Will you be letting your kids trick or treat?

[StripeyKnickersSpottySocks]

DD (6) has asked if she can and I'm thinking about it. Obviously if I say yes I will be going with her. I was never allowed to as a child as my mum reckoned it "wasn't the done thing", knocking on doors asking for sweets. Dunno what to do. We don't really know people in the village, so can't just go to a few peoples' houses that we know either.

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oops.

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My 2 go to a few people they know, but if you don't know many people then why not just go to houses where it's fairly obvious that there are children - or maybe have a pumpkin or other decoration outside. Or what about putting a friendly note through the door of people you've spoken to in passing? You could say that your children will be calling at a certain time, but that they won't be playing any 'tricks'.

For what it's worth - mine only started trick or trating because some of my neighbours with grown-up children said why hadn't they come round!

Mine will be going, but only in our street and only to houses with pumpkins outside them. Its the unspoken code around here that pumpkin=welcome, no pumpkin=please don't ring

dd has a little friend whose family know no-one in her street, so she is coming over to us for the evening and the girls can dress up and go out (with me and the other mum) together: twice the fun. Could you ask if your LO could join with another child this year, maybe??

It's always the first w/e after the clocks go back & all the old folk round here are terrified as they get pestered by little toe-rags rattling their letter-boxes & making them jump up & down to answer the door & they can't see who it is. I know the nice people on here wouldn't let their kids do that but every one for miles seems to do it & expect it from those who can't afford to buy mega amounts of sweets.

No mine won't I hate it it's begging pure & simple & I won't let mine do it.

Awful American tradition(ok yes it started in Europe but they have turned it into an industry) that has seeped into our culture.

Nothing against the Hallow'een tradition & I love to see some of the costumes, & we will be going to a kids party on the 31st so my kids can enjoy it then. But not T &T-sory

Bah Humbug!!

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I'll be unpopular with you, bossybritches.

No. And probably never. (Probably because people change, don't they, I know that.)

It is frightening to the elderly and otherwise vulnerable.
The extremes of behaviour that you see - vandalism, etc - are so unpleasant that I want myself and my dd distanced from it.
I see it as begging, if dd wants sweets and to play games or whatever, she can have them.

Only to the local houses with pumpkins and next door where retired neighbour would be so disappointed not to be able to dish out handfuls of chocolate to the kiddies.

Will be taking my DSs as I think its good fun and only once a year.

However

I only go to houses with pumpkins and decorations outside and as I only take them in my street I know where most of the older folk live and make sure the children don't knock on their doors.

I also tend to buy glowsticks and other silly haloween treats to give to the LOs who knock on my door instead of sweets.

was never allowed to do it myself as mother said it was begging but;

We have a lovely community here and it's another way of getting everyone, who wants to, together. We decorate our doors but only those door handles with a ribbon on are actually called on -the 'rent-ers' like to decorate but obviously don't want our hoards of children on their doorstep. We arrange a certain time and date and we only do it then, no trick only treats. We only call on our friends -about 10 houses, and last year we ended up at a friends house for drinks.

We also do an easter egg hunt in our street and are thinking about doing something for christmas..

Nasty American tradition? -yes! But also a good way of getting all your street together in a pre arranged way.

Round here all the little kids go out together, with their mummies and daddies. We just go around each others houses and visit a few elderly neighbours who are happy to see us. Seems to work well - one set of neighbours even created a witch's cavern in their garden shed last year, bless them.

i think pll are put off by the minority of kids who get out of hand and who r frankly too old to be trick or treating.
but as with anything that gets highjacked by our wonderful yob culture- we have to fight for it back again! i have no problem with little kids going trick or treating, i used to love it and why should we let the minority spoil it for us?

thats the spirit edam!

I totally agree with mim and edam.

We take charge of it in our street so if you get other callers at other times then you know it's not people you know.

...don't get me strated on bonfire night and those blardy fireworks that last for 4 weeks though.....

My kids go to the school halloween party, so I don't bother with guising as they call it here, none of this trick or treat rubbish up here.

It used to be that you had to sing songs or at least tell a joke, we all went round each others houses and def never strangers.

We didn't do it when we moved here as I didn't really know anyone either. They know quite a few people now so I might let them if their freinds are all going together. But I will try and put them off.

I live on a main road...

got laods of tirck or treaters last year (who dont know e from adam)

so long as they have a repsonsible adult type person with them / at the gate i will ensure they all get a nice treat!

I love seeing their faces when i put a nice chocolate sweet into their sweet bags... all in the good spirit of halloween

I love it when the door goes.... my door bell has broken so i will be sure to stick a please knock sign on my door for halloween!

Have to add that if a bunch of 12 upward yr olds turn up at 9pm I don't give them anything. I do think it depends on the area/street - my mother lives in an isolated house, is elderly, and was scared by some teenage 'trickers' one year: ugh. Round here, trick or treating is for teenies (mostly 2-6 yrs), to enjoy getting their costumes ooohed and aaahed at, at houses of other teenies. Our pumpkin gets removed at 7.30pm ish, and thats that

If we're going to talk begging, though, I remember a bunch of 'carol singers' who used a car with megaphone and taped music

Beckle/Muppet/edam that's different IMHO that's community spirited & everybody knows what's going on so it's by mutual agreement, hope you allhave a good time!

One year when my DH was working late & I was trying to get the DD's to sleep I lost count of the numbers of people who knocked..and knocked ...and knocked refusing to believe I wasn't playing till I yelled out the window.

(I don't go to the door when I'm alone at night after dark unless I know who's there)

The next day I had eggs & flour plastered all down my front windows which had dried on hard & took bleddy WEEKS to get off.

I think word got round though as it's basically a friendly village & now no-one bothers us!!

both

Nope. Cannot stand the whole idea of pestering people in their own homes. All very well if you are going just to a friends house, but round here all the kids do it and to every single door. It is a PITA.