Trick or Treating - do you agree with it?

As usual, I agree with Knownowt.

If a child knocks on the door of a house which is clearly decorated for Hallowe'en, and therefore receptive to having their door knocked, does that really constitute begging? I don't think it does.

Last year my son (3) and I carved pumpkins and put them on the door step to show we were happy to be called on. He absolutely loved it. This year (4) (durr) he's dressing as a pirate and will be regailing pre-warned neighbours with a rendition of 'Alice the Camel'. Lucky bas[i[[/i]tards. He's as excited about it as a visit from Father Christmas.

I have an aqquaintence who's very anti hallowe'en for religious reasons and opens her door to lecture the children on the error of their ways (I'd love to be a fly on the wall). Having Googled the festival, it turns out that there is LOADS of Christian influences in the traditional halloe'en pursuits - apple bobbing was introduced as a fall out of the harvest festival offerings, for example.

I'm dreading tonight.

I can't decide whether to go and buy some sweets or just to pretend i'm out. I really really hate it. The teenagers are vile and just bang and bang on the door and if you don't answer cover in shaving foam and eggs and need i go on.

Last year one cheeky bast@rd took the whole bag of fun size off me and said he also wanted at least £5. I told him where to go the little scrote then peed in my front garden.

My H will be late home because that's how it works round here and I know feel like i'm a miserable cow for saying the above.

so no i don't agree with it to answer the above question and i now fear for the paint work on our cars.

Now I'm in the States I have a completely different view on the whole Halloween aspect.

Loads of houses are decorated, both indoors and out. I went to someone's house on Monday and actually screamed (read that as a started 'eek', not a full-on, blood-curdling, toe-clenching scream!) when a mask hung on the front door lit up and boo'd at me! After the initial shock, it was quite funny! I should have known .. the front garden was full of tombstones and hanging streamers and pumpkins etc. The inside was just like nothing I've ever seen in my life! Halloween stuff EVERYWHERE .. including in the loo! I sat down and some contraption behind me came to life (motion detected) and played spooky music. All the food stuff she had put out was in Halloween bowls or on plates. She must have spent a fortune on it all over the years!

Anyway, back to the OP. The trick or treating. Last year, our first Halloween, we went out for an early dinner. Got home about 7.30 and missed all the little kiddies. The odd few we did get to see were absolute darlings! They really were! Their costumes were stunning (Americans do tend to go over the top lol) and the kids were so polite. Even the bigger ones were polite and only took one sweet each.

So this year we're staying in until 8 pm when we're going to a (our first ever) Halloween party. I can't wait!

Back home I was as Bah Humbug about it as Lois. It was one of the reasons I put up electronic gates so none of the little feckers could get in! And turned the gate buzzer off so I couldn't hear them ring. On reflection, it's a sad attitude to have I think .. that we need to have. I've not seen any trouble like that over here as it's more a sense of community than anything else. Yesterday, in the supermarket, all the staff were dressed up as witches etc., with full make-up and were playing with the kids. Do they do that at home? I've never seen it. Where is the Brit's sense of fun?!

See, that's why no-one in the UK likes Halloween. WHY are kids like this these days? Were they always like this? I don't remember any of my peers when I was a teenager behaving like this. <shakes head> .. it makes for a sad day reading your post

We had our front door sprayed fluorescent pink 2 years ago by a group of teenage boys (I didn't have any sweets etc to give them and I wasn't giving them money). We couldn't get rid of it completely and it took months to fade.

I bought a couple of fun size bags of Twix and Mars Bars for this year - I just went to get them out the cupboard and H has eaten them...all of them!

If i thought I could get away without opening the door, I would but I think I'm going to have to go and buy more chocolate.

Sense of fun? why should i feel forced to go out and buy sweets for the little sods? balls to them. anyway, madam is away, so the gates will be locked and the entry buzzer disconected about 4pm.

It's not trick or treating it's extorting money by menace and vandalism and oh I don't know, indecent exposure? I remember eggs being thrown when I was a teenager but that was highly unusual.

I'm another Scot who was allowed to go guising only to my immediate neighbours we knew very well who either had children of their own who were dressing up or wanted to see us out and about. We got dressed up, recited a poem or song or told a joke and were given some chocolate or something.

My parents uually avoided the guising thing by throwing a party - bobbing for apples, treacled scones or pancakes hanging on string, carved neepy lanterns...

I've bought R a pumpkin this year to put on our door stop and bought some sweets - I'm a bit ashamed of not getting a neep but my God, pumpkins are so much less work to hollow out and carve ?

to make it a bit worse it is considered that i live in a nice village. People drive their kids here because its nice to trick or treat - that upsets me more.

We were never allowed to trick or treat as kids and Eleanor certainly won't be allowed to either when she's old enough.

I need to now stuff my letter box with newspaper and tape it up so that we don't get any nasty surprises in the hall.

How wrong is that?

I used to hate it but don't mind it now - all because of where we live.

Where we used to live we used to get teenagers turning up at 10pm in bin bags threatening us.

We now live in a quiet cul-de-sac where we know most of the families with kids. They all tend to be young and are with their parents, and the last ones come around about 7.30pm. I'm happy to give them sweets and they are always very polite.

I think the local kids will have heard about you and are unlikely to come knocking on the door of the creepy old man in case the rumours are true ?

