To think trick or treating should stop before 7pm?

[hibbleddible]

Don't get me wrong: I love Halloween. Treats in, decorations out, pumpkin carved etc.

At 7.15pm I had just got the baby to sleep, and dd1 in bed. Trick or treater's knock and cause the dog to bark and wake the baby. Dd (5) answers the door by herself in pjs, and becomes very excited.

Grrr! I then had two non-sleeping children, plus they cleared me out of the candy which I was planning on scoffing alone after dd went to bed

There is nothing to stop adults dressing up and walking around their local streets. There is nothing wrong with joining other adults you know and trick or treating with them and their children. I have seen some groups with a ratio of adults to toddlers of 6:1.

Which part of not everyone wants to or can do you really not get.

People shouldn't have to do something just to stop AB!

No sleep till gome five. Lots of people speaking Italian outside our bedroom window till then. Report in the Guardian (though I'm feeling a bit Daily Mail!)

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/01/london-rave-party-turns-into-chaos-as-halloween-revellers-bombard-riot-squad

It was scarey. Glad we did not let our teenager make her own way home.

Sorry but I laughed about the Pearl clutching "did you really take a baby out til 745". Why on earth not? It was mild, baby would have been wrapped up etc

YABU .Plus its only fifteen minutes after seven!

In regards to babies in bed I am struggling to get my five month old asleep before 11pm. I envy everyone with their babies tucked up in bed by eight!

No one around here takes the slightest notice of whether houses are decorated or not, you get your door hammered on anyway.

I love the way people confidently say 'no one knocks when you take the pumpkin in' when the op says that isn't the case.

If pumpkins are out then up to 9 we had last night. No problem we had people round but really whatever the time no lit pumpkin should mean no knockers. Tbh next year I will be evil at anyone who knocks before 6 as I'll have been at work and will be getting tea.

I would add another rule 'knock once quietly and then move on if no one answers' there is nothing worse than being in the loo while people hammer in your door.

Aww, I feel a bit sorry for the OP - I think once the baby is in bed (no matter what time it is) people become a bit demented about them being woken/having their adult time interrupted - I know I did, growling at binmen and neighbours washing machine spin cycle through a sleep deprived haze.

But this is AIBU and 7pm with decorations still out is UR, am afraid you would have been fair game around here. Next time, decs in and note up at whatever time you choose

We took the the little ones out until 7:30pm but came home then as the older kids/adults were starting to go out then in very scary costumes.

'OK I accept leaving the pumpkin out was a mistake, but I naively thought that children would be going to bed.

I remember when I trick or treated in the 90s that we had to stop by 7pm.'

OP left the signal out, so children kept knocking tobysmum.

Ok I misread it but people will be hammering on mine next year before 6......

I just put a note on door saying please don't knock, baby sleeping. No one knocked and I get to eat the sweets I'd bought just in case someone knocked. Win win!

I picked my kids up from nursery at 6pm. I'd never have seen them if I'd put them to bed between 6 and 7!!

Well Halloween was lovely round here. It was a lovely community spirit with wee groups of excited kids all dressed up. We started off at one neighbours with hotdogs and then round a few of the houses before ending up at another neighbours for apple dooking. Loads of the houses had made a real effort decorating the house and one house was handing out rubber gloves with a sweet in each finger and a packet of crisps as the palm, the kids loved it.

All the kids were well behaved and polite.

Anti social behaviour is not on, but certainly not the norm round here.

If you don't participate, you leave the streets open to those who are up to no good. The alternative to sitting at home in the dark gnashing your teeth at the horribleness of it is to appreciate that it is fun and let your children participate. Children only throw eggs or spray graffitti when they are sure they won't be seen, unless they are total eejits. So get out there and nudge the egg throwers away. Accusations of 'victim blaming' are lazy responses. If you don't like seeing your streets overrun by people whose behaviour you disapprove of, then go out yourself, with your children. Nothing makes 12 year olds more reluctant to be out and about than the idea that they are sharing space with families of young children.

mathanxiety - you really don't get it do you??

