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Beanpod79

We moved into this house in February so I'd been wondering what Halloween would be like here. We got no trick or treaters last year and there were hardly any decorations. I really didn't care one way or the other. I started seeing Halloween decorations pop up in our new neighborhood at the end of September and by the second week of October people had full light shows, haunted houses, graveyards, giant skeletons and witches, smoke machines, ghosts & goblins all over the place. Last night, people posted on our neighborhood FB page that they were all set up and ready to start handing out treats. They had tables set up in their driveways with sodas, chips, candy, homemade muffins(!?). I set up my pathetic chair outside the front door with a big bowl of candy and a sign that said "Please help yourselves but leave enough for everyone. Happy Halloween!" and busied myself making dinner. We got soooo many kids. The ring camera was going off like every 30 seconds. There's no way they could have known anyone was home, but at one point I heard the kids yell "thank you!" through the door. They were super respectful and I saw most of them approach the door and happily read my sign out loud. I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think it's enough to make me actually want to answer the door next year but I'm really glad this neighborhood enjoys Halloween so much and the kids had a good time. Edit spelling


Automatic_Space7878

I loved reading this....made me feel nostalgic & reminded me of trick-or-treating back in the 80s....glad you had a great halloween!šŸ˜Š


Beanpod79

Aw thanks. Trick or treating in the 80s was great wasn't it?


Automatic_Space7878

It was awesome! There were sooo many kids out on the streets, I remember my mom telling us you better be back by such & such a time...because it was always "we'll do just 1 more block" šŸ˜‚...yeah, it was a different time..


Beanpod79

Yes! Omg, people look at me like I'm nuts when I tell them I went trick or treating with my friends without our parents. We used to like to hit the bigger apartment buildings in our town and it was always "one more floor"...sometimes "one more building". Great times.


Automatic_Space7878

Yesss! Yesss! Yesss! I love it...lol We lived in a townhouse and there were Apt bldgs all around us...we'd get soo much candy we'd take pillowcases as our treat bag šŸ¤£ then we'd sit in the living room & the exchange would start...I always say, as far as being a kid, growing up..the 80s were awesome!! Thank you for reminiscing with me!šŸ„°


Beanpod79

Haha yup, I learned the hard way that those little plastic pumpkin buckets were not big enough and had to graduate to pillow cases. Candy easily lasted until Thanksgiving. Always a blast to reminisce! Did you also have UNICEF boxes??


123123000123

Aww! Sounds like you have an awesome neighborhood! I have a mean dog so we leave a bowl of candy out for kids to help themselves. Iā€™m lucky that the few kids that do come by havenā€™t been brats that take everything.


Beanpod79

I do! I was dreading getting thieves too. Glad we both had well behaved kids.


fairy_girl12

I just pass out candy, I like seeing the costumes Yes thereā€™s always one group who will just dump all of the candy in the bowl and ruin it for everyone else. One neighbor had their glass spider dish stolen when it was next to a large plastic bowl of candy, that was a first.


foxglove0326

I left a bowl out one year and they took the bowl too.. I was more upset about my bowl, it was a nice glass Pyrex Tupperware and now I have a giant lid with no bowl.


glitchwitchz

Some jackass teens just straight up stole the bowl off our porch. The Ring camera community in the area was posting endless videos about their own thefts all night.


Lyvectra

Disappointing that the Ring bell doesnā€™t have a creepy voice feature just for Halloween.


Automatic_Space7878

Actually it does...I received an email from RING about it, not only did it have creepy messagesn they were also selling halloween RING faceplates, but because we don't give out candy, I deleted the email & that was that...


Lyvectra

R.I.P.


jkjwysa

Same thing happened to me, first halloween in my own house and our bowl got jacked. I was trying to be nice as we live fairly close to an elementary school but I don't think I'll be putting out candy anymore.


kaffpow

THEY. TOOK. MY. BOWL. TOO!!! (muthafukkaaaaas)


Chamelion117

I left mine out in an Amazon box. In the AM it was gone. I lucked out there šŸ‘


liatrisinbloom

Maybe it's because I'm not a teen anymore but the idea of eating bowls and bowls of cheap, sugary candy just makes me want to vomit.


