To think driving to roads where there's good trick or treating is a bit wrong

[sahknowme]

We live in an area that puts a lot of effort into trick or treating (assumingly for the "local" kids). There's recently been a thread on a forum asking for streets/routes that are good to drive to for their kids to trick or treat, and our street has been mentioned.

AIBU to think this is a bit wrong/grabby, and we are doing it for our local area - not for randoms to drive from all over town?!

[hellokittymania]

I grew up in the US and we did that. But I also remember we were egged by someone driving by.

[Biker47]

One thing I do wish is that more parents taught their kids a bit of halloween etriquette.

Same, had a group proper braying on my door, not once but three times in a row in quick succession, on top of actually screaming trick or treat as loud as possible, if no-one is answering an undecorated house after the first try, go away to another house please. Almost went out to tell the parents to have some respect, but I didn't think that would be fair on the kids outside who probably didn't know any better as their parents haven't taught them.

[CisCucumber]

Oops name change
I'm Laundry

[CisCucumber]

I gave out sweets to any children who knocked
I didn't ask where they were from.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

I don't have an issue at all with people taking their little ones to my area when they are trying to get into the spirit of halloween and their immediate location isn't ideal.

However the impact of lots of people doing that has spoiled it for me and we don't do it anymore.

My issue is that the adjacent area to ours could do it, it's a poorer area but still lots of families with young children and it doesn't need to cost much at all. You could cut shapes from waste paper and stick them in the window to decorate for free. They choose not to because they are lazy and it's easier to punt all the DC over the road instead.

We went out but had to keep the house in darkness from 5pm as that's when they started pouring over (we are the first house facing the lane they need to come through) and I hadn't bought anything in.

Our DC are teens now. We've done Halloween from before they were old enough to go out. We haven't done it for the last couple of years because of CFs. I've never discriminated to a child though.

[AvoidingDM]

Laundry - what did you do for Halloween?

[MagdalenLaundry]

I've never read anything so miserable
Perhaps a permanent tattoo will mark the kids you don't desire in your areas

[MrsEms]

Normally we have taken DD round where we live but the majority of the people are elderly and don't have any decorations etc to tell us they do halloween.
This year we went and met up with her school friends and their friends and their friends who live half a mile down the round. All the 10 children in our little group except for DD live on the estate we went to so as much as I felt a little cheeky taking DD where we don't live she had so much more fun going and knocking on doors with friends.

[wonkylegs]

We can't trick or treat in our area, we live on a long lane on the edge of the village where our kids are the only kids in the whole road, each house is down a long driveway set back from the road so it's a long way to the neighbours.
We have gone with friends before who live on a housing estate at the other end of the village but I wouldn't go somewhere we didn't know any people.
We think we are going to make the most of our 'spooky' location down the dark lane by having a party next year.

[oklookingahead]

Yes, it's not just about the sweets at all, it's about the knocking, and the door openers' exclamations over your costumes and make up!
(though that can be tricky - I have gone wildly wrong with some of my guesses, though they generally don't seem to mind. I have difficulty knowing what to call the ones in skeleton t shirts - are they a type of zombie, or just a skeleton?)

[MrsRuby]

Magdalenlaundry
It’s not just about the sweets - my children are vegetarian so they couldn’t even eat most of the ones they had! (They have been taught to say than you for what they’re given and then they give those sweets back out to other visitors). It’s about not being able to knock on most of our neighbours doors because they all had signs up saying they’d finished due to hundreds of children visiting our road from miles away.

[Buffythesofasitter]

We live in a great area for trick or treating where lots of houses go all out. My son loves handing out sweets to the kids who knock on the door. We didn’t decorate this year as my 7 year old has developed a massive fear of killer clowns and we didn’t want any knocking on the door. It seems to be accepted here that of you don’t decorate then people don’t knock as we didn’t get a single person all night.
I would never think to wonder if our trick or treaters are local kids or not - if you decorate for Halloween then surely you should be prepared to receive any kids who make the effort to dress up?!! Horrified at the idea of necklace ID to stop non local kids visiting!

[kootoo123]

I think anywhere you have to drive to is too far. Walking distance a few streets away is fine. I spend money on sweets for trick o treaters for the neighborhood kids they are friends children at my dds school and children of friends etc. These sweets are not cheap and if half the town come around people wouldn't be able to afford it.

