To not want my 2-year-old to go trick or treating?

[MunchkinGrower]

Strangers houses. Begging. Sweets and chocolate. Anyone else not massively keen on this for their toddlers? Mine doesn't even know what sweets and chocolate are yet!

Absolutely!
Also dragging small children out in the dark to go to strangers houses
Not to mention some of the awful stuff people wear or put on their houses
My small DC did not like it

I don't like some of the scarier decorations but I do appreciate the work. Definitely against the fake spiderweb stuff as terrible for wildlife.

It is a weird one and when mine were tiny we would only knock on houses where we knew the occupants.

While we are at it though, how about some guy creeping into your house in the middle of the night and watching your kids sleeping 😨🎅

Clearly up to you whether you take them or not at this age, and even when they’re older - they might want to go, but taking them is your call.

You are being massively unreasonable to call it begging - either you’re after the comments, or you don’t understand what Trick or Treating is.

Dragging a child out in the dark! Heaven forbid a child leaves the house past 5:30pm for the rest of winter!

My 2yr old absolutely loved it last night. She loved the decorations and collecting treats. We only go to houses with decorations or a pumpkin so not really begging of your going to people actively encouraging you to knock. We just went through her bucket at the end and took out what we didn’t want her to have. You don’t have to take part if it’s not for you but we all really enjoyed it

Honestly, there is so much doom and gloom atm it was refreshing to see young excited children enjoying themselves last night. In all my years I have only ever experienced polite children having fun even the teenagers have been lovely.

We just go up and down our street now but there really was a lovely community feel where we were. We walk past the houses daily but hardly see or speak to anyone as everyone is so busy. I enjoyed the houses which said things like "knock...if you dare" and then the sweetest person in the world would answer. It was really uplifting. But i think I'm quite lucky with my street. Sad that some people's kids felt dragged along and hated it! Obviously don't do it if your kids hate it. Didn't think that needed to be said tbh

1. life is about moderation. Nothing wrong with sweets and fizzy drinks. Having them to excess is the issue. One night of gathering up some and then eating them slowly isn’t going to hurt them. My kids had what I would describe as an average amount of sugar over their childhood and are fit and healthy with lovely teeth.
2. it’s not begging. It is a fun, community event that people plan for. My children went trick or treating as children and not they are too old I repay the favour but stocking up for other children. It is a lot of fun seeing the children all dressed up. Parents are always with the younger ones. It is a bit of joy in what is a pretty miserable world at the moment. There is a strict rule In Our area that only decorated houses get visited so all very good natured.

It’s not begging, it’s something fun.

However, I also didn’t take my daughter out at 2. She got dressed up and was excited seeing kids come to the door dressed up. We took her last year, she had turned 3, only to a few houses on where we live. And again this year.
Some adults love it and really go all out at Halloween, I think it’s a fun experience.

some houses put an amazing amount of effort into their decorations

Why on earth did you go if you all hate it? Can’t say in all my years of having young dc, have I ever seen a reluctant child being dragged though - always excited and happy so I guess it’s just you!

She is simply superior to all of us who send our little urchins out begging every 31st of October either hardly a tooth amongst them.

context is everything. Halloween is a community event where sweets are distributed by consent of the people giving and the parents. Completely different to telling your children not to to take sweets off anyone who is offering them unsolicited

I really hate the attitude of calling it begging. Its NOT begging. I decorate my house (a lot!!) Bc i WANT to hand out sweets to kids. If nobody came bc their parents told them not to beg id have gone to all that effort for nothing and be really bloody disappointed!!
We used to have the best Halloween event at our local station. The station lady decorated the ticket office so much hinestly it was like the London Dungeons it was brilliant! Then for 2 hours on Halloween she woudl have a party for the local kids and everyone would finish their trick or treating there. Amazing. she even had people dressed up as zombie policemen handing out sweets and cakes. She must have spent THOUSANDS on it and did it every year. She was collecting for a local children's hospice and used to get loads.
Now I know some people dont like Halloween. Fair enough. But you could avoid the ticket office by buying your ticket from a machine in the carpark and then heading straight to the platform. But apparently thats not enough. Bc some busy body complained to Southeastern and now she's not allowed to do the party any more.

I get the begging vibe. I didn’t grow up with trick or treating (no way would my mother have allowed me to) so it does feel a tad wrong to me. My ds and have gone out with friends for the last few years until last night and that felt mainly ok as it had been prearranged. Last night we were on our own and I’d only checked with two people so it did feel cheeky to me but no one minded. And ds had a whale of a time.

We don't give our 21month old sugar so we didn't go guising.

On a separate unrelated note, bit disappointed by some of our guisers who didn't bother doing a joke,song, dance, or poem. We had some that did and made the effort. Which was great.

Don’t go then, i didn’t like taking mine so we went bowling or some other fun thing as an alternative, some years they begged to go with friends, think I only went 3 or 4 times once I had the dog as it doubled up as dog walking (the kids dressed him up in devil horns and his red coat)

Don't then. A two year is too young anyway for most of the sweets and how scary it is. When your child is older it's up to you if you want to go trick and treated. It's a lovely community event here and my dd loves seeing her friends out of school walking around trick and treating. She is 10 now and I think we started at 4. At 4 I just took her to neighbours who knew we were coming.

I must admit that asking strangers for sweets doesn’t sit right with me anymore. I took my kids, as I’d done it myself as a child, but I wouldn’t do it now.

I do agree 2 might be a bit young I didn’t take my two year old this year. I have memories of being terrified of masked trick or treaters when I was very young. I will probably wait another year or two. I’m not big on Halloween but I don’t mind if my kids want to participate.

I don't have children. But I like the little ones knocking on in their costumes and definitely don't see it as begging! I buy a load of sweets and chocolates purposely for it.

I'm sure its only on here that people make such a harmless tradition into something so awful!

The lit Pumpkin outside my house invites people to
knock and receive sweets - it’s not begging. My neighbours knocked last night - whole family with baby and toddler. Had a lovely chat with them and give their kids sweets! We ran out of sweets 2 hours after we started - took the pumpkin into the house and all was quiet. What’s not to love?
However if you don’t wish to take part that’s ok too - it’s not compulsory fun, you can choose to do something else.

I missed the government directive that trick and treating and celebratory Halloween was mandatory.

mine have made it to adulthood without us having anything to do with Halloween.

we’re christians and chose not to celebrate - just as we don’t celebrate Eid or Diwali .

we respect other people’s choice to celebrate whatever festival is important to them but don’t celebrate things that are not relevant to us.

it us not compulsory to do what ‘everyone else’ is doing (aka whatever social media and the shops are promoting.)

di what aligns with your brliefs and child rearing preferences whether that be due to culture , religion or managing their health / tooth decay.

if you can’t stand apart from the peer pressure / crowd when they are 2 how will you manage the teenage ‘but everyone else has a phone / can stay out to 12 etc’

make your own path in life .

He's had it at Easter, but wasn't bothered and never asks for it. I'm not withholding sweets and chocolate because of my superior parenting...I just don't want to encourage it before I need to. He doesn't have juice either. We've just started baking together so occasionally gets a biscuit or cake. I have no idea how parents take the sweets away after trick or treating and only let them have a few treats! My child would be 'very upset'.

I also don’t get the begging thing. In our street the people who don’t want to participate just turn their lights off and are not bothered. I don’t have young children anymore, but love the community feeling of it all and how excited the kids are.