What's your take on limits for trick or treaters?

[Regina]

The other day, I saw a bunch of teenage kids trick or treating. Okay, I don't like the idea of teenagers doing it, but if they are nice and polite, I don't mind so much. Plus, I realize it is keeping them out of getting into some more trouble. BUT...what I do mind is the fact that kids don't even dress up anymore, come to the door without a bag, don't say anything (not even "trick or treat"), and then walk away without saying, "thank you." So, no bag means trash on the lawns. I also can't stand truck loads of people being hauled into our neighborhood. I don't mind when someone comes in that knows someone in the neighborhood, but park your car and walk around like everyone else. Our neighborhood isn't that big, and it seems like when all these cars come in, it makes it more dangerous for the kids walking around.

So, I was wondering if these things make anyone else irritated? or if something else irritates you about it...?

[Brenda]

OMG! Regina at exactly 4pm cars start entering the subdivision and parents are dropping off kids to do their trick or treating! Apparently our subdivision is the place to be according ot kids cause some people give out full size candy bars, cans of soda and bags of popcorn. I give out left over candy! just kidding. just 2-3 pieces of smarties or something. I try to hold back on the choc so that we can have it, lol.

The community clubhouse parking lot has been barricaded and we have the sheriff dept parked all over the streets and both entrances. One of the main streets you can't even drive through cause cars are parked EVERYWHERE! It drives me insane! We live on one of the first streets that doesn't have an outlet, so not a lot of kids usually go down it. EXCEPT for this yr. I got so irritated cause people were parking in front of my house, no big deal, but parked on my grass curb side, BIG DEAL!

I too do not like that older kids are going out and are with some kids that I'm sure their mothers and fathers don't have a clue what they are wearing. One girl was a playboy bunny, another a nurse, another a french maid, exposing way too much! Sometimes I make smart remarks on their NON costumes! lol A simple trick or treat and thank you is all I need.

[Bigsweetie]

You know what you can do...

Have two bowls of candy. One being the "real" candy for the actual trick-or-treaters and the other for the "non-trick-or-treaters". In the non-candy bowl you can put indivually wrapped pieces of baker's chocolate or find the nastiest tasting cough drops you can find!!

[Regina]

I thought some of the outfits were pretty bad, but I thought maybe I was being prudish. Some of the nurse outfits, little bo-peeps, etc. were actually being worn by the mothers taking their kids around. We have neighbors that put up a haunted house (actually, a pretty good one) and some of the neighbors give out king size candy bars, alcohol (to the adults), soda, hotdogs (yes, hotdogs!), etc. Another neighbor actually has someone walking around in stilts, people dressed up, etc. and their house is covered from top to bottom with black sheets and halloween decorations on their front lawn. I guess they really like Halloween.

Oh, and I have actually thought about giving out something that they would really not like, but I am scared that the kids would get mad and do something to our house. So, instead, when we got back from trick or treat, we went through the kids candy and took out all the candies that our dentist told us to remove, and then we passed those out. (Shame on me, but it was their teeth or our kids' teeth.)

[Brenda]

Regina, yes, hot dogs and bon fires are all the rage it seems like.
We have open door, come for soup in the crock pots and head out again houses. I think it's cause everybody knows everybody. This yr we lucked out cause it had been raining the few days prior and everything was marshy. We weren't even sure if we were going to be able to go out causeof the rain.
This year I had lots of mini bottles of liquor, not sure how I accumulated those, i think from all our pool parties, lol. Anyway, for my dear friends, their treat was a goodie bag with a mini of soda, a little bottle, a bag of pretzels, strirrer and a mint! they loved it.

I always get paranoid, maybe cause my hubby gets me that way, that if I don't give out something good our house will get egged! lol

[Mistress Trista]

I noticed that about the costumes this year too. Since we havne't been involved in trick or treating for a while now, I just thought that maybe it was because of the economy? Maybe the parents couldn't afford a costume? I saw a few teenagers, not many. We had a hauanted house in our neighborhood too, as well as a guy pulling a hay wagon behind a four wheeler, a photography studio in a garage that would take a 5x7 of you child in his costume against a really cool backdrop and a man chasing around the older kids with a chainless saw. That was kind of funny...lol.

