venue. It was wonderful to see this intimate show and be able to see a full show of my friend singing, versus just a song here or there. (It was also nice just to see him, since he lives in CA) The room was very alive, even though they were supposed to be at a "wake". Very fun. Now all I need to do is go buy some left over discount candy and my Halloween will be complete. :)
Last year we bought our first house and I was super excited to pass out candy for Halloween (even canceled plans with friends/family). We had a giant bowl of candy and not 1 trick-or-treater other than my niece stopping by. I was incredibly disappointed. I figure it's because, even though we live in a nice neighborhood, our house is kind of in a weird position, set back fairly far, and we have a steep driveway, so everyone sucks. We ate all the candy instead.
ReplyDeleteThis year we didn't even bother with candy, turned off all the lights just in case, and watched Order of the Phoenix.
Maybe next year we'll figure out some way to light up our driveway, do a diorama, or something to encourage trick-or-treaters. I actually REALLY want to create some life-size Nightmare Before Christmas cut-outs for our yard.
We went trick-or-treating in a popular neighborhood and the houses that either had too many cars in the driveway to navigate easily, or had front doors that were positioned oddly (or had yards they didn't want kids walking through), had folding tables set up at the end of their driveways with tiki torches or lanterns for light to give out candy. If your neighborhood is popular with trick-or-treaters, you may consider doing that next year! :)
DeleteThat's a good idea, but our driveway slopes steeply right into the road. We do have a cute little hill and tree next to the driveway, tho. We could probably set up a cute little spot to sit under the tree and hand out candy.
DeleteWow, this was really touching. You made me cry and reset my priorities a bit. A co-worker and I were just talking about the lack of manners of some of the trick-or-treaters, but you put it into great perspective. Thank you! Also, years ago I dressed as a clown while handing out candy and I was amazed at all of the kids who cried and genuinely were frightened of me!
ReplyDelete~jeccaess
We live in an area where the houses are really far apart and set back from the road, and also, not many kids live in the area so we never ever get trick-or-treaters. This was our first year taking our 2.5-year-old out (she was a candy corn witch!) so we "commuted" to a destination neighborhood that our best friends live in. Even though it's in the "country", it's one of those cookie-cutter neighborhoods where all the house are pretty close together - somewhere I would never want to live - but I can totally see the upside around Halloween. This neighborhood is SO popular that Sheriff's deputies patrol to make sure that a) no one is causing problems and b) visitors aren't parking in people's yards. And we're in South Louisiana where people know how to party, so it was a hoot. A lot of the houses had tables set up in their driveways or right inside their garages and had spooky decorations and more than a few were having Halloween parties. Dads and Grandpas were driving 4-wheelers towing little trailers made to resemble mini hay rides for the kids. One guy was even driving his (LOUD) lawnmower. Adults were taking their kids trick-or-treating with their beers in hand goofing off with each other and it was all around fun. Given the general chaos of having hundreds and hundreds of kids, tweens, teens and some adults trick-or-treating, everyone was remarkably well-behaved. We can't wait to go back next year!
ReplyDeleteMy schedule did not give me much time to anything with the girls. They went to a costume party the 21st, and I took them to Busch Gardens to trick or treat in Sesame Place for a couple of hours. It was hot and crowded, but they had fun, and my youngest got to show off her classic Harley Quinn outfit.
ReplyDeleteMy husband called me at 6 (I don't get off until 7:30 PM) and asked if I had plans to take the kids out. I work in the Drew Park area of Tampa and live in Thonotosassa. I was not going to make it home before 8. I advised him of this, and due to all of the clown stupidity we decided that he would make dinner and I would stop at the Dollar Tree. My youngest was crushed for maybe 5 minutes.
I came home with 2 caskets full of gummy body parts, some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, a box of Cow-tails, and some Butterfingers. Once we explained to the kids that their safety, our sanity, and the fact that I did not have to throw anything away, they understood a little better.
This was the first year we have ever done something like this. And honestly I didn't mind. I liked having a quiet dinner inside, watching the Halloween Baking Championship, and just staying inside.
Usually, Halloween night is filled with driving to a better area, trying to find a parking spot, walking around with the kids, and battling mosquitoes. If I can't find a parking spot I follow in the van with my hazards, and cringe inwardly when I know that they will get scared by the person who is posing as a scarecrow on the porch. I end up running short on patience, carrying everything, dealing with overly tired kids, and sorting through and throwing out 1/3 of candy per bag. The day after Halloween is usually a nightmare (we get up at 4 AM), but this year no fighting to get them up, I don't feel guilty for having to throw anything away, and I was not exhausted.