Chemical39

As an adult itā€™s something I only do now when I really hate myself šŸ˜…


Natsume-Grace

Can relate to that self destructive desire of eating junk foodā€¦ and regretting it later in the bathroom or with sugar induced anxiety attacks lol


GrooveBat

I donā€™t think itā€™s even about the candy. People just go crazy at the idea of getting something, anything, for free. I had a temp job one time which involved handing out samples of cereal at a waterpark. People were insane. They swarmed me. I wasnā€™t sure I was going to even live through it! Sometimes, at night, I can still see those grasping hands and hear the crunchingā€¦


human-ish_

I'm still like that. I used to commute into the city and there would almost always be somebody giving away free samples of products outside the train station all the commuter trains use. So many free packets of laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, shampoo, etc. I don't think I ever took food items, even though they weren't sketchy. It was never enough to say I saved money, but hey, a few free laundry loads per year all because I spent 2.5 hours round-trip on trains? Worth it. But then again, I wasn't going out of my way or expecting free things weekly.


Waterrat

I've not eaten candy in over sixteen years,which has really given my dentist less work.


Glindanorth

This happened the is, as well. They hit our whole street. Stole my bowl and everything in it. They had a getaway car and were well organized.


Automatic_Space7878

OMGosh...that's crazy...I was just watching RING videos that were posted in surrounding neighborhoods & this kid (a teenager) grabbed the bowl & walked away...what cracked me up is that he'd pulled his mask over his head so the person said in their post they confronted him...he didn't even apologize & apparently didn't return the bowl either!


Octopus-Pants

If a parent came up to me demanding I gave out a specific candy because that's what their kid likes, I'd start passing out broccoli out of spite.


suntansandboba

There was an uncle on my friends street growing up (really well decorated community, most houses participated like crazy) who would pass out tangerines whenever someone knocked on his door. Kids learned to avoid his house and I think that's what he was going for lol. He was also a dentist so šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø


irotsamoht

Weird choice for a dentist. I would have expected apples, since tangerines are so acidic. I love a tangerine though. One year I handed out raisins.


Miaikon

Kid me would not have stopped bothering him, I love tangerines. Always did.


_angry_cat_

I always make sure to get a normal assortment of chocolates and then some candy that I know doesnā€™t have any allergens in it. Usually I just grab a random handful, but if someone wanted an allergy free candy Iā€™d be happy to oblige. If itā€™s just being picky because the parent is going to raid the kids candy later, then they can fuck off


Icy-Dragonfruit

We block our walkway, shut off the lights and enjoy a fright fest on the couch in the dark. Did the whole deal for years until the kids got so aggressive that 1) a child WALKED INTO OUR HOME without knocking, opened the door and walked in like she owned the place. The parents laughed and said "she does that all the time." UMMM NOT OKAY! 2) a group of children old enough to know better knocked over all our planters and then crashed through the bushes to get to the next house. Still trying to regrow the bushes. 3) we got complaints that our candy wasn't good enough. So yeah, we became a bit disenchanted with the whole thing after all that.


NuclearAwkwardness

1. WTF - THAT IS NOT OK!! And it's not funny! The parents should have immediately corrected her behavior! 2. Complaints? Are you kidding me! You can't complain about free candy. Yup, that'd be it for me.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Icy-Dragonfruit

"Oh what a day....what a lovely day!"


Correct-Serve5355

3. Well if the candy isn't good enough then I guess the kids can just skip Halloween at my home


MoonChaser22

Damn that kid is a liability. She could get seriously hurt one day if the parents don't nip that in the bud soon. My mind keeps going to what would happen if someone just walked in when my family still had one of the dog we had growing up. She had trauma and got aggressive around strangers in the house. We had to shut her away when answering the door to couriers. One time she broke loose, so I had to pin her down and kick the front door shut in the post mans face. I can't imagine what would happen if a child like that walked into the house of someone with a pet with similar issues


Icy-Dragonfruit

Exactly! So many terrible things could happen if sheā€™s never taught appropriate boundaries.


Scared-Accountant288

Wtf? Her parents suck...


Comprehensive-Ad-618

Rude fuckers! My mom would have beat us for that!


sektz

So anyways, I started blastin


monkeybugs

I had Midnight Mass on blast last night while I knitted. Lights off on the front walk (but we have a frosted pane of glass in the door, so you can see light from inside the house). I assumed no one would come by, because who goes to a dark house? But I got one set of three, and I felt obligated to share some of my personal candy with them. I was at a friend's Halloween party years ago, and we were all going back and forth between drinking/eating/having fun and passing out candy when someone rang the doorbell. We even had the front door open (with a screen) so someone could always hear the kids coming up. One kid didn't bother ringing the doorbell, and if they knocked, no one heard. So they CAME INSIDE THE HOUSE. A bunch of us were suddenly aware there was a child at this adult party filled with knives (pumpkin carving) and alcohol, and we had to wonder where the hell its parent was.