I DON'T WANT TO JOIN IN. Why should I?

Why should I be forced to join in a crap celebration that I don't agree with on many many levels, in order to prevent my house getting egged??
Why should I spend money I don't have, on sweets I don't want, to give away to children I don't even know? (mostly)

LAZY RESPONSE??? Yes I guess I was lazy this afternoon as I spent an hour cleaning the outside of my house. Why is it my fault that some one eggs my house when I am quietly sitting at home minding my own business?

I suppose it is also my fault if I am out and get burgled because I didn't leave a light on?

sorry, I am going to leave this thread now.

I find it really upsetting that my quiet decision, which I wouldn't dream of imposing on anyone else, to sit at home and not go trick or treating, opens me to name calling, insults and my house being attacked.

You should not feel like you have to join in if you don't want! Horrified by the thought!

However if the majority of people are doing a certain celebration, it does get rammed down your throat a bit if you aren't interested in joining in.

head - I don't mind it going on all around me, but I really object to the insults and the name calling, and, every year, there are nasty trick incidents round us.

I can't, actually, think of any celebration or enjoyable event that doesn't occasionally get spoiled by arseholes. It's not good that there are arseholes, but the existence of arseholes is not a justification for banning everything you don't have any interest in. Halloween trick or treating is, for a large number of people, a bit of friendly neighbourhood fun and they conduct themselves in a civilised manner.
Watching football is something a lot of people like to do and tha vast majority of football fans behave in a decent manner. The fact that some don't doesn't make it wrong to like going to a football match, or make it necessary to ban football (and I hate all sports.)

step Most do respect your decision, its a pity that it is a rather loutish minority that are causing you trouble. Maybe call the police on 101 to see if they can give any advise?

combine thank you for understanding!

I am pretty exhausted at the moment as the baby is teething, and waking up quite a bit. I do really enjoy my quiet evenings. Watching TV on my own is the closest I have to adult time now.

Steppemum -- standing on your rights will get you nowhere except locked in your house afraid to turn on the lights.

You could participate in Halloween because it really wouldn't hurt you to buy sweets and give them away to children you don't know.

9pm is the latest we usually have any trick or treaters knock our door.

Once it's just gone 9 pm me and DH get all the decorations in from outside(DH puts tons out the front)then I take down all the decorations from in the house whilst DH get's the 3 youngest DC supper,bathed and bed.

That way 10pm,all the Halloween stuff is packed up the 3 youngest DC are a bed in sleep and me and DH can colapse onto the sofa and usually watch a scary movie with our 2 oldest DC 19 and 17.

When we had a baby in the house I'd stick a note on the door just before 9pm saying sorry no sweets left and baby asleep.No one ever knocked once the sign was on the door.

I'm very sorry for anyone who had their house egged that's awful.

But it's thankfully never been part of Halloween tradition anywhere I've lived.

Round here guising starts on the dot of 6pm (cute 2 year old). Teenagers (up to about 15 yo) do the last rounds at about 9pm.

The 'no pumpkin no knocking' rule is strictly adhered to.

Lots of cute/funny kids, in great costumes with jokes/songs/poems in return for some sweeties.

The vast majority of callers (and I had over 100) were very polite and said thank you nicely.

Accompanying parents (for the little ones) wait at the pavement/end of drives and wave their thanks.

We had a small Halloween party for friends before guising and hot chocolate and cake on our return.

It was lovely, good spirited and fun for the whole family.

And that's how I remember it from my own childhood (except we had turnip laterns not pumpkins)

Nasty treatment of those choosing not to participate is just spoiling the whole festival and giving it a bad name.

I would say up to 8 is fair enough.

And I agree with stepmum. People who clearly indicate that they don't want to participate should have that request respected. They are not miseries, sitting in the dark gnashing their teeth. Hallowe'en never used to bring out this judgmental attitude towards people who just didn't particularly want to join in.

I took the baby out until after midnight, why on earth would you assume all children everywhere are in bed by 7pm?
What a startling lack of imagination.

I presume, though, that you weren't knocking on people's doors at midnight?