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?!

[MrsDrSpencerReid]

I live somewhere where Halloween isn’t that big, but there’s a Facebook group where you can get your address added to a map if you’re participating, so everyone just drives around to the different places on the map

Necklace cards

[OldWitch00]

but why don't the social housing groups organize something for their kids and make it great? what has happened to people taking the initiative to make it fun rather than relying on others.

[raisinsarenottheonlyfruit]

It's not about being grabby FFS. We used to live in a flat in the centre of town. There were very few families round there so we'd go trick or treating where most of the families live - because it's fun not to be grabby.

Then we moved and now live in that part of town with lots of families - we're happy to have visitors who aren't neighbours knock on our door. The DC love Halloween round here - why shouldn't we share that now we're part of it.

Jesus there are some miserable fuckers on MN these days. Can you hear that sound? It's the Daily Mail comments section calling you, they want you back.

[Want2bSupermum]

raisins love the dm comment. I've been wondering what has been going on here in MN.

[nooka]

We've just moved to a neighbourhood with smaller close together houses and lots of primary aged children from an area that was a lot more spread out. We used to put a fair bit of work into decorating our yard but only got a few door knockers which was a bit sad (although dh enjoyed eating all the left over candy). In our old neighbourhood we knew a fair few families as they all went to the same school, where here we won't know anyone. I hope we get lots of children tomorrow!

I can understand wanting to pull back a bit if you get hundreds of children, I guess there is probably a sweet spot for numbers, although my workmates seem to compete on who has the most Halloween visitors.

[buttfacedmiscreant]

I live in the US where Halloween is more of a thing.

If you only ever ToT'd in your own neighbourhood then some kids wouldn't get to do it, either their neighbourhood doesn't participate much or it isn't safe to walk around there after dark.

Kind of a hard lesson for a six year old who just wants someone to guess which princess or cartoon character they are and give them a sweet.

[SardineJam]

No one comes to my neighbourhood - I always put a large bowl of sweets and a help yourself sign out (as we would be out trick or treating elsewhere) and nothing is ever taken. We will go somewhere where there is something actually happening (but walk to find it-

[Procrastination4]

Our road has very few young children on it now. I decorate our house ( my sons say it’s like a mini Christmas) and I love having children calling. Whether they’re from the area or not doesn’t bother me. I’ve lots of fun size bars that need to be distributed so that I don’t eat them myself on the 1st November!

[gigi556]

YABU. I'm American and it's the done thing. I grew up in a place where the trick or treating wasn't great. We always went to a different neighborhood as did everyone else who wasn't in a good area. Not all neighbourhoods lend themselves to good trick or treating - i.e. Houses too far apart, busy roads without pavement, very few kids, very hilly etc

[Skittlesandbeer]

Well our street name has certainly turned up on some parenting forum somewhere- last year I gave out 6.5kg of sweets (one per child) across 3 hours. That’s double last year. Which was double the year before.

For those mners who are saying ‘restricting it is mean-spirited’, what is your maximum number of costumed kids before you think it becomes unreasonable? 200? 400? 9pm? 10pm?

Everyone has their limits...and the fun is not ‘doubled’ along with the doubling of kids. For the last hour everyone was exhausted, costumes melting off, sugar tolerance maxed out.

This year our primary school is holding the school concert tonight on Halloween, so that’s that. I thought I’d be more disappointed, but I think I must still be recovering from last year’s craziness!

[3luckystars]

We live in a treat or treat hotspot too. There would be about 500 children living here and another couple of hundred dropped off that are not from here. That’s a lot of sweets!! We run out every year.

The children dropped here are wealthier, they live in the countryside but there is no trick or treating there because it’s too dark. It’s not the case of a poorer child being dropped off and locals being mean to them, its the opposite! But there is just so so many of them.

I can’t wait until its over!

[DeliveredByKiki]

not in Sonya's area though luckystars, she's admitted that poor kids from the local council estate get bloody monkey nuts

this thread is so depressing

[3luckystars]

Not at all! Just think, this time tomorrow night we can officially have Christmas pajamas on!

The kids love it but I will have a sigh of relief tomorrow night when it’s over.

[berliozwooler]

Agreed, OP. Really chavvy.

[Ginglealltheway]

Sonya. You and your neighbourhood sound pretty bad. It's awful to distinguish between children on what is meant to be a fun event. I'd be embarrassed to even think of doing what you and other adults have agreed.

[Slarti]

These are local sweets for local children, we'll have no trouble here!

[berliozwooler]

Trick or treating isn't supposed to be about knocking on the doors of strangers in an area you don't know and bothering people who aren't celebrating Hallowe'en or who might be scared by it.

You should only go to houses you know and neighbours you know with pumpkins in the windows.

Going to other streets because it's "rich pickings" is begging.

[shhhfastasleep]

Trick or treat is grabby. Never had it as a kid. Doing it tonight. Hate it.

[speakout]

It's just kids- I don't mind where they are from.

Kids are kids and I hand out sweets to all of them.

[TheHungryDonkey]

I think Sonya is jesting. If not, I would happily give a tenner to the local asbos for eggs and flour myself at that attitude

[ZoeWashburne]

If an extra £2 bag of candy to give out to children from a neighbourhood that isn’t safe to trick or treat is going to bankrupt you, maybe spend less on decorations or just don’t do it all together.

They’re children, it’s candy. I lived in the US and there on Halloween it’s absolutely common. It’s usually kids who don’t live in nice houses or in an area that’s safe to be out after dark. Most people flattered that they’re the ‘good’ house.

How heartless do you have to be to make sure children live in a certain catchment area in order to receive candy? Do you turn people away at the door? Check IDs of their parents?

If you want to throw a private Halloween party that is invite-only, do that, but don’t pretend you care about community spirit for trick or treating.

If a box of celebrations is going to make or break you in light of how you ‘go all out’ over Halloween, maybe rethink your priorities.

[PricillaQueenOfTheDesert]

Walking distance, that should be the deciding factor. If it’s a drive away then it just seems wrong to me.

[Notanumberuser]

I haven’t a baldy whether the kids knocking are local or not. I recognise my immediate neighbours but the ones from further up the estate I haven’t a clue who they are.

My only rule is one sweet each. I buy two of the tubs of Halloween sweets and the left overs go to the wee boy next door for his treat box.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I agree. I took dd trick or treating years ago in our village and there were kids from a village six miles away. Now their village is still big and they had done the trick or treating there and then driven here for another round!

[barefoofdoctor]

Not sure where the 'children of poor parents who can't afford to choose where they live' sentiment comes from. In my experience it is the residents of the estates/'poorer' parts of town who go all out on the Halloween front while the children of 'wealthy parents who live in detached houses with zero interaction with their neighbours' who miss out/drive to the 'poorer' (fun?!) parts of town for a bit of Halloween freeloading?