My hubby and I got married on Halloween and discovered that spooky anniversaries are the best way to celebrate. We do the house and yard up in grand style, get dressed up, and hand out candy all night. I'm a former kindergarten teacher which means that I speak fluent, "Hyper-Happy-Halloween five year old" and when a little ghost came bouncing up the driveway like a dervish on a pogo-stick, I feigned shock and gasped, "It's a ghost! You scared me!". One little hand came out to pat my arm while the other struggled to move his sheet enough so I could see his face, and in his most sincere voice he told me, "Is okay. I'z a NICE ghost". Sweetest little guy ever!
ReplyDeleteMy very favorites are when the whole family dresses up and goes out together. Best one this year was a family who had built a 7'-long replica of the Titanic complete with smoke stacks and waves. It was mounted on wheels so it could be pulled and had blue LED running lights underneath. Their three boys (aged 1-6) were all dressed in old fashioned sailor suits (complete with puffy hats that made them look like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) and they each had their own seat in the Titanic. Mom and Dad were wearing deck hand uniforms and the whole thing was amazing!
Coming in at a close second behind them was the family of four who dressed as Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, and BamBam. A little tykes car had been converted to a Flintstone-mobile for baby BamBam, and the family dog was wearing a Dino suit. Adorable!
We get our share of un-costumed teens and I'll give candy to anyone, but it's extra special when you get a chance to see the family spirit alive and well like that so I thought I'd share the stories of them. :-)
My neighborhood sound a bit like yours. Everyone who comes gets candy. I encourage folks to say "trick or treat" and most of them do it sheepishly and then giggle. It kind of reminds all of us that this is a night for fun. Thanks for writing this, Jen.
ReplyDeleteWe don't get trick-or-treaters because we live on a side road no one knows exists, on the back side of an apartment building that doesn't look like it has a back side. We also don't go out ourselves, but we bring our boys to the Harvest Party/Trunk or Treat at our church. We had fun at that. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, you do know that Christmas is shy of two months away, not a few months away, right?
My husband was grumbling about teens and kids not-quite-in-costume, so I reminded him: "Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it". If someone has the nerve to come to a stranger's door on that night and ask for candy, then heck yeah, they get candy. Full size bars, natch.
ReplyDeleteI love dressing up and I love seeing the kids dressed up. But since my kids are old enough to go on their own, I dressed as a steampuk-y witch and went to my gym for a Zumba/dance party. I won a prize and didn't eat a single piece of candy... at least until the day after Halloween :D
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Jen and John!
ReplyDeleteOne year, I collected mustard, mayo, catsup, and relish packets (that you get at fast food places) for months and had them in a huge, clear bowl to "give out" to teens on Halloween. I used my serious voice and said, "Ok, I am all out of mustard but who wants mayo?" while holding out a handful of packets. The looks on their faces was priceless! Then, of course, I quickly put down the bowl and got the other bowl filled with full sized bars and said, "HAHA, trick or treat!" It was great!
Start saving those packets now and you'll have enough by this time next year. To sell the joke you really need a lot.
For the past several years, I have been giving out three "Awesome Costume Award" super treat bags filled with two full sized bars, plus fun sized treats, toys and a pencil. Those are for the extra awesome costumes. The kids are so excited to receive them... it is like the Oscars. I love the gathering of the award items the weeks before Halloween. So fun.
Have a great day, everyone!
Karla in CA
I used to be grouchy about older kids, or kids with no costumes, or adults- but Jen, I think you got it right. Some people are not as lucky as my family- they can't afford a costume, or maybe wearing a costume gives the child anxiety. I have the candy, and I don't want to eat it- so why judge/decide who can/cannot have the candy?
ReplyDeleteMy family did a Star Wars theme (complete with BB-8 pumpkin), and I loved seeing all the neighborhood children. I had a preteen Katniss Everdeen who was SO EXCITED that I recognized her, a lot of superheroes, some horror movie teens I didn't recognize, and so many very littles who were just so happy.
I love Halloween, as much as I might grumble about the work leading up to it.
Jen have you ever watched men at arms on youtube? It is on the AWE me channel. They are blackmiths that do recreations of game and movie swords. In this week's episode they did Gryfindor's sword. It looks amazing and I automatically think of you when it comes to making Harry Potter goodies. I hope you find it as interesting as I do!