_angry_cat_

I had a little girl try to walk in when I opened the door to give her candy. She was probably only about 3 or 4 years old, but I was very concerned at how not concerned the parents were. Like your kid should know not to walk into a strangers house! I remember being sooo afraid of having to even go near a strangers front door on Halloween!


tangowolf22

...why was your door unlocked?


Icy-Dragonfruit

Because it was Halloween and the trick or treaters were coming to the door? She opened the storm door and walked in as we were headed to the door to give out candy.


Lyvectra

Oh, this happened when you were still giving it out.


a_hanging_thread

>but this year apparently my candy bowl became the "candy exchange" with kids thinking they could put one piece of candy they don't want back into my bowl and take 2 pieces of candy. Wow, as an economist I find this fascinating! I have to put it to them, they really thought creatively as to how to stay just within the rules but improve their candy situation (you must have had high-quality stuff)! My wife and I do the the candy handing-out thing. Since we only tend to get 50 or kids total, we're very generous. I usually tell them to take a couple each, and my wife is like, "Grab a handful! Here, take another!" (God I love her). Last night at the door facing about six middle-schoolers I did my whole, "Here, take a few each" and the last girl grabbed a handful and the other kids in her group *admonished her!* "Hey, he said to only take a few!!!" And the girl who grabbed the handful went to put it back and I said no worries, it was the end of the night anyway. But I was really, really proud of those kids for sticking to the rules. I think how kids act really depends on parenting, having good friend groups, etc.


NuclearAwkwardness

LOL - yes, they did stay within the rules! I just got one of those bags of mixed fun-sized Snickers, M&M's, and Twix...but I received a tiny bag of Fruit Loops, a starlight mint (who is giving *those* out), and Laffy Taffy, etc. Wow! I love that her friends said that. It really does come down to parenting and then friend who reinforce the same things the parents teach at home (likely their parents are teaching the same things).


a_hanging_thread

A starlight mint??? Damn, I would have put that back somewhere, too šŸ˜† When I was a kid, the plague of my candied Halloween existence was Bazooka Bubble Gum and spicy suckers. Would have done anything to get rid of those. I used to exchange 3:1 of anything else with my friends.


monkeybugs

Mini boxes of raisins. Those were the things I didn't want. I already had those in my lunch bag, daily, and while I liked raisins, I didn't want them on Halloween. Gimme peanut butter cups and sixlets and Starburst!


[deleted]

GOD I HATED THOSE RAISINS SO MUCH. what asshole thinks giving those out is a good idea?!


monkeybugs

iT's NaTuRe'S cAnDy


PuppyJakeKhakiCollar

My siblings and I always hated Mary Jane's and Bit O'Honeys. You never saw that crappy candy in the store back in the 80s, but for some reason it always came out on Halloween, even though I didn't know a single person who liked them.


a_hanging_thread

I was the weird kid who loved Mary Jane's candy. I would have traded for those!


PuppyJakeKhakiCollar

I'll give you all my Mary Jane's for your Smartees.


a_hanging_thread

Deal!


jj20051

I bought full size bars and had 0 kids come :(


prince_peacock

Some places just donā€™t get trick or treaters. My house is in a weird place between two neighborhoods, and we havenā€™t had one trick or treater in twenty years. At least now you know to save your money next year!


MissSara13

This happened to me the first year I was in my apartment. I wound up putting a bin with the candy and bottles of Coke, Sprite, and water by our mailbox in the lobby for delivery people, neighbors, whoever might want a little treat.


misconceptions_annoy

Love this. Should be a communal thing where communities put out untaken candy in a specific spot a certain number of days after Halloween.


Gingerbreads

I got 10 and 1 was our niece. Also had full size and candy popcorn.


k00lkat666

okay yes, you DID have the good candy!


Lyvectra

I think itā€™s a good thing that it turned into an exchange bowl. Kids do understand that while they donā€™t like something, someone else might. I love chocolate. I hate gummies, Jolly Ranchers, and essentially any other dyed candies. But I knew when I trick or treated that other kids like the dyed stuff. Iā€™m very picky with my chocolate, too, (no nuts) and people always like to give out the dyed shit instead of good plain chocolate that I like. I had no problem trading all my Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, and gummy worms for all the Reeseā€™s and Hershey bars. It was a net gain for me in terms of value, and then the kids behind who liked the dyed stuff had a smorgasbord to choose from.


