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Oct. 31, 2009 12:38 p.m. Marjorie Suddard General Manager

Yeah, I know, anyone who asks for advice on the internet is an idiot. However, I'll be honest here: I'm not actually looking for advice, I just want you to tell me I'm right. (Making me no different from anyone else soliciting feedback on the internet.)

The problem? I told my kids they're too old to trick-or-treat now that they're in high school. Told 'em at their age it's not trick-or-treating, it's carousing, and it's inappropriate on all fronts--makes the candy-givers feel hosed, makes those chaperoning little ones on what should be their night feel a bit threatened--and bottom line, has helped kill the holiday I knew when I was a kid (back when parents knew how to say no).

Tommy's fine with it, but Katie's a little pitiful because all of her friends ARE going, so I feel mean. Thus my need to have a virtual room full of mostly strangers (well, technically) tell me I did the right thing.

I know the pervs on the board will tell me the more teenage girls that come to their doors, the better, but seriously, don't you think trick-or-treating should be for the little kids?

Margie
Oct. 31, 2009 12:41 p.m. maroon92 UberDork

I have not gone since I was twelve...mostly of my own accord. Dressing up and going to parties is one thing, but trick or treating is for the little ones!

(I am NOT suggesting you send your daughter to the parties!)
Oct. 31, 2009 12:43 p.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

Time to welcome her to the fold of adults who wish they were still young enough to trick or treat, and that includes me. Maybe you can both dress up and be in character for the kids who are coming to your door? Or let her have some friends over for a spooky halloween movie party? I guess the best thing is to not take the holiday away, but find a new way to celebrate it.
Oct. 31, 2009 12:46 p.m. Marjorie Suddard General Manager

EastCoastMojo wrote:

Time to welcome her to the fold of adults who wish they were still young enough to trick or treat, and that includes me. Maybe you can both dress up and be in character for the kids who are coming to your door? Or let her have some friends over for a spooky halloween movie party? I guess the best thing is to not take the holiday away, but find a new way to celebrate it.

Ding ding ding! That's exactly what we're doing--she'll dress up to hand out candy, and after they get done begging, her friends are coming for a spooky movie party/sleepover.

Margie
Oct. 31, 2009 12:48 p.m. splitime Reader

30yr old here... no kids.. I went in High School :p Must be backed up by a fun costume though.
Oct. 31, 2009 12:57 p.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

Can I come too Margie? I pormise to be good. Mostly.
Oct. 31, 2009 12:58 p.m. PHeller HalfDork

I once heard a real good idea.

Have you kids ask the local parents if they could "babysit" the little ones while trick-or-treating. Get paid, get candy, have fun with little kids.

I was once very much against spending time with kids when I was younger, but since working at a YMCA summer camp I think kids are great way to stay young and learn a fair amount about yourself as well.

Just an idea.

Me, I dressed up like a Priest and went drinking had a wild night, and committed a few sins along the way. Hurray for being single!
Oct. 31, 2009 1:00 p.m. mtn SuperDork

PHeller wrote: Me, I dressed up like a Priest and went drinking had a wild night, and committed a few sins along the way. Hurray for being single!

I just got a great idea for a costume: get two other guys, dress up as a Priest, Rabbi, Buddhist monk. Walk into a bar....
Oct. 31, 2009 1:05 p.m. PHeller HalfDork

There were two guys dressed up like Jesus. Everytime I'd walk by them I'd yell their names really loud. It was humorous. People were asking me for relationship advice saying that "Jesus wouldn't answer their prayers".

I told them that if they gave me money and offered up their young boys I'd give them all the useless advice they could ever want.

Oh man was it blasphemous.
Oct. 31, 2009 1:16 p.m. zoomx2 Reader

Too old.....

I have two bowls of treats to give out tonight. One is full of candy for the cute little kiddies, the other is full of McDonalds job applications for the annoying teenagers that will inevitably come by also.....
Oct. 31, 2009 1:38 p.m. mtn SuperDork

zoomx2 wrote:

Too old.....

I have two bowls of treats to give out tonight. One is full of candy for the cute little kiddies, the other is full of McDonalds job applications for the annoying teenagers that will inevitably come by also.....

hahahahahahaha
Oct. 31, 2009 1:57 p.m. poopshovel UltraDork

Marjorie Suddard wrote:

EastCoastMojo wrote:

Time to welcome her to the fold of adults who wish they were still young enough to trick or treat, and that includes me. Maybe you can both dress up and be in character for the kids who are coming to your door? Or let her have some friends over for a spooky halloween movie party? I guess the best thing is to not take the holiday away, but find a new way to celebrate it.

Ding ding ding! That's exactly what we're doing--she'll dress up to hand out candy, and after they get done begging, her friends are coming for a spooky movie party/sleepover.

Margie

I believe you're 100% right on all fronts here. I don't have kids, but we get roughly 1500 kids here in downtown mayberry every Halloween. It's a good, safe, friendly environment for the little ones, and a good opportunity to shake hands (proverbially) with our neighbors.

The high school kids, who might otherwise be nice, respectful young adults, seem to get into the pack mentality and act all "gimme mah candy." (Yes, I recognize the hypocrisy. Please be gentle.)

Very well put, Margie, and I think that's an EXTREMELY fair compromise.
Oct. 31, 2009 2:00 p.m. Apexcarver UltraDork

Makes me hate my neighborhood.. last year we had 3... TOTAL trick or treaters.

I am ill inclined to go through much in the way of effort for that. T or T is tonight here, we shall see how many we get this year.

first year we lived here we got maybe a dozen, my mom had gotten the amount that we usually gave out at the old neighborhood. Bright side was that I had candy for MONTHS. I essentially got 2 small bags of things that I like, if over 30 kids come ill have to run out and get more, but in 4 years it hasn't happened yet.
Oct. 31, 2009 2:04 p.m. DILYSI Dave UltimaDork

I went once in high school. I decided myself that I was too old for it.

