I live in a neighborhood where kids get dropped off. I’m OK with it. Some of these kids live in unsafe neighborhoods or ones where people don’t participate. If my giving them a candy bar brings them so joy, I’m all for it.
I don’t have “rules” - no rules about costumes, or making the kids say “trick or treat” or anything like that. They get an adult who greets them with a smile. Maybe some of the kids need that. IDK.
This thread reminded me of this hilarious halloween story I heard on NPR years ago. Worth a listen if you need a good laugh - the narrator only has 2 houses to visit in his rural neighborhood but makes a lifetime of memories from it.
https://www.npr.org/1997/10/31/1037617/a-halloween-tale-from-kevin-kling
Our town announced that trick or treat is a go, but with a host of rules regarding mask wearing and social distancing. They are recommending that parents restrict the number of houses visited and not choosing costumes that will interfere with proper mask wearing (and that a costume masks are not a substitute for a covid masks).
The most interesting part to me was:
"Households that wish to accommodate trick-or-treaters are encouraged to place individual goodie bags in a designated location, such as on their porch, front yard, or stoop, for trick-or-treaters to pick up and go while continuing to social distance. Residents are advised not to place candy in communal bowls, as this can encourage congregation and contact with others. "
I apologize in advance to the kids on our street but we’ll be keeping the porch lights out and not making up hundreds of goodie bags. We may make some deliveries to friends’ kids but that’s the extent of if this year. I don’t want to encourage people coming up to my front door.
A couple of other suggestions I have seen for this Halloween:
I’ve also seen people saying that they will be drawing the line at adults asking for candy this year - you know, when parents have their own bag along with the kids. Happens around here each year!
I haven’t heard anything official from our city, but ToT is really big in our neighborhood. We don’t get many kids (5-30 depending on the weather) at our house because we are at the end of the last culdesac (other streets can get 100-200+ kids), but I still like to decorate, carve pumpkins and pass out candy. Our elementary schools are going back to full-time in-person instruction in early October, and our middle and high schools are going back part-time.
I think ToT will happen as usual, and I will answer the door and happily pass out candy as usual.
I only vaguely get the comment about “on the same night” because until my mom retired to rural PA, I’d never heard of “scheduled” Halloween. In NJ, every part I know about, Halloween is on Halloween, and there are no set hours.
I’m probably going to be away that weekend, and definitely know I will not be opening doors. Just too risky.
It’s been canceled before (snowpocalypse and Hurricane Sandy back to back) so I know it can happen, and it will come back when it’s safe. I feel for the kids, but, this is the reality we are in right now.
I have not heard what our city will do about T-or-T.
For the last ten years or so we have skipped participating. In a normal year, our street would get so. many. people.
Somewhere along the line, I got grumpy about the cost, lack of costumes, and lack of basic manners.
If the weather is fantastic this year, and it’s “on”, I could be convinced to participate…and if so, hopefully I won’t regret it.
Get off my lawn! Haha!
Just checked the city website! It’s on!
Our city’s (LA) official policy is that for Trick-or-treating, the city is highly recommending that it not happen, They don’t think it’s an appropriate activity during a pandemic.
With that said, we will probably decorate our house as always but not give out candy (we don’t get many kids anyways, less than 10 and I’m sure it would be less this year.)
They way I look at it is we have all been making sacrifices and changing behaviors this crazy year, not participating in trick or treating is just one more sacrifice we all have to make. 2021 should be better…cross fingers.
Our area is having Halloween. Township mailed out some guidelines - no parties, give out candy outdoors, don’t drive to other neighborhoods to trick or treat etc.
Weather permitting, we plan to put our fire pit in the driveway and sit there to give out candy.
I remember roaming far and wide as a trick-or-treater when I was growing up. Where I live now has had rules for TOT from ~ 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., only through age 12. Although our last child aged out of TOT years ago, we continued to answer the door and give out candy. I would have stopped about 5 years ago, but H liked to hand out the candy and see the costumes. (So he is the one to answer the door now each year.)
Are people really going to follow the covid rules that are listed above? I doubt it.
Someone in an adjoining neighborhood posted about wanting to do a block party on Halloween in the street (cul-de-sac). They wanted to rent a climbing wall, too. ?!
Everyone has had to give up things that they used to do this year. Kids will survive missing one Halloween.
H agreed to not participate in TOT this year. With any luck, this will be the end of it for good for us.
(He does want to do a little something for the toddler next door, and that is fine.)
Our city says they won’t mandate anything about trick or treating because it’s a private matter. Of course, we have a city code prohibiting kids 11 and over from participating.
I have to laugh about “what day is TOT?” When we moved to NOVA from Ohio, my sister got made fun of for asking that questions. We chalked it up being an Ohio thing picking different days.
We have no specific guidance from our small town yet. But in the past, they have designated certain hours for T of T.
They did cancel in 2011 and 2012.
We won’t get anyone anyway. I always liked seeing the neighbor kids all dressed up.
I wonder what schools will be doing? Typically our K kids had a costume parade through the school. I am guessing that won’t be happening.
I will say if my kids were young enough to be Halloweeners I’m not sure what we would decide for the night. I will say that no matter what we would come up with a fun night. I adore Halloween - wouldn’t want to miss it myself! So maybe we would all dress up and surprise ourselves with our costumes, maybe we’d make cut out cookies and frost them, maybe we’d watch a fun movie - or have a picnic in the yard with flashlights. And I’d likely put together a treat bag of candy and other goodies for them.
Sure kids can miss a year of trick or treating. But I’d rather the memory for them not be “remember that year we did no Halloween” but instead it be “remember that year we had Halloween treats and activities at home and everyone in the neighborhood decorated like at Christmas?!”
Our city usually does ToT the Sunday before Halloween, and always daytime hours, like 2-4 pm.
But not this year! Right on the date!
I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween (possibly because my dad thought of it historically as a big night for pogroms in Eastern Europe). I also don’t like being scared, so no haunted houses for me!
My son was mainly interested in the candy, and how accurately I could create costumes for his favorite video game characters. I was particularly proud of my Knuckles and Tails costumes. It was a form of cosplay.
I ran into this thorough article with CDC guidelines and lots of info on various cities across the country:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/a33985792/is-halloween-canceled/
Just read a student essay in which she narrated how she didn’t celebrate it growing up because people who do are devil worshippers, and well, damn. So to speak.
I still like the idea where we drive by houses and throw candy at the kids.
One of my neighbors went through a phase of handing out bible tracts to the kids instead of candy. They couldn’t understand why their house got TP’d a lot…
@stradmom - there was a family in my neighborhood that did that one year. Their daughters danced around the yard dressed as angels (the only time anyone ever saw their kids). It was bizarre and I think everyone just avoided their house after that.