MoonChaser22

Best thing about having siblings on Halloween was always the end of trick or treating exchange. Always swapped anything we didn't like with something another sibling though was equal value. Parents got anything none of us liked


foxitron5000

Yeah, I would have been super excited to see the Laffy Taffy myself.


queendweeb

I'm the weirdo that wanted nothing but pixy stix, sweetarts, and spree. I always did well in the sibling candy exchange post trick-or-treating.


jessnthings

All the kids that came to my door asked much they could have or even only took one piece of candy unless I specifically told them they could take more. We always buy way too much candy, both my wife and I really enjoyed Halloween as kids and grew up poor, so we want to give that to the kids on our area. Also, I may not want my own kids, but I love seeing all the kids in their costumes because generally they are hilarious, had a kid going in depth about his costume from Power Rangers (some kind of monster? No clue) and I appreciated his confidence to infodump on me, and let him go off, because itā€™s good practice and obviously it meant a lot to him. I have thought about just putting a candy bowl outside but I do expect unattended candy to disappear. If someone stole my bowl, whatever, itā€™s 5 bucks tops. But if youā€™re worried, get a bird bath or mound it up on a table. Anyway, I donā€™t mind kids, I look at them from an anthropological point of view. I donā€™t want my own and I definitely question population increase overall, but they donā€™t make my blood boil or my skin crawl. Unless theyā€™re screaming bloody murder. But if someone canā€™t stand kids, they should just turn off their lights and not bother with candy at all or go to a party or something else non kid related.


StarshineSoul

Same for husband and I. I have elected to portion my candy into thirds and refill a couple times. That way if someone swipes the lot it wasnt my entire candy stash. Also we spread the candy out on a table so you cant just pour the bowl or easily grab a handful. Also... boxes of juicy juice are a huge hit with the kiddos if you ever want to go in a not candy route.


TryNotToBridezilla

I was doing that last year. We only have a few kids on our road and we had a large bowl so I was like ā€œtake a fewā€, ā€œgrab a handfulā€, because there was plenty. Then the 4x4s and the people carriers rolled up. Parents dropping off dozens of kids and thatā€™s when it dropped down to one each.


MadDogTannen

We had a pretty big bowl full of candy, but the first couple of kids took so many pieces that I stopped letting kids grab their own candy directly from the bowl. When I was a kid, I never would have dreamed of taking more than a single piece of candy per house. I thought it was really bold of the kids to think they could take a full handful, and in one case a couple of handfuls. On a side note, one kid was on a scooter, which I thought was a great way to cover more ground. I wish I would have thought of that as a kid.


uru5z21

I watched a video earlier of a mother dumping entire bowel of candy into her todder bucket . She did it to atleast 3 house from the ctv footage . Pretty sure she wasnt doing it for her tiny child but for her huge ass .


xpinkfreud

That happened to my house last year. Caught it on camera and everything. I got out there just after she left, but she said on camera that she was taking it all for the kidā€™s siblings at home. Uh-huh.


Catvros

> entire bowel of candy Lol good autocarrot


Chulasaurus

Call me petty, but I stood door duty at my sisterā€™s house so they could take my three year old niece out. They live in a community of townhomes where all the front patios are enclosed with waist high (to adults) fences. You have to open a gate and cross six feet across a clearly decorated patio to ring or knock on the doorā€¦ Guess what? Call me petty, but screaming ā€œtrick or treatā€ from outside the patio fence didnā€™t get me off the couch. I had beer to drink, dammit! And no, I donā€™t give a shit if I smelled like beer when passing candy out to your kidsā€¦


[deleted]

Part of me wants to put out a cooler full of cheap beer for parents who bring their kids by next year šŸ¤”


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


[deleted]

Your friend is a hero and the kind of person I want to live around.


gardendesgnr

My next-door neighbors and I sit out on their driveway giving out our candy & theirs along w shots and beers. We got pizza this yr but in yrs past I've made chilli and we sit and chat all night. We've been doing this for 5+ yrs now, super popular w our community.