I do remember one year that I realized the day after Halloween that we still had candy at our house. I assumed others did as well. So I went trick or treating on November 1. Made out like a bandit. People were so happy to get rid of the left over candy. That was when I was still in middle school though.

Sadly, we have very few trick or treaters here.
Oct. 31, 2009 2:08 p.m. carguy123 Dork

I agree with you. You are right!

What I did when I got too old to trick or treat was to start turning my house into a spook house to scare the kids who were trick or treating. That makes it more fun to trick or treat.

If your kids just have to go out, make sure it's not in a pack of unsupervised girls - THEY ARE THE WORST! Let her go with just one or two girls her age and give them all at least 3 kids to watch. That makes it safer for the little kids and still gives her some gabbing time.
Oct. 31, 2009 4:52 p.m. mapper New Reader

I miss the Halloween of my youth! I usually lived in neighborhoods that had good turnouts and all of us kids had fun. We might get two kids tonight and maybe some teenagers. My wife wanted to turn off the porch light but I do it for the two or three little ones we might get. I just wish I had a good costume this year to scare the crap out of them
Oct. 31, 2009 5:45 p.m. cwh SuperDork

OK, I grew up in the 50's and 60's when things were a LOT different. Did the trick or treat thing in a pretty much plain vanilla style. However, my Dad, born in1904, told me stories about his activities in his youth that would curl your hair. Explosives, (NOT firecrackers!) vandalism of really nasty style, outhouse tipping while it was occupied. Dad was by no means a "bad" kid, and grew up just fine, but things were WAY different back then. Trick or treat was a lot of trick, not much treat.
Oct. 31, 2009 7:03 p.m. EastCoastMojo SuperDork

There wasn't as much candy back then
Oct. 31, 2009 7:19 p.m. mel_horn Dork

When my daughter was in high school she borrowed my driving suit and went as Sarah Fisher. (Danica wasn't around yet).

We are at this moment in the middle of T/T and have seen approx 90% little kids and 10% teens. One dressed as a nun, and I said "Peace be with you, sister!"

Last year a group of four girls came around in cheerleading outfits. I asked if they really were cheerleaders and they said yes, whereupon I said, "Lemme get this straight. You're cheerleaders and you're going as...cheerleaders?"

One of my nieces' friends just came in and she is a very credible Lucy Ricardo. As she's like 19, I told her she had some 'splainin' to do.
Oct. 31, 2009 7:46 p.m. captainzib Reader

Too old for candy, too young for booze. Halloween becomes fun again once you're of drinking age :). Maybe you don't pass that message along to your daughter.
Oct. 31, 2009 7:57 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

My daughter is 12, she told me (!) this will be her last year of trick or treating. I'm gonna miss it, that's made some good memories. To compound the parental grief, one of her friend's mom is throwing a huge Halloween party for the kids with a sleepover and I wasn't invited.

But yeah, once the 'teen' suffix enters the age description it's time to move on to more grown up Halloween pursuits, leave the trick or treating to the little kids.

FWIW: the turnout in my 'hood is low compared to last year. 9PM, the doorbell hasn't rung in half an hour and I've only been through a bowl and a half of candy, usually I run out early and have to make excuses.
Oct. 31, 2009 8:00 p.m. Appleseed Dork

captainzib wrote:

Too old for candy, too young for booze.

Just right for shenanigans.
Oct. 31, 2009 8:12 p.m. Spinout007 Reader

I think the last year I went trick or treating for candy was when I was 16, mainly went with my girlfriend to spend time with her, and walk with her 10 year old brother. Put on my black martial arts gi, carried an old bo staff, and a set of buddist prayer beads, and didn't really go up to any doors. Like I said it was more of an excuse to walk around with a scantily clad girlfriend. Now that being said, I had a curfew and had to be home in an hour or so to help mom and dad out with the treating, well mom, dad was at work. After about 15 mins of moping around about having a curfew on holloween night, a brainstorm hit and I ran out back, took my sisters teatherball pole out of the ground, untied the rope got a cheap pillowcase poked a hole in it,put it over the ball, drew a scary face on the ball, and tied the rope back to the pole. Climbed up on the roof an while the kids where busy getting their candy in the bag, I dropped the "ghost" down behind them. Mom loved it, parents loved it, kids......well they didn't like it so much. Even had one kid run past mom into the house, and wouldn't come out till their mom came and got them, and I was hanging off the roof waving at them, showing them the pole. It was pretty funny, thinking back on it.
Oct. 31, 2009 8:21 p.m. Spinout007 Reader

On another note, I had a blast when I was 17, and 18 helping hand out the candy. I have a 4 foot tall skull with top-hat mask that's kinda rediculous. Put that on with a long black duster, black batting gloves and a black shirt, sit on a decorated porch with a sign around your neck that says "please take 2", with a bowl of candy in your lap. Take really shallow breaths, and sit completely still, when some smart aleck comes along and starts emptying your bowl, reach out and grab their wrist or just reach for them in general. Works great, got a couple of free bowl refills that way. And when the little kids cry and don't want to walk up to the scary porch, you can take the mask off and show em it's only a mask and it's ok.....after you've gotten up and walked slowly towards them with jerky skeleton like steps.
Oct. 31, 2009 8:27 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork

zoomx2 wrote:

Too old.....

I have two bowls of treats to give out tonight. One is full of candy for the cute little kiddies, the other is full of McDonalds job applications for the annoying teenagers that will inevitably come by also.....

You can borrow my pressure washer to get the egg off your house tomorrow morning.

Shawn

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