I give to all, as well. I leave a bowl out because my dog barks like crazy, this was the first year in a long time no one stole it all (once they took the bowl too). So many ring videos on Facebook and nextdoor of teens taking it all. My kids would sporadically TOT as teens.
I think you do what you have to do in terms of sitting outside, standing at the door, letting kids knock, etc. I have always just either sat outside or stood at the door for the evening - I would not feel good about leaving a bowl out. I do think kids (all ages) enjoy the brief interaction anyway.
Despite the chilly temps we hung with our neighbors around a fire pit handing out candy - even gave a bunch to an Amazon delivery driver. A group of boys hung out warming their hands and even sat down on our extra chairs and chatted for 15 minutes, lol- they were delightful.
We live on a hill with houses only on one side of the street and a lot of open area. Over 25 years weāve had years with few to no trick-or-treaters. When our kids were little we were one of the few families with children. They would go to neighbors we knew (especially the ones handing out full sized candy bars ) then head down to friendsā neighborhoods with flat streets and more families with kids.
This year we had more that ever. Still under 20, as this is a high-effort low-reward area. Told H to be generous! A sign that the neighborhood is changing. Now weāre the āold folks.ā
Halloween is the about only time I hate that my neighborhood is isolated, quiet and dark (lots of trees, few streetlights). The few families with kids, most young now, go elsewhere. We can always hear lots of sound from the next neighborhood but itās only accessible by a dangerous road. We got a group of two who live up the street at about 7:15 and that was all. I told them to take several but now Iām āstuckā with the rest of what I bought ājust in case.ā The arrival of the two startled the dog who then became convinced that more were out there and he would prevent being startled again by preemptively barking.
Halloween is a big deal in my NYC neighborhood. (If you recognize it, please donāt post the name.) Started on Friday. Local public school had a fair with different activities after school. Saturday morning was the annual Halloween parade. Street cordoned off and a drum and bugle corps of high school kids starts off the parade, which ends at a local public park with bouncy houses, free pumpkins and supervised carving, karaoke, etc. Also food trucks. Sunday, outdoor trick or treating with candy from local merchants and organizations for a few hours in the afternoon. Tuesday, Trick or Treating in some buildings. In ours T or Ters have to live in the building or be invited by a resident, with name supplied to the management company a few days before.(If your name isnāt on the list, youāre not admitted to the building.) I got about 50 or so kids. Our system is that if you are participating, you get an orange symbol for your door from management and kids are only allowed to ring the bell of doors with the symbol. Management also hands out a list of participating apartment numbers, but a lot of kids just look for the symbol. Parents of little kids who want to t or t for only a little while tend to hit the floors with the most participating apartments. T or Ters only allowed from 4 to 9 pm.
In the old days, Iād get about 100 kids after 6 pm when I got home from work. But one year it turned into a total zoo with some vandalism in the building, so the rules were introduced.
In our case itās a bowl out or no candy. We usually go sit across the street at a neighbors, to do so we go out our back door (driveway in the back), and sneak across the street. If our fog sees us go out the front door she watches and barks the whole time. However if we sneak over sheās fine. Sheās only 20 pounds but sounds like a big vicious dog, so I make sure to put the table/bowl closer to the street for the earlier younger TOTers so she doesnāt start up.
We only had five kids but the weather was bad and our houses are wide apart. All of the town kids go to the other subdivision where the houses are close together. The parents there go crazy. Adult beverages, hot dogs, soup, tacos, movies, you name it. Very competitive. I am happy to hand out a big candy bar and go back and watch some tv. I think I liked it better when Halloween was the province of kids and not a night for adults.
I had my physical on Halloween and all the staff were dressed up! Even my doctor came in wearing a Spiderman mask (he took it off after running into the wall because he couldnāt see anything).
Attempted to give out full size candy bars and now sadly have several leftovers. DH has claimed three and I brought the rest to work to share. Maybe even with other peopleā¦
I was always happy to give to big kids as well as little. If you think about other things they could be doingā¦ trick or treating is pretty tame, and weāre talking candyā¦ not that expensive.
I wouldnāt be complaining if I got hardly any TOTers! (Of course, I wouldnāt be happy if Iād bought a bunch of candy, and then no one cameā¦maybe that was it.)
What to do with all that extra candy? ā¦ What to do? ā¦
We had maybe 14 kids total. We turned out the lights by about 7:30. One difference this year is that the first kids didnāt come until 6:30, usually they start coming before then. They all came in pairs or groups of 3 or 4. Last year it was busier. It wasnāt too cold, but we have a neighborhood nearby that goes all out so Iām guessing a lot of people went there.
I donāt knowā¦I bought four big bags this year and it cost me almost $50
We have a few neighborhoods like that in my area, including one right near our house. The neighborhood near my house is like a theme park. They have multiple haunted houses, bounce houses, games, food, cocktails for the adults, everything! Another subdivision in a neighboring town even brings in food trucksā¦itās crazy! If people want to do something like that, good for them. But, I donāt mind our neighborhood where itās not too crowded and people just decorate and hand out candy. There are a couple of houses in our neighborhood that go big on the decorations but thatās about it.
We have a friend who lives in another state and her neighborhood goes all out. They bring in food trucks and port a potties because there are so many people. My friend spends well over $100 on candy and decorations. She is very outgoing, so this kind of thing is right up her alley. When houses go up for sale in her neighborhood, they mention the Halloween festivities in the listings. I guess thatās a good idea, because if you donāt like that kind of Halloween Hullabaloo, you probably wouldnāt want to buy in that neighborhood.
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