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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to give cakes instead of sweets?

96 replies

CharlotteCollins · 31/10/2014 17:41

They're homemade, too.

I didn't want to buy in specially, and I don't have sweets in the house. So I made cupcakes and decorated with bone sprinkles or spiderweb-style icing.

The children are going to hate me, aren't they?

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 01/11/2014 02:55

YABU and if I were the parent I would not let them eat them.

A neighbour of mine used to hand out fairy cakes at Halloween in Dublin many decades ago, and one of my sisters found a pube in hers. Twas most offputting, to say the least. In all my years of trick or treating in the US (since 1992 with the DCs) I have never seen anything homemade.

Nobody is fearful of cake. People are fearful of the people who might lace a cake with something.

mathanxiety · 01/11/2014 02:57

And yes I agree, at a party cake would be most welcome.

sesamstrasse · 01/11/2014 08:59

Kit , it was actually happening more than you would think in America for a while

MrsLemonLyman · 01/11/2014 09:11

It's a nice thought, but unless it's for children you know, I wouldn't, as they are likely to get binned by many parents. I confiscate all unwrapped sweets, homemade items, etc from my children's bags. It's sad to have to do it, but safer.

bonded · 01/11/2014 09:16

No don't do it. I bin anything not factory wrapped, its sad but it just isn't safe to do this these days.

Xrays wouldn't help as they wouldn't show poisen.

chocolatelime · 01/11/2014 09:40

That's so sad that home made items are off the list. I made a mega batch of proper toffee apples, wrapped and tied with a ribbon. The kids had a choice of one of those or there was a bowl of shop bought wrapped sweets as well. I would be very upset to think the apples would end up in the bin! Luckily most of the children who call know us anyway, so I am sure that is not the case.

26Point2Miles · 01/11/2014 09:50

When they get home and tip out the bags to count up the sweets ....bits of broken cake and crumbs all tumble out, and sweets are stuck together by blobs of icing....

steff13 · 01/11/2014 14:19

Kit , it was actually happening more than you would think in America for a while

Actually, only one child was ever poisoned, and it was by his own father. There have been about 80 reports of sharp objects (razor blades, needles, etc.) in treats since the 1950s, but most of those were hoaxes. Still, I check my kids' candy for tampering before I let them eat anything.

poolomoomon · 01/11/2014 16:22

Wow- razor blades and poison in cupcakes Shock. Obviously live a very sheltered life, never heard of this EVER. Last year I ran out of sweets so the last two trick or treaters got handed a homemade oreo cupcake each. Didn't want to ignore them, was out of sweets... It was met with an excited "OOOOOH cake!! Thanks!!" reaction.

mathanxiety · 01/11/2014 16:30

It only takes one episode to make people nervous, and to also beget fear of someone copying. This is why schools and universities in America are always cautious about security on the anniversary of the Columbine tragedy and the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings. It was thanks to one episode of Tylenol being tampered with that safety sealing of medicine started.

I am surprised there are people who have not heard of tampering with candy, or the advice not to eat opened items and to bin homemade items. It was common knowledge in Ireland when I was young (neither today nor yesterday).

kitnkaboodle · 01/11/2014 17:19

HmmConfused at the thought of taking kids' trick or treat stuff to a hospital to get it xrayed! !! Imagine that at your local A & E on a Friday night! It sounds like a different world so I can only assume the razor blade/poison/x ray crew must be in the states. Can anyone give me a link to a real case of this? Anyone heard of urban myths?? Do you never buy anything home made from a sale then, in case it's laced with arsenic? Hmm

mathanxiety · 01/11/2014 18:14

At a sale you can always trace the person who baked it, or at least you can in the US at any sale I have ever participated in. Most counties have a system where the baker is identified by use of stickers or numbers on the packaging of their baked item and in a list held by the organisers. This is so that outbreaks of food borne illness can be traced.

'In 1974, an eight-year-old Houston boy named Timothy O’Bryan died after eating cyanide-laced Pixy Stix while trick-or-treating. Although the poisoning initially looked like it might have been the work of a deranged homeowner, the investigation into O’Bryan’s murder soon centered on his father, Ronald Clark O’Bryan.

