Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To consider trick or treating as wrong?

134 replies

sunshinemeg · 28/10/2013 22:14

In my opinion trick or treating is simply demanding rewards from menaces. It is certainly wrong to take a pagan festival and americanise it in such a way.
Am I being unreasonable to be so very against it? I do not open the door to anyone on Halloween, and I certainly will not be letting my daughter go trick or treating when she is old enough.

OP posts:
BlingBang · 29/10/2013 08:50

We don't trick or tread. We just knock on doors for the treats - no tricks.

TheGinLushMinion · 29/10/2013 08:52

If you don't like it that's fine, some of us do absolutely love like it & that's just fine too Halloween Grin

Chrysanthemum5 · 29/10/2013 11:48

I wasn't going to allow the children to go guising as most of our neighbours are elderly, and I thought they wouldn't want to be bothered. However, one of them stopped me, and asked if I would allow it as seeing the children dressed up, and doing their songs, and jokes was really lovely. So, I went round the neighbours, and checked who would like it, and who wouldn't. Now, we know, the neighbours who want to be involved get lots of Hallowe'en visitors, the other neighbours don't - and we're all happy.

HowlingTrap · 29/10/2013 12:02

Firstly it originated in Ireland,

Halloween scrooge I say'!

EvilTiggyD · 29/10/2013 12:08

Asking people who don't want to take part is wrong. There needs to be clear guidance from the department of Halloween about this. I reckon you should have to display a pumpkin to show you're up for it. Any toddler going to a non-pumpkinny house, lock 'em up and throw away the key!

ClockWatchingLady · 29/10/2013 12:11

Yep, it's extortion. Admittedly cute-pumpkin-clad extortion, but a bit rubbish nonetheless.

What's wrong with good old apple bobbing?

YANBU.

SanctimoniousArse · 29/10/2013 12:18

Every house in the street gets egged round here as I live in a shitty area. It was fun nin the US but terrifying here.

Fakebook · 29/10/2013 12:23

In my opinion trick or treating is simply demanding rewards from menaces.

Hahaha. Menaces. Right. Hahaha.

HowlingTrap · 29/10/2013 12:24

this really hated teacher used to put clingfilm on his windows every year,
so its easy to peel off after the annual egg pelting Confused

RedHelenB · 29/10/2013 12:30

One night - YABU & a spoilsport!!! No harm dressing your kids out to a few neighbours!

LittleMissGerardBOOOOOtler · 29/10/2013 12:32

We just go round our street to the houses we know, all the local children just dress up and go to each others houses, we wouldn't go to the houses who we don't know, or if someone had a baby etc.

The year when my youngest had been in hospital very ill earlier in the month we didn't have anyone come to the door at all, even though he had been home and well for a few weeks and I had the sweets in, they were very considerate and even thinking about it now brings a year to my eye!

We are going to my parents this year and although we know a couple of the neighbours we won't be going out. I have told the boys I will get them a bag of sweets each instead and they are happy with that, and we will carve pumpkins as usual.

Each to their own I say but I wouldn't go to a house I knew was against it.

babe2be · 29/10/2013 12:34

I don't like the idea of my DD trick or treating as she's only 6 (some other parents have said the same) so we have decided that we are going to have a Halloween party where the kids can dress up, have lots of halloween games and halloween inspired food.

If you're not into it don't decorate your house so you won't have any TorTers, and maybe do something with your children as an alternative. That's what made a few of us parents think of having a party

KCumberSandwich · 29/10/2013 12:54

Loved guising when i was wee, my son wont go this year as im working but probably will next year.

folk in our village, especially the old ones love the children doing wee poems or jokes and seeibg the costumes, its a wee bit of entertainment for them and if they didnt want it they wouldnt have treats to give out. if the lights are off/curtains shut you don't chap that door.

squoosh · 29/10/2013 13:11

'It's American so therefore it's completely offensive'

Bugger off. I pity your joyless existence.