[ZoeWashburne]

www.scarymommy.com/halloween-sign-bans-kids-not-from-neighborhood/?utm_source=1101&utm_campaign=experiment&utm_medium=fbads

I think this article sums it up nicely. Big celebrations tubs at tescos we’re 2 for £7. That’s more than enough candy for 100 visitors. If that’s going to make or break you, don’t participate.

If you need to take your kids, you can always leave a bowl out or have your DP give out candy.

Just seems so miserly to only give sweets to people who live within certain distance of your house.

I hope other people are kinder to your children than you are being to other people’s children.

[MagdalenLaundry]

My heart is bleeding for the poor stricken children who only got 10 sweets

[CuppaSarah]

Having lived in flats and now have moved to a house in a street that is a popular trick or treat location I see both sides.

Personally I love seeing all the kids dressed up and love the community aspect of getting a chance to talk to everyone. But I can see how it would rub people the wrong way.

I just wish I'd known our road was a popular trick or treat destination. I'd of got way more treats in! And the teenagers were the most polite and had made the most effort. It was great

[MrsRuby]

Haven’t read the whole thread but am in agreement with the OP.
We have a ‘popular’ road - lots of people participate including us. This year we had trick or treaters visiting from 5pm (younger ones mainly) and we probably had about 100 visitors in all! We gave out £££s worth of sweets, chocolates and toys.
We love to do it but I can’t just keep increasing the amount of money I spend every year if more and more people are going to come from miles away.
Most annoyingly, by the time my children went out to trick or treat many many of our neighbours were out of sweets (as were we by about 7pm) so my children got about 10 sweets each.
So because of the huge influx of people from outside our area my own kids missed out on collecting sweets from our neighbours.
I don’t think it’s fair and I wish people would stay in their own areas a bit more. If you decorate and advertise that you’re doing Halloween in your own area then you might start your own trock or treat friendly street. It’s just don’t think it’s fair to take and give nothing back.

[NumberEightyOne]

I have never heard it used in the UK (except on Mumsnet). I have only heard it used in the US. I don't give a shit where it originated. It's an American word for sweets!

[ClearEyesFullHearts]

Americanisms are depressingly the norm. I hate the word candy for that reason.

Sigh. @NumberEightyOne, this is for you. It's Middle English, not an Americanism.

[Malbecqueen]

Why would you turn anyone away rather than give them a Haribo?? Seems incredibly mean and "us & them" to me. I have no idea where most of the kids who knocked on our door came from, and I frankly don't care. They were all polite, took one sweet only and were having a whale of a time... yes we can't all spend a fortune on sweets, and it's a shame to run out... but there's an awful lot of large bags of cheap, crap candy out there that kids seem to like ...

What I did find weird was that as I was out with our girls trick or treating, there was a family in a car that was driving from house to house... (rather than parking up and wandering round the neighbourhood). Everyone seemed fit, healthy and up for a laugh - and no disabled badge on the car... if you're going to fill your kids up with candy, wouldn't you kind of want them to at least walk some of it off??

[Cab65]

My daughter lives in a village that goes way beyond the normal for Halloween, this year a coach full of people with their children arrived for the fun.

[AvoidingDM]

Maisy that's exactly the difference between going to look at Christmas lights and asking for sweeties at Halloween.

[heron98]

YABU.

We are the only family on our street, everyone else is students.

[ducktale]

The only reason I find it annoying is that we hardly got any trick or treaters cos they all went down the road to the area that really get into it , I’ll be eating haribo for weeks.

Anyway down there they do ask parents to donate sweets to give out while they’re walking round as they put so much effort in, seems fair.

[MaisyPops]

I agree petal.
There's a house in a local town who do the most amazing christmas lights. Each year they do a display and take donatioms for charity if people would like to. Their lights go in the local paper and people can choose to donate to the charity if they would like to. I think it's quite nice. Quite a lot of people go to see them with their children, it raises moeny and awareness.

I think if they did it for halloween and people expected them to feel the area's kids sweets it would be grabby and rude (but that's essentially what some people on here are saying is reasonable oj the grounds of 'but they made an effort so why shouldn't we ferry our children across to beg for sweets'l