To not let my children go trick or treating

[Nolikeythespookey]

I really dislike trick or treating. It is not a British thing - it is a new thing from America and I think it's greedy and intrusive. I don't want my kids going to strangers doors and essentially saying 'give us sweets or we'll do something bad to you'. I think it's horrible manners and not even necessarily safe. I don't think children need a big bucket of 'candy' either.

My kids have been young enough to discourage this so far, but this year one has been invited out trick or treating with friends. I've said we have other plans. He's 6. When they get a bit older and are more aware of the whole thing I won't let them feel left out and will grudgingly allow them to go (with an adult) but I really, really hate this stupid non tradition.

We did used to have 'guising' on hallowe'en in the UK, where kids/guisers had to do a 'party piece/turn' to earn their treat, and I think that's a much nicer thing - bit of give and take and no demanding/threatening from the kids, plus the treat could easily be 20p or an apple.

[YourMaNoBraBackOfMyHearse]

We had a neighbour who made a huge deal of it every year. She'd have corpses rising from the ground, a werewolf howling at the moon, a spider dropping from the roof, a tunnel that the kids could enter at their own peril and be chased back by scary characters. It was lovely the effort she made and the kids would talk about it for weeks before and after.

[neverputasockinatoaster]

I grew upon the East Coast of Scotland and we always went guising but we had to do an dance, sing a song etc to get our sweeties and yes to tangerines and monkey nuts!
In one of the villages we lived in the whole street of children were invited to one families' house for a halloween party, we all dressed up and we had to make our own costumes and did apple bobbing and trying to eat a treacle scone from a string! We all had turnip lanterns (they looked ace if you put marbles in their eyes!) and at a set time we all trooped off to guise in the village. There were only a few houses we went to - if they had their outside light on we were allowed to knock - and we had great fun.
However, I find it really difficult to equate that to kids knocking on my door, holding out a bag and saying 'Trick or Treat'...
Not many come to our door - when DS was tiny DH was on halloween duty and I suspect he has given us the reputation of being curmudgeonly!

[BlingBang]

We used to knock and say

The Sky Is Blue
the grass is green
may we have our Halloween

Then had to do a turn - entertain the householder with a song or joke or summat. Was great fun, long as you didn't get mugged and relieved of your stash. Also, it was all monkey nuts, apples and tangerines - just the odd sweet. I am that old.

[Thants]

How mean op. So what if it is an American tradition it's fun!
They can just knock for neighbours you know and having a few sweets one evening won't hurt them.

[devilinside]

My kids are more excited about going trick or treating than they are about Christmas.

[chicaguapa]

Halloween is absolutely DS's favourite time of the year. He plans his costume well in advance and is already arranging who he's going to go around with. He's 8. He adores dressing up and walking around the streets in the dark. We love on a housing estate and it's alive with trick or treaties. There's a lovely atmosphere.

I got over the begging aspect of it years ago tbh and climbed down off my soapbox. We just take care to make it about going out and trying to recognise your friends all dressed up. The sweets are fairly secondary, there are rules about whose houses you knock at and there's never any question of playing a trick anyway. In fact I'm pretty sure they think they'll either receive a trick or a treat as we always play a trick at home for children who are visiting us.

One thing that does bug me are those who leave their house empty while going round trick or treating and when they get back, the trick or treaters have stopped. We always leave DH at the ranch to hand out treats, which I think is only fair.

[Trigglesx]

YourMa we used to do that type of thing in the states. Most fun year was when we had teenage DD and my youngest sister taking turns being the witch "burning at the stake." We had a tree that worked well for this, and we piled firewood around it, and ran an extension cord and had a fake electric fireplace log stuck in there, so in the dark part of the front garden, it looked very creepy. "Girl" in white gown, tied (not really but we fashioned the ropes to look like it) to tree... lots of teenagers wandered up close to get a good look, while "girl" at tree not moving... then she'd look up fast and let out a scream.... scared the bejesus out of quite a few... We had our fun.

[ReallyTired]

We tell our kids not to take sweets off strangers the rest of the year, yet on halloween people think that its OK for kids to demand sweets of people they don't know know.

My children don't do trick or treat because its begging and rude.

Its much nice on the following day to go round the house of a lonely old lady and give her some chocolates rather than demand sweets.

[squoosh]

'My children don't do trick or treat because its begging and rude.'

Isn't is uncomfortable having that stick up your bum?