A bit of digging revealed that Ronald O’Bryan had recently taken out hefty life insurance policies on both of his children, and police quickly built a case, albeit a circumstantial one, that O’Bryan had given both Timothy and his daughter, Elizabeth, the poison candy to try to collect on the policies. To help cover his tracks, O’Bryan also gave two other children cyanide Pixy Stix. Luckily, his daughter and the other two children had passed up the poisoned powders in favor of other treats.'

It was luck that prevented three additional deaths, one of the daughter of this man and two other children.

mentalfloss.com/article/12914/brief-history-sick-people-tampering-halloween-candy

Again, it's not the fact that this was a family affair that is relevant.

The concern is about copycat incidents that could involve random strangers. This is legitimate, given that some criminals model themselves consciously on others who have committed notorious crimes.

hollie84 · 01/11/2014 18:16

To be honest I do only let my kids eat sealed/packaged halloween goods.

steff13 · 01/11/2014 19:54

The concern is about copycat incidents that could involve random strangers. This is legitimate, given that some criminals model themselves consciously on others who have committed notorious crimes.

Exactly. Logically, I recognize that the chance my kids would ever be injured by tainted treats at Halloween is negligible. But, when it's such an easily avoided risk, why take it? It doesn't take long to examine the candy.

grocklebox · 01/11/2014 20:01

Oh lord, the hysteria and complete inability to calculate risk shown on this site make one wonder how you all get through your days without injury to your person.
There is no poison in your kids sweets. There are no razor blades hidden in the toffee apple. Get a hold of yourselves.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 01/11/2014 20:09

I've provided homemade goods. Baked with love, wrapped in decorated bags. I usually knew most of the children who came (friends of my own children, etc) but some unknown. They've all survived, and are still alive to this day, x-number of years later.

If you are so desperately afraid of your children being poisoned or possible swallowing of sharp implements, then don't allow them to knock on people's doors to beg for sweets. (Or check said treats before consumption, if you are so obsessed) Simple!

Poisoning and razor blades is not a common thing.

hollie84 · 01/11/2014 20:24

I'm not scared of poison or razor blades, you just never know what other people's kitchens are like.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 01/11/2014 20:32

So then just "spirit" those items away Wink
If you send your children to beg, be prepared for the consequences Halloween Grin [thsmile]

hollie84 · 01/11/2014 20:35

Yep I took anything unsealed/packaged out of their baskets before they ate them. They got so much they didn't mind.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 01/11/2014 20:41

Then it's all fine - you're happy. (Although I'd personally feel sad if someone came to my door to ask for something, I gave them something homemade, which I'd spent a lot of time on making and wrapping, for a special occasion, only for it to be thrown in the bin).
[thlangry} next year, I'll be telling the little buggers to sod off

squoosh · 01/11/2014 20:43

People who kindly bake cakes for little children tend not to have meth lab/rat infested/cruddy kitchens.

To paraphrase Marie Antoinette 'Let the children eat the neighbour's homemade cake'

GerbilsAteMyCat · 01/11/2014 20:47

We are the same. No home made treats, you never know! When I was growing up home made treats were banned as well. My parents went through the booty and removed anything dodgy.

TheSpottedZebra · 01/11/2014 20:48

Surely if you're worried about kids eating homemade items from strangers, you don't take them to strangers' houses Inn the first place?

Bah humbug. As if begging hordes aren't bad enough, now I have to be annoyed at the wasteful begging hordes?

hollie84 · 01/11/2014 20:56

Don't really understand your argument Spotted but I doubt anyone's forcing you to participate!

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 01/11/2014 21:05

Don't really understand your argument Spotted but I doubt anyone's forcing you to participate

But surely by allowing your child(ren) to knock people's doors to beg for goodies, you are asking people to participate??? Halloween Hmm

The point being, if you don't want your children to eat what they have asked for, don't allow them to ask in the first place Halloween Wink