StainlessSteelBegonia · 29/10/2013 13:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

motheroftwoboys · 29/10/2013 13:21

We live in the north east and I was born in 1956 and we always went trick or treating when I was little. Hardly a new thing. I am with you MammaTJ - love it even though DSs are now 21 and 23 and away from home. Buy a new decoration for the garden every year (ground breaker skeleton this year) and my DH lights all the garden up and we have candles all round the windows. Have never had a bad experience of youths knocking/asking for money etc. It has only ever been very little children. Where do you live samithesausage? Sounds awful! However, can't quite understand what's not to like about buying some very cheap sweets and going along with the fun. We usually get about 100 children round. Very disappointed last year as it was pouring and we didn't get the usual crowds.

PinkParsnips · 29/10/2013 13:24

The actual idea behind trick or treating doesn't bother me and I think its lovely for the kids to celebrate but I wish someone had given the parents round here the memo to only knock if the house is lit up / pumpkin outside!!

We live on a development where most houses have children, we don't have DC and usually turn the lights off / no decorations etc but we had over 30 knocks last year (when I was ill) and probably same again this year (39 weeks pregnant!) it just gets a bit much really when you're not taking part.

I think parties are a much better idea.

mawbroon · 29/10/2013 13:31

Trick or treating is shite.

GUISING is great Grin

There was a funny pic doing the rounds on facebook last week, perhaps you should consider it OP.

It was a pumpkin in the window carved with the words "fuck off".

Ideal to get your message across I'm sure Hmm

LadyBeagleEyes · 29/10/2013 13:31

Not another bloody thread about this.
I'm 57 and remember guising, getting pennies, monkey nuts and tangerines and we had to do a song or a joke. I loved getting dressed up and we always had a party somewhere with dooking for apples and trying to eat treacle scones from a a hanging piece of string with our hands behind our backs.
All the kids in the neighbourhood went out together.
I'm Scottish by the way and quite like the American bits of it too.

Greensleeves · 29/10/2013 13:38

I think this is one of those situations where people mean very different things by the same phrase, I think

where I live, a group of us take our children round, calling at houses of people we know who have put pumpkins out to signal that they are amenable, we meet other little groups doing the same and the kids have a lovely time being dressed up and out after dark seeing their friends

when I was a kid though in a much rougher environment, older kids went without adults, knocked on the doors of total strangers and played nasty tricks on elderly people and anyone who hadn't anything to give them Sad. No way my kids will be involved in anything like that - it's antisocial and threatening.

as for the "demonic" stuff - yes, that's the point. It's a bit edgy and transgressive and that's why kids love it. And so do I

whatsagoodusername · 29/10/2013 13:40

American Halloween is great. Little kids dress up and get candy. Medium kids dress up and get candy. Big kids get dressed up and do parties or hand out candy.

I don't know anyone who got egged or vandalised (apart from smashed pumpkins on the road) or who got or expected money. Especially money. I never heard of anyone getting money until I moved to the UK.

If you didn't want to participate, you don't put a pumpkin out. And my parents would have been livid if I had misbehaved while trick or treating.

JoinYourPlayfuckers · 29/10/2013 13:44

I think it's nice for children to go around the neighbours' doors looking for apples or nuts in return for a party piece. That's the tradition where I'm from.

I will not allow my children to say "trick or treat" because it is a threat, and extremely bad manners.

I don't understand why anyone would be OK with their children demanding sweets OR ELSE.

PedantMarina · 29/10/2013 13:46

I like the community aspect of trick or treating. And YY to the "pumpkins and decoration out if you do it, no decorations if you don't" thing. It's really basic guideposting.

DS hasn't been asked for guising yet, but we'll work something up just in case.

JoinYourPlayfuckers · 29/10/2013 13:50

"Once again it is not American trick or treating is British (Scottish and Irish - all of Ireland being British until 1920s and some of Ireland still British.) "

Hallowe'en (Samhain) is a Celtic festival, but trick or treating is AFAIK American.

Going around the doors is a Hallowe'en tradition, but the phrase "trick or treat" was not used when I was a child and only came in from American movies and TV shows.

Second of all, you really should be careful about describing Ireland as being "British" either now, or in the past.

Ireland was part of the United Kingdom after the Act of Union, but it is very offensive to lot of people in Ireland to describe it as being British.

LadyBeagleEyes · 29/10/2013 13:57

Ah well, it's only another two days and then we'll get all the threads about telling your kids there's no Santa as that would be lying to them.
I wonder if it's all the same people.