To go trick or treating to strangers' houses?

[TickOrTeat]

Just read on another thread that a lot of posters only knock on houses of people they know presumably for safety reasons. Do most people do this? Apart from our neighbours (only a couple of whom are participating) we pretty much only go to stranger's houses. Not on purpose but just because I don't know anyone in walking distance who has young kids or is happy to participate in tnt. We usually get a few trick or treaters too. Always unknown.

I'm slightly worried now. Is it rude to go to people you don't know? Is it unsafe? I think it's very low risk considering we don't enter any houses and most sweets are wrapped (and most people are nice and peaceful) but am I missing something?

Normally we go with friends in their area in a fairly large group but this year it will probably be just me and my two young kids.

When I take my children trick or treating I don't wait outside the house while the owner of the house takes them inside. They stay on the doorstep!

Do you know how trick or treating works?

We go to decorated houses. That's the rule.

But what will the person behind the door who isn't decent do?

Sorry, what?
Why should people not be able to put their own lights on?
An undecorated house gives enough message that no beggars guisers welcome.

Become a familiar and appearingly face to a child?
Being a familiar/friendly face starts a trust journey.

I also don't teach my children to never knock on strangers doors because sometimes they might have to do exactly that, for example if their ball goes over a fence or there's an emergency and they need help. I teach them what you've said, to knock and then stay firmly on the doorstep.

He won’t be a stranger anymore. Because your mum took you to his house and let you take sweets off him.

Front lights = outside lights. People who don't want visitors leave their outside lights off so the front of the house is dark.

It really doesn’t. Trick or treating children are entirely focused on sweets, their costumes, one another, and the novelty of running around after dark on a school night. A person who comes to the door is an irrelevance holding a bowl of mini Haribo packets.

I think trick or treating is American and I encourage my kids to call it guising which is what I called it as a child.

That aside - I hardly know anyone near me but we live near a new estate with loads of young kids. The streets are busy and we go to any door that’s decorated and always get loads of kids we don’t know coming to our door. I won’t even go this year will let the 14 and 13 yr old take the 6 and 3 yr old while I stay home with a bucket of sweets!

Yes, of course, that’s the whole point of Halloween! Actually many of them won’t be strangers. Most of the houses we went to last year were friends or parents from school or teachers or someone’s auntie, but honestly, unless you’ve invited me to your house before, I wouldn’t know that you or your nan or your auntie lived at #6.

Well, trick or treating is begging, let's face it. So probably best to only visit houses where you know that the occupants don't mind.

I think some of you need to be teaching your children about stranger danger. My eldest is 10 and have been trick or treating since she's been about 4. She knows it's a stand alone 'thing' and wouldn't go into someone's house or anything just because they gave her a lolly one time at Halloween. That's just basic common sense and parenting.

There is no beginning of a relationship when trick or treating. Kids say 'trick or treat', person at door says 'don't you all look scary' and kids grab a sweet from a bowl- that is it.

Then according to MN you must put all your lights out and present a totally dark house to the world in the hope that the little beggars trick or treaters will take the hint and not knock your door.

But people who decorate their house don't mind people 'begging'.

@SoporificLettuce don't be daft. PP said outside lights, as in ones on the outside of your house. Not your living room.

I’m sincerely hoping we won’t get any knocks. I can’t stand Halloween. So I suppose it will have to be “lights out” at 5:30 just in case we give the ”wrong” impression.

I don't even teach mine stranger danger, I teach them about tricky people instead because the biggest risk to children is people who are already well known to them and there are doing to be times in their lives where they're going to need to interact with strangers.

This would probably get me reported to social services in MN Land.

No one said to put all your lights out, I said the light(s) on the front of your house as in your outside lights.

Do you usually have trouble with reading comprehension or are the words unclear because you're stubbornly sitting in a darkened room?

We go to the decorated houses. I assume they must be happy to get trick or treaters.

I don't take my kids trick or treating because every year as a kid my mum would turn all the lights off, hope that no-one would knock (and groan if they did and say to my dad don't answer the door) and tell me that its begging (she's not British born to be fair its completely outside her culture) & I'd be thinking of this every time I approached a door lol. That being said I thought the rule was if the house is decorated, you can knock and if I had decorations up I'd have sweets on hand in the expectation of having someone knock. I think its safe enough, usually there's an adult with the kids and as you say all sweets are wrapped/sealed.

Children become teenagers. Where I live it’s common for groups of teenagers to wander round on Halloween night. They pay zero attention to the only knock if you decorate rule. One of my neighbours is 90 and lives alone. She’s always very scared on Halloween night.

Absolutely fine to go to houses if they have a pumpkin outside. That's why they put a pumpkin outside - to welcome trick or treaters.

I will report back on Friday.

It’s that and the incessant fireworks.
I’m hoping for zero knocks.