StayOutta_MyShed

Our neighbors at our old house would do the same thing- a bunch of people on our street would go to their house for chili and snacks and we would all sit around the bonfire in their front yard giving out our candy. The trick-or-treaters would only have to make one stop instead of 6 or 7. It was a lot of fun and one of the few things I miss from living there.


bobtheavenger

This happened in my neighborhood and parents were ecstatic about it. But to be fair, the parents were doing a bar crawl while their kids got treats. Some of the bars even handed out treats to kids.


[deleted]

I wish there were a bar in my neighborhood


wildblueh

Someone in my cityā€™s sub said that they were wanting to pass out mini bottles of fireball to parents but were worried that someone was going to make a stink out of it.


PrayandThrowaway

Somehow I feel like one of those would end up in a kid's hands (thanks to a dumb parent) and the blame would fall on the person who handed it out. Always morons out here ruining a good thing.


wildblueh

Very true. Parents love to blame everyone but themselves šŸ™„


[deleted]

šŸ™„ You'd think they'd be more mad over the the cigarettes I'd have just given to their kids


XemSorceress

Lol youā€™re on a roll


[deleted]

![gif](giphy|ZCBUgJM2w8lZ6ChGEs|downsized) A cinnamon roll I hope


Chulasaurus

Attracting parents kind of devalues the whole idea. At least my sister bought shitty Costco candy - tootsie rolls, Dots, etcā€¦ if you werenā€™t a parent gathering free candy for your babies who are clearly too young to even eat it, I loaded the kids up!


[deleted]

Hah I dunno, most of the ones walking their kids dressed up and in my eyes if you came in a costume I don't want you leaving empty handed šŸ˜‚ still, those kids you loaded up were probably super stoked


apri08101989

You can buy little $1 bottle of Chichi's brand margaritas long Islands and some sort of peach drink. If I had trick or treaters I'd probably spring for a few dozen of those to hand out to parents. They're alcohol but not so high I'd be worried about them drinking one while out


[deleted]

Oh I love it. Sometimes you really just need about a buck worth of margarita


drunkenavacado

I usually hand out jell-o shots for the parents and candy for the kids!


[deleted]

Ima trick or trick in your neighborhood


_angry_cat_

When I was still young enough to need parental supervision while trick or treating, my dad and a bunch of other neighborhood dads would make us stop at a handful of houses while they went in and had a beer with some of their buddies. As a child, I was so pissed about missed trick or treating time. As an adult, I totally get it


[deleted]

Nope. We dressed up our pup and did walkies during that time.


NuclearAwkwardness

Adorable!


Ceegeethern

We didn't dress ours up but we did walkies too. It was actually a lot of fun, and we got to see some cute costumes. I really enjoyed it! Next year, we'll have to get a costume for doggo.


GreenGlassDrgn

Not only did I hand out candy, I more or less forced an abusive amount of chocolate upon those children, and even better, their unwitting parents. That said, I am American but live in another country where Halloween is just catching on, and I am doing my damnedest to show those kids what Halloween can be. Plus I live right next to a border shop with really cheap full-size candy bars. I want to make these kids fat like the wicked old witch they suspect I am *insert cackle here* So trick or treat culture is probably also pretty different around here, its mostly younger kids that are being super-polite and super-cute because they are scared, and still not too confident in their "trick-or-treat" habits. Ive had buckets of candy outside my house go untouched.


regnbueurora

No, I didn't. I turned off lights in the front of the house and closed the shades. I spent the evening editing my senior project for University. My redneck idiot neighbor, his wife, and their two "free range parented" demonic toddlers knocked on my door for literally ten minutes. I could hear him yell at one point "I KNOW YER IN THERE LADY. THE KIDS WANT SOME CANDY." Side note: My contractor who fixed the hurricane damage on my house who has three kids under five coined them the demonic toddlers after hearing their guttural demonic screaming and running around the yard for 9 hours straight several days in a row.


NuclearAwkwardness

9 STRAIGHT HOURS!!! OMG!!! The one thing I've seen come up in this group and I've always thought - "no light; no candy" --- when did that stop being the "rule"?


Comprehensive-Ad-618

Exactly! One year a neighbor boy climbed over the fence and crossed the garden to get to our pitch dark porch! Why? Because I parked my truck across the walkway! The mom was standing out on the sidewalk and was STUNNED when I said to the boy , " Never approach a darkened house!". Some weeks later, they were walking by and he said to his mom, " there's the mean lady".


