…or a condom.
I grew up overseas during my elementary school years, and moved back to the US in middle school. I really, really wanted to go trick-or-treating, since I didn’t have the experience overseas. But I was embarrassed because I knew I was too old and was afraid my new friends would make fun of me.
I am only 5’ as an adult so wasn’t that tall. I got my mother’s white burka (we had lived in an Islamic country) and went out as a ghost. It covered my face and nobody knew it was me. I was so glad to have the opportunity!
This thread reminds me of this parody music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go1jQRb3TSc
Count me in as loving all the trick or treaters, especially the teens. It was a sad year for me when the boy across the street went to college, never to trick or treat again. 
My 5’8"+ almost 15 year old and my 5’2"+ almost 13 year old still love trick or treating. No neighbors have yet claimed they were too old. If they did, I would hold a grudge. I’m still annoyed at the parent a couple of years ago who asked my daughter “aren’t you too old for this?” At a Halloween party. Jerk. I think of it every time I see him, how he took that little bit of innocent fun away from my daughter for no valid reason.
When I was growing up, no teens in my town did trick or treating for Halloween. Of course, there did tend to be a rash of house/vehicle egging, tp’ing and paint balling that was more enraging. I’m grateful the teens in my neighborhood prefer trick or treating for candy.
I was in the 7th grade the last time I trick or treated…it wasn’t something older kids did in my area back then. My best friend and I took a little neighborhood boy out ( thinking back , I suppose the parents wanted to smoke weed and get a break from that little guy )
I remember feeling slightly embarrassed at the time
LOL @doschicos !!
My kids trick or treated until they were in high school. At one house, the lady told my daughter and her friends that they’d have to perform in order to get any candy. What she didn’t know was that all of the girls were very musical, so they sang “Danny Boy” on the spot and got the goods.
I don’t care who comes to my door. Halloween is a great excuse to be generous with junk food.
Gotta admit, Halloween / Trick or Treat is not my favorite…but we live in a fairly large neighborhood which, at the time my kids were ToT age, had OODLES of kids come through. We were in the neighborhood that everyone invited their friends to, and other families just drove in and parked to take their kids around. So, no escape.
Anyhow now most of the neighborhood kids are aged out (like college age) so we get a healthy but manageable amount of kids with some teens mixed in. I’ve no problem with the teens as long as they say “Trick or Treat!” Many of them don’t…and I just stare at them…sort of like “Oh, hello! Can I help you? Why are you at my door?” until they do. It does make me laugh when the boys have their big deep voices…
You wanna play, you gotta pay…
btw @doschicos that seriously made me laugh out loud.
" Many of them don’t…and I just stare at them…sort of like "Oh, hello! "
I do that too! I just say “YA GOTTA SAY THE WORDS!! C’MON SAY IT!!” sorry but dems da rules. Embarrassing teenage boys is half the fun.
I love Halloween.
My fav is still when I threw a surprise 80th for my mom. I had the party day before Halloween. I had Halloween tablecloths, and made shaped gingerbread cookies in Halloween bags. My son and some of her friends came in costume, or came in n black. Besides standard briscuit, the food all had a theme. Simple games.
Entry courtyard is raked and primped and giant witch flag it hung! Door hangers are up. Making progress!! Thanks for the inspiration. I am determined to do it up right in my new empty-nesthood.
Dang–bought juice and candy for Halloween but just checked the calendar to learn we will be at football game instead. Oh well, I bought things we can easily use ourselves.
Our house was the neighborhood favorite. DH and I, along with four of our neighbor couples, would sit in lawn chairs in a semi-circle in our driveway and pass out candy from five giant bowls. The kids got to hit five houses in one stop. We also had a keg and passed out “refreshments” to all the parents. We saw many of those parents several times over the course of the night. 
We moved to a different part of the valley this year, but we’ll be going back to the old 'hood on Halloween to sit on the driveway of the neighbor who’s taken over. Such fun.
@saintfan – What will your cat be going as this year?
My son went trick or treating until he was 17, a junior in HS. He always created the best costumes, and his friends always went out dressed. The last year was the first time he went to a different neighborhood, because he was going to an academy high school that pulled kids from all over the county. It was…ok. The other kids were creative and fun, but it wasn’t the old neighborhood. When he got back home, he asked his gf if she wanted to hit up a couple of local houses, but she wasn’t interested. And that was the end.
For his senior year, he intended to hand out candy to the kids, dressed in costume, but Hurricane Sandy put the kibosh on those plans, because our neighborhood didn’t have power for over two weeks. We got one depressed little 10 year old, and wound up eating all the candy ourselves. I still haven’t lost the weight, haha.
This year, he turns 21 just before Halloween, and he has a costume planned. He’s friends with some kindred spirits, pretty nerdy guys and girls, but I still hope that it’s not just drinking and puking. I’m glad he hung on to the childhood spirit for so long. I’m glad he’s never been afraid of looking ridiculous.
@doschicos wins this thread.
I bought candy today and pumpkins!
Dilemma: (1) buy candy now, and let it tempt me for a whole week, or (2) wait until day before or day of, and face empty shelves or shelves already stocked with Christmas candy?
I bought things that I & H & our kids enjoy munching on. There were Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies with dark chocolate, juice boxes, and Hawaiian candy (that I will be taking on a trip to FL & VA). The cookies are in 2-packs and nice for sharing at the football games where it turns out we will be spending our Halloween anyway. The juice boxes will be good at the game as well, or the kids will consume when they visit.
Buy candy that you don’t like or if you do just don’t open it.
My sis buys candy and juice and finds that the juice is more popular than the full-sized candy bars, to her and our surprise! Juice may be less tempting than candy.