[Regina]

Oh, the photography studio in the garage is a good idea, and a good moneymaker, if he was charging.

The haunted house had someone dressed up scary who ended up chasing and following my 5 year old to the next house.....not cool with me at all. If my 5 year old was scared, I think I probably would have started yelling at the person. My kids, for some odd reason, weren't scared of the haunted house, and it was definitely something that even adults could be scared. We don't watch scary movies or anything, so I am not sure why they were okay with it.

I guess it could be because of the economy with the lack of costumes, but lack of manners would be no excuse possible.

[Mistress Trista]

When I was taking my daughter around, a woman smiled at me and said, "At least your child says trick or treat and thank you. So many tonight haven't."

With the smaller kids, I tried to wave it off as just being shy. My daughter's first year out, she had a hard time saying trick or treat and I made sure to say thank you for her, until she finally loosened up and began to say it herself.

Nobody seems to have manners anymore, even adults. My dh got a little mad when this woman brought around a bunch of kids and after dh gave the kids candy, she stuck her bucket out and said, "mom likes candy too."

He said he came real close to telling her no, that it was for the kids, but he kept his mouth shut and dropped one piece of candy in her bucket. The kids he was giving four or five pieces.

I just don't know what's happening with kids now. I saw on the news yesterday two 16 year old kids were arrested for beating a small baby to death. Apparently their mom ran a day care out of her home and left the kids in charge so she could run errands. And my dh wonders why I won't hire teenagers to watch my daughter...

[Regina]

Definitely agree with you on the Thank you's with the younger kids being shy.....my kids tend to say thank you, and the younger kids imitate the older ones, so I guess I luck out on that one..... Even my 3 year old will say thank you. My 1 1/2 year old is a little shy just yet.

I even think a child could be shy at 9 or 10, but you can tell a difference between being shy and just not having manners. The shy ones tend to look down, turn red, or have a timidness about them. There are others that just appear to think that it is their right to candy.

A couple of years ago a father walked around with his kids....granted, he was dressed up like a cross-dresser. BUT...he wasn't just walking around, he had a candy bag too. I guess it was a big joke in the neighborhood and everyone else thought it was funny. I did not. Of course, my sense of humor is not like a lot of people's, but I kind of get sick of the parents acting like kids. I don't mean dressing up; I think that is pretty nice that a parent would dress up with their kids. It's the entitlement, inappropriate dress, and bad manners that I am talking about....

[CLErocks]

When I was taking my daughter around, a woman smiled at me and said, "At least your child says trick or treat and thank you. So many tonight haven't."

With the smaller kids, I tried to wave it off as just being shy. My daughter's first year out, she had a hard time saying trick or treat and I made sure to say thank you for her, until she finally loosened up and began to say it herself.

Nobody seems to have manners anymore, even adults. My dh got a little mad when this woman brought around a bunch of kids and after dh gave the kids candy, she stuck her bucket out and said, "mom likes candy too."

He said he came real close to telling her no, that it was for the kids, but he kept his mouth shut and dropped one piece of candy in her bucket. The kids he was giving four or five pieces.

I just don't know what's happening with kids now. I saw on the news yesterday two 16 year old kids were arrested for beating a small baby to death. Apparently their mom ran a day care out of her home and left the kids in charge so she could run errands. And my dh wonders why I won't hire teenagers to watch my daughter...

Our church/school put on a harevst fest and they had a bounce house and big boxing gloves. Well my niece who is 6 and her best friend a little boy who is also 6 got in and started boxing. While they were boxing teenagers started telling the little boy to "Get her! Beat Her up! Go!" Just egging him on! My sister was LIVID when she realized what was going on. My niece was in there crying. She was dressed as Dorothy and her dress was ripped and half of the hair in her wig was pulled out. Still makes me mad thinking about it and wish I would have seen what was going on!