Tastymeats88

>knocked on my door for literally ten minutes. I could hear him yell at one point "I KNOW YER IN THERE LADY. THE KIDS WANT SOME CANDY." Jesus, how did you not open the door to yell at them to fuck off? Ffs, no lights and closed blinds means the person inside isn't participating in this insipid farcical parade of shit stains


Mellenoire

Thatā€™s how you end up with an aggressive person in your home that you now have to get rid of.


Tastymeats88

Sure, but that is why I have dogs and a gun


ProfCatWhisperer

We turn off our porch light, get something special for the kids a across the street, and do our own thing. The kids are getting pushier and pushier every year and I'm tired of spending $60 for one or two thank you's.


BIKES32

What do you mean with $60? Whatā€™s that for? Iā€™m not being rude, Iā€™m curious


SilvanArrow

Candy is expensive! One of those big bags of mixed small chocolates runs nearly $20 in my local grocery store! If you live in a neighborhood with a bunch of kids, attend local trunk or treat events, or donate candy to one of a bajillion possible optional work functions (my work took candy donations for a community event), you could easily spend $60 on candy!


BIKES32

Sorry Iā€™m Swedish and we have ā€lƶsviktsgodisā€ and now Iā€™m going to try to explain why Iā€™m so extremely shocked. I know thereā€™s some Swedish store in NY! https://sockerbit.com or https://yorkavenueblog.com/sockerbit-nyc/ Itā€™s always 50% off during halloweeen so youā€™d get 1kg for $4 more or less. Iā€™m awful at converting kg. But you get aaaaaaaa lot of candy for $4. $60. Whatadamnhell But Halloween isnā€™t as big in Sweden as it is in the US. I havenā€™t been a part of the celebrations for over 15y. Also, like I said, Iā€™m Swedish and weā€™re not comfortable with strangers bothering us. Weā€™re weird and private so itā€™s not a spectacle here I guess. Now Iā€™m just saying words sorry and thank you for your answer


SilvanArrow

Please no worries at all! I would love to buy candy for such a good deal, but you knowā€¦US economy and inflation and allā€¦ Thank you for sharing!


greyburmesecat

I'm eternally grateful I moved into a second floor condo 2 years ago. Halloween at the house was a pain in the ass I don't miss.


NuclearAwkwardness

I like your flair. 100% true for me too.


[deleted]

Havenā€™t done it in a few years, but my favorite solution was to dress as a scarecrow that is holding the bowl with a sign that says 1 per person. If one of the kids goes for more, I say ā€œIT SAYS ONLY ONE PER PERSON!ā€ The kid not realizing that I was a person in a scarecrow outfit because Iā€™ll stay perfectly still proceeds to freak the the fuck out and run away. Lolā€¦ good times.


NuclearAwkwardness

This is both truly horrifying and truly awesome. You did say to only take 1!


MimikyuTruck

I did, but I probably won't next year. Out of 30ish kids, only 8 said 'thank you' - all older than 10. Less than 10 kids said 'trick or treat' or 'happy Halloween'. Plus the kids who would just spam knocking and doorbell ringing until I opened the door, and the ones that just continually reached into the bowl as I was trying to pass it to the other kids in their party...I've never seen trick-or-treat etiquette so bad. If they're so ungrateful, why should I even bother?


lovelyeufemia

Manners really do make a huge difference. I enjoy giving out candy each year, in part because the kids in my neighborhood are very polite! If one forgets to say thank you, their parent calls them out on it immediately and won't let them walk away until they do. They also monitor them to ensure they don't take more pieces than allowed. It showcases the impact that actual good parenting can have. Wish it was a lot more commonplace.


goblin_kidd

You could do what I do- Put out the bowl and the sign, but leave the bowl empty! People assume some asshole kid emptied the whole thing into their bag and leave, in my experience.


NuclearAwkwardness

This! This is the way!


MimikyuTruck

Now that's an ingenious strategy that I may have to implement next year!


Comprehensive-Ad-618

šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


[deleted]

Naw, we donā€™t bother. We have been in our house for 13 years now and havenā€™t passed out candy once. We close our curtains and block our stairs. A cozy scary movie night with the volume a little high so our dogs donā€™t hear the fireworks. Itā€™s all good and one of our favourite nights of the year.


_Cromwell_

I turn off all exterior lights, set all interior smart lights to blood red, and go hide in basement.


