Trick or treating...

[bumblebee39]

AIBU or is it a bit odd/weird/rude?
Didn't want to take DC but it's become the expectation now as I don't know how I feel about knocking on strangers doors and asking for things (obviously we never do any tricks...)

it's a real community thing round our way, loads of kids out for about 3 hours, I know a good number that come to our door, DD goes round with a group of school friends who live nearby, and it's decorated houses only.

It makes the street really lively and it's good fun. When we first moved here it was marauding teenagers in Scream masks hammering on doors and egging if you didn't open up, but it's really changed into a family thing.

Tip for anyone here taking kids trick or treating, if you have a group of multiple kids, don't just let all four of them bang on a person's doors in quick succession one after the other when no-one is answering, and then let them shout through that person's letterbox. Had that happen at my house last year, as mentioned they ignore the unwritten rule about houses being decorated or not.

I had a group do this, i deliberately hadn't done exterior decorations as DD was very little and would be disturbed at her bedtime and also frightened by the costumes. But the house wasn't in darkness. I had this group knock, then knock again, then hammer, then shout through the letterbox, at which point I erupted out to give the teens a piece of my mind. I was most astonished to discover a group of younger kids accompanied by two adults! WTF!! (I did still give them what-for.)

As said above if people have decorations or a pumpkin they are expecting visitors and have sweets. If they don't, don't knock. It's hardly rocket science. In 10 years of trick or treating with my kids i've never known anyone be annoyed or get any tricks played. When there are plenty of people who want to take part why would anyone bother hassling those who don't want to?

because they think it's fun.

I have a friend (who's a teacher!!) who had no problem at all with her kids and their friends banging on every door on the street. Even after discussing it she wasn't bothered.

I didn't do it as a kid and we didn't decroate our house at all. I didn't really want to go around knocking on random people's doors anyway, as a bit of a shy child.

I'm now 23 with an almost-3-year-old and we haven't decorated the house or got her an outfit. Maybe when she goes to school and they have a Halloween party or something, but it's really not my thing, Halloween had always just passed me by, just like Easter.

The only holiday I celebrate is Christmas.

We always went guising when I was a kid, it was brilliant. Only to people we knew though.