[YourMaNoBraBackOfMyHearse]

Trigglesx that sounds amazing! I love stuff like that.

[OhDearNigel]

We don't do hallowe'en for religious reasons. We do bonfire night instead

[YourMaNoBraBackOfMyHearse]

My children don't do trick or treat because its begging and rude

You're doing it wrong.

[Trigglesx]

It was a blast. But DD is, unfortunately, made of sterner stuff than DS1 and DS2. I'd be scraping DS1 off the ceiling with a spatula if I tried doing something like that now.

We rigged huge spiders that we controlled with cords that dropped down on them when they knocked on the door (only older kids and parents, NOT little children - don't want to traumatise anyone). We stuffed clothing and a stocking-stuffed head, put a thin curtain on the window in the front room and rigged it so it looked like a body was hanging in the front room. My sister got a coffin and had her husband decked out as a vampire, coming out of it in her front garden (gotta admit - she beat us out big time that year).

Definitely not something DS1 would cope with.

[everythinghippie29]

It was always my fave holiday when I was little, my mum and dad would go all out decorating the house with cobwebs, we got dressed up, we would do apple bobbing, blindfold 'witches bowls', watch (age appropriate) scary films, like Hocus Pocus with sweeties and generally have a fantastic night. Its one of my earliest memories and one if the few really happy family moments I recall from before my parents divorced. I remember fleetingly being a little envious of my friends trick or treating when I grew older, but realistically I much rather enjoyed a warm, cosy fun night in with my family than traipsing round in the cold being ignored by most of the homes you visit!

I'm pregnant now and can't WAIT to start the tradition of spooky nights in! I always get a few sweets in for any creepy callers though.

[YourMaNoBraBackOfMyHearse]

Mind you I'm thinking of doing a party this year as less and less people trick or treat. It does seem to be dying out round here. Having a pumpkin on display is no guarantee of willingness. We were told to Fuck off one year.

[Tavv]

My children don't do trick or treat because its begging and rude

Good for you, especially as you're getting the predictable "killjoy" comments! Even sanitised supposedly cute "trick or treat" is basically derived from begging/threats... the clue's in the name!

Call me old-fashioned but what's good about teaching that it's fine to call on people you don't know and demand things instead of asking politely?

And now people can't even light a pumpkin without T-or-T-ers deciding it's a "sign" that they can call Never used to mean that!

[May09Bump]

laughing myself silly at SWOOSH's "Isn't is uncomfortable having that stick up your bum?"

[squoosh]

'Even sanitised supposedly cute "trick or treat" is basically derived from begging/threats... the clue's in the name!'

In all my life I have never heard of a 'trick' being played or a threat being made. Where on earth do you live, it must be horrific.

[Stravy]

My Granny used to do it in NE England and she was born in 1894. Even if it was an American import I don't see that as a reason to dislike it. Frankly I can't be fucked to listen to 100's of kids sing 'the sky is blue...' so I just hoy sweets at them.

[Shreksfiona]

Ok, it's purely by choice whether you want to take part or your children to take part personally I love it

[Thisvehicleisreversing]

I was never allowed to go trick or treating as a kid because my mum saw it as begging.

I love that I can now celebrate hallowe'en with my kids
When they were little we'd have a party at ours or at my neighbour's house and hide sweets in the garden for them to find with their little torches.

Now they're older they're allowed to go trick or treating but we have rules about only knocking at decorated houses and they must have a little trick or party piece ready to perform in return for sweets.

DS1 pretends his thumb has come off and DS2 loves to show off the fact he can pick his nose with his tongue.


I love Hallowe'en!

[serin]

I am 45 and loved Trick or Treating as a child.

I am not American.

YABU

Not everyone hates children knocking on the door, some leave their lights on and buy in sweets especially (like my 80 yr old Mum, it's one of the highlights of the year for her!!)

[IamChristmas]

Four years in a row my house got egged because I had the audacity to go out on Halloween night. The worst was the year I'd gone away so didn't find it for a few days, by which point it was well and truly ingrained :(
After that I was determined to stay in with a stockpile of sweets to give out so no one would egg me. Then I got delayed at work, by the time I'd been to the shops, bought the sweets and got home it was 6.45pm and there was already egg dripping down my door.
Mind you that was the same house where one valentines day morning I woke up to find dog shit thrown at my front door. And on Christmas eve someone turned my wheelie bin upside down in my front garden and ripped half my fence down.
Still hate Halloween tho!