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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that trick or treaters say "thank you" and move on

123 replies

golfbuggy · 31/10/2016 19:04

We're on a main thoroughfare so get loads of trick or treaters.
Tonight it feels as though roughly in 1 or 3 of them have said "don't like that" or "can I have something else". I have grumpily refused every time. (It's generally been the 5-9 year olds I'd say - the younger ones just look wide eyed and the older ones just take what they are given!)

AIBU to think that if someone is giving you sweets for nothing your correct response is "thank you".

OP posts:
switswoo81 · 31/10/2016 19:54

Kids here just held the bags open and I threw the stuff in them they never saw what was put in. Much easier.

ohtheholidays · 31/10/2016 19:55

I forgot one group we had that were very young(2 that were 5 and 1 that was 1),the youngest was only 1 and was dressed up as a little witch and even she said thankyou,well it came out TankchoooHalloween Grin and one of the 5 year olds gave a little present to our 9 year old DD to say Thankyou for the sweets our DD had given her Halloween Smile

Qwerdy1234 · 31/10/2016 19:55

All ours have been super polite and had to be encouraged to take more than one sweet. Been a lovely evening :)

sparepantsandtoothbrush · 31/10/2016 19:55

We've had around 100 too and all polite. I do remember a teenage girl who knocked at the door 6 or 7 years ago now and grabbed pretty much everything I had in my bowl and ran off before I realised what was happening. She turned up with her own toddler tonight and apologised for being such a brat back then Grin

lljkk · 31/10/2016 19:56

DS got raisins... he loathes them but still managed a thanks & "Happy Halloween!"

DH happily scoffing the raisins :).

Bountybarsyuk · 31/10/2016 19:56

Will you stop saying 'begging'? We went to about 25 houses tonight, only those with pumpkins or Halloween decorations, and the owners of those houses had gone to a huge trouble, bought sweets, decorations, carved pumpkins precisely so that children would call round and shout 'trick or treat'. One lady had made multi-coloured worms and jelly eyeballs, decorated the entire floor of her flat, put skeletons in the tree outside, it was epic! She was hardly enticing in beggars.

If you don't like it, stay in with the curtains drawn, but stop saying 'begging' because these people who welcome others into their homes and often dress up and stay in especially have made a huge effort and by disparaging those who dress up and go out, you are disparaging those who stay in and are Halloween hosts!

Ellieboolou27 · 31/10/2016 19:57

120 knocks at the door Halloween Shock
We've had about 4-6 and all been polite, some with a little encouragement from their parents

Qwerdy1234 · 31/10/2016 19:58

Hear hear Bounty!

This is my favourite holiday Halloween Smile

SecretNutellaFix · 31/10/2016 19:59

We live in a rough area- we didn't have many trick or treaters but all of them were polite, all had dressed up and everyone took one each, with a "thank you" and "ooh, can I have that one please? It's my favourite"
The girl who said that came back a few minutes later with her toddler sister and even when offered a second pick, refused, saying she had already had her sweets, thank you.

TheRollingCrone · 31/10/2016 19:59

A few years ago, I took my dd tricking. She had one of those dancing singing skeleton box things. I think it sang "Disco inferno" on and on it went.

She insisted these poor lovely people listened to the v whole bone shaking, nerve grating 1 minute and 30 seconds of the boney fucker.

Mortified. It was freezing and I could tell folks just wanted to tell us to get to fuck.
YANBU

Arfarfanarf · 31/10/2016 20:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TwentyCups · 31/10/2016 20:01

Ah what a lovely story sparepants!
Very jealous of those of you who get hundreds of kids! As the last house on a little dead end road right at the end of the estate we didn't get any! Not surprising, as it's very dark down here (no lamppost).
I would love to get all dressed up and spend an evening giving out sweets to the little ones :)

OrianaBanana · 31/10/2016 20:02

What happens if you say you want them to do a trick? Are the kids prepared if someone says that to them?

I used to go guising in Scotland so asked the first lot for their 'trick'. I just got blank looks as they grabbed fistfuls of sweets then they left. I was a bit non-plussed really, it was kind of a non-event.

GardenGeek · 31/10/2016 20:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ItShouldHaveBeenJess · 31/10/2016 20:05

crone. Grin. Took DS out earlier in his little skellie suit (from behind, he looks like a sperm) but he was frightened by people in fancy dress answering doors, which meant I had to take the sweets, say thank you and basically look like a greedy fucker who was using my child as an accomplice to get my sugar fix partly true

GardenGeek · 31/10/2016 20:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FuzzyCustard · 31/10/2016 20:06

Two words...toffee onions....

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 31/10/2016 20:09

Well said Bounty. My DDad (many years ago) used to call it "begging".

We have the policy of only knocking at houses with decorations up too - I think most people do. If people go to the trouble of decorating for Halloween & buying sweets then they want children to call by. There was a fabulous sense of community around here tonight.

flupi · 31/10/2016 20:11

Where do you live- those of you who get 100+ ? I'm staggered, I thought between 10-20 was good going

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 31/10/2016 20:11

Also, the "trick" part here was always a bad thing (growing up). So much so that my DDad used to seal the letterbox on Halloween night Confused.

We also had eggs thrown at the windows and similar. Thankfully, that element is long gone!

Hulababy · 31/10/2016 20:12

Had over 200 children tonight, ranging from tots to teens. All even polite, taken one item each and said thank you, and 'Happy Halloween' Even the ones we had to turn away - we ran out of everything we could possibly give out after about 2 hours - wished us Happy Halloween. Once the 'no sweets' sign went up and the pumpkin came in, around 6:45pm, we've had no more.

DD was handing out sweets, with her friends, and they'd been briefed in advance to insist on one each, and any sign of grabbing etc then to start doling them out themselves rather than allowing the children to choose.

We have too many T&Ters round here to allow them to have more than one of anything.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 31/10/2016 20:13

flupi on the main-ish road through a housing estate inhabited almost exclusively by young families Grin.

PikachuSayBoo · 31/10/2016 20:14

I hand stuff out so each kid should get one item and they don't get to choose. I figure they can swap between themselves later if they want. I'm not risking kids grabbing handfuls.

Ive had two groups of jostly kids though who when Ive been trying to hand stuff to kids at the back. Kids at the front snatched out my hand......and I assumed were going to pass stuff back but then put them in their own bag. I'm hard core and shut the door at that point.

Six kids, six items. They can fight it out between themselves if they wish. It's a bit stressful t

ohtheholidays · 31/10/2016 20:14

I make up tons of Halloween party bags with different Halloween sweets in.

My DH spends a few hours decorating the garden and I decorate the house,we have carved pumpkins in the windows and Halloween lights and crawling Zombies and a Smoky skull in the garden.

I'd never call it begging,all the children that have knocked our door have been really poilite and really excited,they've all commented on the garden and the house and asked me about the different decorations.

If it's for children and it gives a little bit of joy to the children that live in our community then me and my DH are only to happy to join in,our 5DC love going Trick or Treating,the older 3 still get dressed up and they chaparone they're younger Sisters now when they go Trick or Treating and they all love giving sweets to the Trick or Treaters.

PlumsGalore · 31/10/2016 20:14

We live On a street full of oldies so never get any trick or treaters except tonight, first lot in ten years and I had nothing for them. I said I was really sorry but we never got trick or treaters anymore and I and had nothing, they were lovely and said it was ok and off they went. All age about twelve, deffo high school as a couple had the school blue shirts on under their outfits. No rudeness at all.