Sorry for ? cheeky fcuker!

Well you guys should experience an American Halloween! I'll miss it when we go back (if we go back lol)

I was at the gym the other day and I was introduced to a British woman who said that she lived near me (friend of a friend who has been to my house, hence friend's friend knowing where I live!)

She told me which cul-de-sac she lived in, and I said 'oh yeah, the one where one house has all the decorations and a hologram shining on the eve) [thank GOD I didn't scoff as I always do when Mr P and I walk by ? Anyway, turns out it is her house, and she has 3 children. She said that in the UK they never had decorations or went TorT-ing as they didn't feel safe. But now they do as it's a community thing, and the kids LOVE it.

Something else I like over here are all the little cul-de-sacs have street parties for public holidays .. like July 4th (and others I don't remember). It's SO nice to see all the kids running around, the teenagers too and adults with tables and chairs and picnics. I love it, even though I've not been to one.

I agree with KN, Janna et al.

We must be very lucky because around here the kids always make an effort and are always polite and have never, ever asked for money. We've been here over 8 years now and my eldest used to go round the estate with his friends and my two youngest ones will be going with him tonight. They don't go far, only round our close and a couple of other roads but I suspect, as we live on an estate populated in the main by families, most of them expect it and they usually come back with a very large haul of sweets and chocolates, which I obviously have to go through and <ahem> eat them myself check for appropriateness ?

I've just put my halloween stickers on the window and the pumpkins are about to go on the window sill and the sweets are ready by the door. I would never see it as begging the way it happens around here but, like I said, we must be lucky and, even when MrD's been in on his own and can't be bothered to answer the door, we've never had a "trick" played on us.

Its a shame that some oiks spoil it for the others by being malicious and trying to get cash out of people - not nice.

I'm another who went guising years ago. It cheered up the old people living in our neighbourhood when we sang a song, etc...I remember dressing as a dice one year and couldn't fit through doorways.

I've been sucked into the hugeness that is halloween over here and will be taking my son to a party in the park later. No T or T and all in good fun. Don't see the harm myself.

Since I live here I've got used to it and find it quite enjoyable seeing the kids and teens making an effort. I will be taking my child out later in costume to call on some of our neighbours, just so they can see her (no sweets!).

If I lived in the UK still, I'd probably be dead against it though, when I lived there trick or treating did not have the festive feel like it does here - was more like begging with menaces...

The American trick-or-treating sounds lovely - particularly the tradition of only going to houses which are decorated.

I wish they'd do that in the UK. You could indicate that you're receptive by putting a carved pumpkin in the front garden.

Although if you did that in some areas, it would probably be kicked down the street at some point...

i hope so. thankfull we live in the country and there arent lots of houses around but the ones that are, and do have kids are terrified of me anyway, which is a result as far as i m concerned.

I was pro when I was a kid and did it myself. Now, as a grumpy old adult, if some brat dressed in a polyester witch costume comes knocking at my door begging for food I'd tell them to naff off.

I'm another one who doesn't answer the door, mainly because the ones we get by us are nasty buggers who don't want sweets they want money which they are not getting.

My mom once answered the door to a little pumpkin, promptly told them to sod off and slammed the door. It rang again so she stomped back and flung it open only to be faced with my aunt and little cousin (as a pumpkin) wailing 'mommyyyyyyy, aunty sue shouted'.

oops.?

but if they were dressed in the finest egyptian cotton, or silk, that would be ok? ?

Yes - I am all for showing bias to the upper classes

Well helllllllo Pikasue! How are you doing?! LTNS. How's the boy?

Peaches......sold [sob]. I have a girl now....a lovely bay mare who is like a pig on steroid (greedy but jolly fast!).

Nick, I'm curious.What have you done/said in the past to have all the kids terrified of you??

i just tell them off for

being too noisy
playing near cars
being too noisy
screaming
leaving their bikes at the bottom of my drive/on the road
being on my land to collect balls/misbehave
being too noisy

LOL .. they have living areas for people like you who hate kids. It's called Heritage. No kids allowed. Only old grumps over the age of 55. In your case I'm sure they'd waiver the age a little because you fit the old grump perfectly!

Aww, sorry about the boy. Bay mare sounds fun! Although I never wanted mares as [generalisation] they were always too temperamental during season time

I do like the little ones who come all dressed up, are very polite and only take one or two sweets.

It's the older ones who annoy me! - no effort involved, and are after money, not sweets!

Crikey.

We were in the USA a few years ago when it was halloween, and the houses that had been decorated were amazing!

We were renting a friends holiday house in Florida, and the rest of the houses had spooky things, gravestones, skeletons coming out of the ground etc.

We bought a load of sweets for trick or treaters, and no-one called!

? Please come and live with me, we could do with someone miserable like you to yell at the little arsewipes in our road.

I won;t letm y children wander around in the dark knocking on some strangers door. You never know whoes going to answer it. anyway to make up for it my two are currently carving a pumpkin which will go on the doorstep when it gets dark. My daughter will then dress up (my son proclaims to be far too old for that sort of thing!) and I'm going to leave it up to the two of them to answer the door all night (I've bought 80 mini bags of Haribos for them to hand out). My daughter is stupidly excited and is going to tell every trick or treater a ghostly joke (god help them!).