ReplyDelete-mermaiden
Halloween is a mixed bag for me...I love the holiday but never really got a chance to participate. Dad was always working and Mom 'didn't believe' in Halloween. I had a couple of costumes for school over the years, and if i was lucky my grandparents or one of my uncles would come and get me and take me to visit grandma's neighbors, or even all around the block!
ReplyDeleteWhen I got older, I handed out candy at my grandmother's for a few years. I live in way too remote an area to have any trick or treaters at all...we have had ten in the forty years my family has lived here!
Love this post, Jen! This is exactly what Halloween is about.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is not a thing here in New Zealand, but it is starting to catch on in some neighbourhoods. Our first year here we had 30 trick or treaters and I was so excited, the next year I decorated and waited anxiously, only to get one kid all night. This year I went all out on handmade decorations and posted our address to multiple forums so people could find us and... we got 60 kids! At least half of them were wearing home-made costumes which I love, and only two weren't in costume at all. They were with a larger group, so I assume their friends pulled them into it at the last minute.
We were really surprised because the house across the street was also handing out candy and the little girl living in the house in front of ours was happily leaning out her livingroom window giving candy to Trick or Treaters as they walked down our driveway. It was so adorable!
Probably my favourite part of the night was one of the very first visitors, a little boy, who shrieked when he saw our wall of paper spiders! Second best was when some friends stopped by with their kids and started plotting on how their families could help expand our Halloween display for next year! There are a lot of misconceptions amongst Kiwis about what Halloween is about, but to me it's a great holiday to connect with your neighbours and spread joy.
I love that the Dreamfinder and Figment gave out candy at your house!
ReplyDeleteWe had more trick-or-treaters on Monday than we've had in the past 5 years combined! It was awesome! We've had several new families move into our neighborhood which I think revitalized the Halloween spirit. I think some other families may have come to our neighborhood too, but that's OK with us. Pretty much everyone was super polite and very enthusiastic -- even the parents/grandparents collecting candy. I even had one kid do the "Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat" classic. I high-fived him and gave him extra stuff.
Everyone on my street totally decked out their houses. I felt really bad that my house was naked, so I bought a Snoopy decoration for the door and dragged the old skeleton out from where I've stored my classroom stuff. Skelley's looking a little weathered, though, and actually made me a bit nervous when I caught him in my peripheral vision, so I put my animal shelter volunteer apron on him and gave him a stuffed doggie on a leash to make him look a little friendlier.
The last time I gave out non-candy stuff, it didn't go over very well (still finding TP in the tree), so I was a little reluctant, but the glow sticks and "Ghoul-Aid" pouches were a huge hit. I picked up some candy too, just in case, but that was 3rd on the list of choices.
Next year, I have to really "bring it" with the decor.
The one negative was trying to keep our 70-pound dog from jumping up on all the trick-or-treaters to give kisses. (She especially loves kids.) I finally put her in our bedroom with some treats, but she apparently preferred eating the door frame to eating the treats.
-Zippy
Every year I buy a bunch of kids' books from thrift stores and give them out with the candy. Now I hear kids saying "it's the house with the books!" I try to get a bit of everything from board books to chapter books to young adult. One dad across the street credits me with making his son a huge reader; about six years ago, when his son was about three, he got two "Magic Treehouse" books from me and apparently he's been devouring books ever since!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Idea! I'm stealing this!
DeleteAlong with candy,I gave out thrift store kids' books this year, for the first time, after stealing that idea from someone else.:) I am going to do it every year. Some kids wanted nothing to do with books, but others were so excited and happy, and so were their parents.
DeleteI love love love this post!! We once had a kid who had three different masks and made several quick changes in our driveway to grab some more candy. I made to protest, but then had to laugh at his cleverness. If you're going to make the effort to come to the door, costume or no, old or young, once, twice, or three times, I'm gonna give you some candy.
ReplyDeleteOur best friends really love Halloween. The yard is decorated, they're in costume, they go all out for their neighborhood. But what really sets them apart is that they offer mulled wine and hot apple cider for the adults. The kids ring the bell and get handfuls of candy, and my friend pops down the stairs with a tray of hot drinks for the grownups. I should add that we're in the Seattle area so it's never more than 50 degrees and it's most likely raining on Halloween. The adults are more excited for a hot drink than the kids are for candy. :)
ReplyDeleteWe took our 1 year old out for the first time this year(he was only a month old last Halloween so it would have been a little ridiculous lol!). He was a skunk, and super adorable if I say so myself. We only went to a few houses but the grand thing about having a cute little is people loaded up his bucket even though he can't eat most of it, so lots for me and the hubs to share!
