To think that trick or treating should be confined to your own street or friends/family

[Moonnstars]

Showing my age here, but I remember when I was younger firstly trick or treating wasn't really a thing, but even when it started to become popular it was only your friends and family you called in on. I remember visiting my grandparents and their neighbours (who had been prepared so had sweets in) and then doing the same with my friends family.
Now it seems that people are asking where is the best street to visit, and I even saw today on social media someone saying they are on holiday in the area and where is best to go, happy to drive around to find the best places!

I have my own children who will be out, but we stick to our own street. I also have sweets in to give out, but am I being unreasonable in thinking I shouldn't have to have enough in to supply people coming over from different places and that it should just be people you know or at least living in the same street you hand stuff out to.

Also I do acknowledge some people go all out and advertise their address and want people to visit - however these are often for charity and as for a donation.

YABU - stop being so tight and buy more sweets

YANBU - it is getting out of hand, people should only go to people they know/stay local

Yes you are right. But for elderly people it must be pretty intimating. Last year a neighbour left a bowl of sweets on her path. After 10 minutes they had disappeared. Her door cam showed the culprits to be lads of about 16. They can have parties at that age and have great fun.

because it's pretty shit if the local kids miss out if houses run out , because CF had rushed too early and depleted the stocks.

I buy for the local kids, for my kids friends, it's supposed to be simple fun.

I don't ID anyone and I give to anyone of course, but it's not designed for any random, and I wouldn't want my own kids to go where they don't belong, and take sweets that were not meant for them.

Many houses have stopped decorating because of the CF. They just put a pumpkin, still give, but decorating seemed to attract too many entitled parents.

They have no shame either, very proud to get "free stuff" from random houses, people are weird, they probably spend more on petrol than they save on sweets 😂

People around here have signed out. Same story. It became too much and not the local fun it was meant to be for local families.

Luckily our daughter has a party at her school so we don't get involved either this year.

Actually this also reminds me I saw a post about going to residential homes as the residents love it. Is this real? I think it might have been on something like Tiktok (which I don't have) and then shared elsewhere.

Happens every year!

Just shows a lack of knowledge with a dash of xenophobia to me.

That's awful.

My DCs are ageing out of it all but I still enjoy putting up some decorations and seeing the kids in their costumes. And we live very near a house that's locally famous for its incredible decorations so get kids from far beyond our street. If you don't want to be involved don't decorate

Where I live is bloody ridiculous, people come from all over (and not just the town and estate) and just dump their cars. Woe betide anyone trying to get home from work or drive anywhere as you can't for all the bloody people just wandering into the roads and the dumped cars. The bus couldn't get through last year. My cat hides in my laundry basket as it's so noisy.

I need to go out,just hoping the postie turns up soon as I don't want to get caught up in it.

I love this! I have bought haribo this year as we normally end up buying those cheap lolly packs and get left with them and no one likes them.

I think I phrased that badly. I was saying I wouldn’t only want children from my street to come!

I can see both sides to this..

If you live in a nicer area, where everyones decorating their houses, kids in cute costumes are shepherded around by a parent, you can easily dole out a few sweets to each kid or leave a bowl out and everyone just takes a few... great, lovely, fantastic.

It's quite different if you've lived in places, as I have, where from a week early, you start getting teenagers, one Scream Ghostface mask between the three of them, bashing on your undecorated door at all hours demanding money 'or else'.

Whether it is a 'thing' or not and whether that is a nice thing or a nasty thing is very very dependent on where you live!

Lighten up.

Yes! And then they post on Facebook photos of all the sweets they got!

Im too old to have gone trick or treating. It wasn’t a thing when I was a child. I do remember going Carol singing with the Brownies though (imagine that).
Where we live we have nuisance kids (who don’t even live here) dumped on Halloween (dumped all year round to be honest) to belt on doors and rip down any decorations that might be displayed. My next door neighbour isn’t bothering this year because of them. It’s all been ruined

my street is rather short :) but I would probably agree that maybe it should be limited just to the immediate neighbourhood so to speak. I certainly wouldn't send my kids to another area for sweets although if kids came around from God knows where, I don't think I'd refuse sweets either.

YABVU. The kids on my street have precisely 2 houses (mine and my neighbours) to choose from, out of over 50 (because my street is full of miserable tightwads)

My daughter is going elsewhere tonight as she sadly doesn’t go to school in her catchment area, and has no friends in the neighbourhood.

touched a nerve with you? 😂

I think kids should stay local. Visiting friends and relatives is fine though, as you are an extended part of their community. Teens also welcome here.

I used to live on a 'popular' street. Some of the people with the well decorated houses would take their kids out straight after work and lots of neighbours had already run out due to all the people driving in. People stopped decorating houses because their own kids were missing out and/or it was costing £50 to get enough sweets in. It wasn't a rich area.

As someone else said, if it's quiet in your community, be the change. Or go to some kind of organised event, or hold a party and invite friends round.

Not where I live they don't.

I reckon even if teenagers/14-18 year olds were told they are 'not allowed' to do trick or treating, the ones who knock on doors who clearly aren't joining in, would still do it, because they're obviously badly behaved, and badly brought up.

We live on a new build estate and we get hundreds of trick or treaters. People come from neighbouring older estates and further afield and honestly it does bug me a little. So we now come away for halloween and don’t participate. I’ll be doing a small sweetie hunt around our holiday cottage for my kids later and we’ll have a fire outside and tell ghost stories.

I have no issue with people who have no option but driving somewhere to trick or treat, but people who could trick or treat reasonably in their local streets should do that. It should feel reciprocal to some degree.

You are just as bad.

Calling people miserable tightwads because they don't celebrate Halloween and give free sweets to your kids? Seriously? How entitled are you.

I agree. I ask children for their address and postcode before I part with the goods.

I can’t imagine how tight or poor you’d have to be to get so overexcited by a few packs of haribo, or expect that others would

No love, but this thread is clearly touching a nerve with YOU, calling children having fun on Halloween GRABBY.

Get a grip, and as I said, lighten up, unclench, Chill yer boots.

We go all out for Halloween in this house. Having a party later with 10 kids coming over and then trick or treating in the local streets.
All our guests are bringing sweets to hand out too as our house has become a bit notorious and we run out of sweets very fast!