<p>Trick or treat is one aspect of American culture I never got.</p>
<p>Trick or treating is an excuse for adults to buy big bags of candy so they can’t be accused of being a Grinch and to go through the haul of their own kids Halloween night with the excuse that they are " taking safety precautions" * looking for the good stuff*</p>
<p>Me, I haven’t bought my candy yet- but I will today.
:)</p>
<p>Halloween is a huge event at S2’s college. College kids from all over the state come for it. S2 borrowed DH’s overalls he uses for yardwork. S2 and his friends are planning to be the Soggy Bottom Boys (O’ Brother Where Art Thou). </p>
<p>Sixth grade was the last year of trick or treating for my boys.</p>
<p>My DH works a lot of nights and I am uncomfortable opening the door to groups of mask wearing teenagers with guys who are bigger than me when I’m home alone.<br>
Most of them are generally fairly rude and some don’t even bother to dress up.
One told me last year (as he held out a pillowcase over half full of candy) that he just didn’t feel like dressing up.</p>
<p>I am not a Halloween Grinch. I find the night a great opportunity for some of us older residents to meet and chat with some of the new families with young children. I can’t tell you how many times, that months later I have run into some of these families in the park, or at the store and they remember who we are from Halloween. And I even like the teens, and LOVE hearing from under the cheap mask…“Hey Mrs M. do you remember me?”
The houses on either side of me do miniature haunted houses in their garages while I sit by the open door with the doggy fence up to keep the dogs from running out and hand out treats to the steady stream of VERY polite sweet kids. (we should get at least a hundred)</p>
<p>This is the first holiday since our dog died 
SHe * loved* Halloween and this time of year with the wind kicking up the leaves and all the children coming to see her & get pets.</p>
<p>I buy a lot of candy & don’t even mind giving it to the teens who don’t have much of a costume as long as they say trick or treat.
They do say thank you and they are sweet.</p>
<p>awwww Emerald, my dogs love Halloween as well. They get lots of attention from the kids and by the end of the night they are completely pooped. I feel for ya, I know it wouldnt be the same without my pups.</p>
<p>It is 6:40 and I have had only one treat or treater come to the door. Usually I have had 20 preschoolers by now. My subdivision has a party at the clubhouse for dinner, and because I am at the front of the subdivision, I usually get all the little one early. I wonder if because it is Sunday and maybe there are parties at Church or people are having them at home since they could start earlier in the day.</p>
<p>We will be eating candy for a while if these kids don’t show up soon!!</p>
<p>7 pm and we are out of candy. never had so many at the door. I mentioned HS’ers as being too old above–I was wrong–it’s moms and dads and other adults either pretending the bundled up infant at the curb with no visible costume is going to eat candy, or not pretending at all. Sample conversations:</p>
<p>me: “what are you dressed as?”
person at door, holding out his bucket: “the dad.”</p>
<p>me, to kid with two buckets: “who’s the other one for?”
kid “the baby” (nowhere in sight.)
me: “how old’s the baby?”
kid: “five months.”
me: “babies can’t eat candy.”
Kid, calling down the stairs to someone else: “she’s not playin’.”</p>
<p>me: “aren’t you the mom?”
lady: “no way!”
me: “well, how old are you?”
lady: “21!”
me: “the candy’s for kids.”
lady(channeling Snooki): “are you for real??? Is she for real??? Are you effin kidding???”</p>
<p>Big sigh. This is a different Halloween than I can remember–from even five years ago.</p>
<p>So, if that makes me a Halloween grinch, so be it. Wish i’d had more left for the, you know, actual kids. Who were cute and adorable, as always.</p>
<p>We had plenty of cute kids at our door, as well as older kids, all costumed .I was amazed at all the kids who passed by because we had 9 steps! They just went to the flat side of the street .Happy Halloween!</p>
<p>I’m keeping track of #'s. Definitely more than in the past - big groups and many I can guess pretty well, not from the immediate neighborhood.</p>
<p>Best costume seen so far : An Ipod Touch - it was a sandwich type board - front of back that was SPOT ON to what one looks like!</p>
<p>Yup. Plenty of cute kids. In between the clueless grown-ups who don’t know how to be adults.</p>
<p>We had exactly 0. Last year we had 1, or maybe that was the year before. We live in a subdivision out in the country so don’t usually get many, but sometimes have some so have to be prepared just in case. So mini chocolates are lying around to tempt this dieter.</p>
<p>Next year, I will buy big box of Twix at Costco. I bought the mixed variety of full size bars, and ran out of Twix quickly. So many princesses, and all the boys in outfits. Parents stayed on the street. No HSkids, all polite. What a treat.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if my DS went to Salem for a different kind of experience.</p>
<p>S2 called from college. He & his pledge brothers dressed up as Oompah Loompahs. The Pledge Master was Willy Wonka.</p>
<p>Lots of clever homemade costumes here: 3 girls wearing boxes were Three Musketeers candy bars, a secret service agent (sunglasses and suit with a telephone cord looped around his ear), Jim Morrison, several ice cream cones & boxes of popcorn, lots of princesses.</p>
<p>Several years ago, I was at UVA soccer & football games. I saw a fried egg running around campus.</p>
<p>We got all the small fry on our block (I think three families with kids under 10), then a long pause and we’ve a handful of the young teen set - all dressed up, all said “Trick or Treat” and “Thank you”. No complaints!</p>
<p>If we have too much candy left over, dh brings it into the lab to tempt his students.</p>
<p>We saw a cute family when we were out taking a walk earlier in the day - all of them dressed up in colonial outfits.</p>
<p>We also had a slow start, so a lot of the candy started to jump into my mouth. Now they are arriving in droves! Hope we have enough!!</p>
<p>A grand total of eight kids, all so little they had to be hand held to each door. They all were cute but I mourn for the day. Apparently kids over 10 think they are too big for trick-or-treat. </p>
<p>Yet another reason I would never trade my youth for what the kids have today.</p>
<p>toblin-
Whenever I see your s/n I think it says “goblin”. Tonight especially!</p>
<p>Don’t forget to go look at the <a href=“http://www.vassar.edu/[/url]”>http://www.vassar.edu/</a> website. They always do something cute on hallloween</p>
<p>Final count : 185</p>
<p>185??? Whoa!!! Where do you live that you get that many??? We get about half of that, and I consider that a lot!!</p>
<p>And its still early there-- did you turn out your lights??</p>
<p>Well a few more finally showed up. I usually turn lights out at 8:30 on a school night, but will leave them on until 9:00 tonight as it seems they started later tonight. I just has a family with young elementary age kids.</p>
<p>I bought the Costco mixed chocolate bag and the Twix and Kit Kat’s were the big winner. The Snicker’s are left which is fine with my husband, who is sitting on the front steps with a pile of wrappers by his side!! I usually buy a lot of smaller bags of different candies so that all will find something they like, but this year I was lazy and just got the huge bag at Costco. My dog is upset as she loves Twizzler’s and we have none!</p>