ReplyDeleteOur block is mostly retirees, with a few young families. The former are always super excited to hand out candy, but the last few years hardly anyone has come treating. Also probably why my little guy got handfuls of stuff. Once we came home to hand out candy(around 6), only three, THREE kids came to our door. :(
Part of it is maybe because a lot of malls in the city have Halloween events and people just take their kids to those. But then other people say they run out of candy super quick, so I guess people just don't come to our spot. Ah well. Our little dude had fun. By the last few houses he kind of got it: when we left the houses he would wave and say "bah". Only once we were back on the main sidewalk, lol, but it's the thought that counts.
As far as teens/no-costumes, I'd give candy anyway. Like someone else said, there are much worse things they could be doing.
I'm late to the comment party but had to join in. I adore Halloween! It's the one night of the year that I actually like and welcome children. I live in a small rural town so most are pretty polite.
ReplyDeleteOne little girl had a great costume on and I complimented her and she told me I should watch some show (she said it too fast and I didn't know what it was) because it was a really good show, so I assume that's what her costume was modeled on, but as she trotted off I thought, "I bet Jen would know what show she was talking about."
One of my favorite costumes of the night was a solo girl dressed in a bomber jacket at boots. It was so different from any other costume I'd seen that night I asked who she was and the reply was "Amelia Erhardt." I loved that! (Yes, a scarf and goggles would have made it better, but not everyone can afford those or has them.) I told her I had just been to a memorial for Amelia that is near the spot where she had a summer home here in Wyoming. I gave the girl extra candy.
"....and live in a world where the color of their faces often dictates what they can do and what they can like." It's self imposed.
ReplyDeleteGo away, this blog is a happy place.
DeleteAt my door if you are wee and don't have a costume I has for a joke. If they can't they get candy anyway. If they are a teenager without a costume I ask for a rousing rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb. I have yet to have one NOT do this with enthusiasm
ReplyDeleteI've been in places with 0 trick or treaters the last few years, and that is much sadder than having a whole bunch, with a few substandard costumes thrown in.
ReplyDeleteI bought a 20 lb mixed bag of heath/Reese's/kit Kate, dressed up in my hogwarts attire, sorting hat by the door....and got 6 trick or treaters. I'm so sad. When we moved here the whole cul de sac decorated and celebrated. Now, due to the economics of the past decade, some homes are empty, while others just turned of the light. I guess many of the families that used to drive up here no longer do. Only 4 of the trick or treaters were little, but my last 2 of the evening were a high school couple dressed as a very good interpretation Jack & Sally.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I think maybe this is the right attitude. After reading your post, I'm finding it easier to forgive the lack of costumes and "trick or treat." I guess the only thing left to gripe about then is the trick-or-treater who ripped the candy bowl out of my hands and dumped it all into his bag before running off without any consideration for the friends he had with him. He was at least ten years old, so definitely old enough to know better. I'm just glad his mother wasn't around to see it, I'm sure she would have been so embarrassed. There's really no excuse for such bad manners.
ReplyDeleteHey Jen, have you considered running costume workshops for kids in your area, instead of / as well as handing out lollies? You and John and great at craft and costuming, you could pick a theme (steampunk, pirates, etc) and help the disadvantaged kids get a costume together - even something as simple as decorating paper masks, hats (there's a fairly basic origami technique which will turn a sheet of newspaper into a hat), swords, etc.
ReplyDeleteI know you've got agoraphobia and anxiety, but kids (especially little kids) are usually great when you're offering fun, crafty stuff to do.
I'm late to the party, but Halloween at my house was exactly the same as all the years I've lived here: easily over 1,000 kids trooped up to the door asking for candy. :) My favorites we're the entire Doctor Who family (Mom TARDIS, son Eleven, daughter Dalek and WEE TINY BABY WEEPING ANGEL!) and the little girl dressed as Katara. All I could see of her costume under her raincoat was the necklace. But I knew exactly what it was, and said "Hey, Katara!" And her face just LIT UP. And her dad, behind her, did a double fist-pump into the air. ^_^
ReplyDeleteWe go through a LOT of candy. 0_o