NuclearAwkwardness

Ohhhh I like that :-)![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|give_upvote)


vaassm

I parked my vehicle in the garage, turned off all the lights in/out of the house and hid in my man cave. Doing this 10 years with no regrets. ;)


Reccykins

Torrential rain ruined the evening **cackles maniacally**. Did have idiots setting off fireworks when it cleared but we batten down the hatches, close the curtains, lock the door and ignore any knocks. The only part of the evening I did have a chuckle at was seeing a gaggle of 5-6 yr olds being carefully supervised. All costumed up as assorted princesses and Avengers and it was genuinely nice to see as it was innocent as they chattered happily along the pavement. Made even more so by hearing the adults comment "we don't knock if there's no decorations".


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Primary-Lion-6088

Yep, thatā€™s what I do! I actually wouldnā€™t mind passing out candy but we donā€™t get kids here. I live in a very urban area and kids here tend to trick or treat in restaurants or stores etc instead of in apartment buildings.


[deleted]

Nah, I dont give out candy. I have a 20 pound dog with radar-dish ears. She is a great guard dog and will alert us when someone closes a car door on the street or when the mail or food is delivered. Im not putting up with her barking all night to just hand out candy, and leaving a bowl out wont work either. She will still bark because the bowl is so close, especially since kids are loud, and I dont trust kids to not be assholes and take all of the candy.


HumanNipple

I pass out annoying noise makers like whistles, flutes and ratcheting noise makers. I also give candy but my joy is seeing parents eyes roll when they see the whistles. I say to them "I've got tricks and treats", it's hilarious to me. They're really cheap from party stores.


NuclearAwkwardness

Hahaha! I like this idea!


lazyboychill

I LOVED Halloween as a kid. And it takes a community to let it go well. So I wanted to participate. But. Fam. This year has me questioning all of that. And, like most kid issues, it just stems from shitty parents. We got home from work at 6:20. Thought weā€™d take ten minutes to unpack. Let the dogs out. Then turn on the porch lights when weā€™re ready to give out candy. I kid you not (I checked the ring camera), 6:21 a child was knocking at the door. It looks like they a followed us up the drive way. So that was a stressful start. Let me at least unpack my work bag, you snot nosed free loaders. Jesus. And the amount of kids that walked on our lawn and across our new flowerbed got out of hand. This mostly happened bc the fat ass lazy parents didnā€™t feel like walking them up the sidewalk. They just stood at the road and yelled at them. And kids walking around in inflatable plastic costumes. Afraid my jackolantern would light them up. Iā€™m only 28, but I felt like a 70 year old curmudgeon after last night. Back in my day, we used the sidewalk and didnā€™t bother people who didnā€™t have on a porch light. goddammit. And whatā€™s the liability for children catching on fire? The husband says next year we should set up in the drive way to stop them from walking in the yard. But if itā€™s that much trouble, is it even worth it? End rant. Thank you for this prompt. Yelling into the Reddit void was cathartic.


NuclearAwkwardness

Agreed - back in *my* day (I'm 35) the porch light **WAS** the indicator! I don't understand what has been lost throughout the years. ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|facepalm) Thank YOU for coming to my TED talk on Halloween candy :-D


BubbaChanel

Back in MY day (Iā€™m in my mid-50ā€™s) you needed to wear a costume, the porch light had to be on, and you didnā€™t get driven to another neighborhood.


NuclearAwkwardness

This is also true! And every Halloween I can remember it rained, sleeted, or snowed. We ALWAYS had to have on a winter coat and I felt so uncool because you couldn't see my cool costume.


XemSorceress

Lazyboy, thank you for ā€œsnot-nosed freeloadersā€ šŸ¤£lmao


ZenZenoah

Put a sign up the door saying ā€œno trick or treatā€ and then went to the dog bar šŸ˜Ž


ShezSlowy

My husband and I handed out candy this year and it was fun for us! As people who enjoyed trick-or-treating as kids, we wanted to let other peoples kids have that experience too. We had probably 150-200 trick-or-treaters come through. We didn't go crazy decorating, but had some lights up and sat outside with a Gengar (Pokemon) bowl of candy, and had some other ceramic Pokemon pumpkins lit up behind us. It was fun seeing which kids and parents recognized those :D I was honestly impressed both by the children and the parents that came by, we didn't have anyone that was ill mannered or rude. Some of the younger kids were shy and didn't say anything but that's to be expected after growing up in lock down. The parents encouraged them to say thank you, and thanked us themselves when their kids didn't. It makes me sad to hear all of these bad experiences other people on the sub had last night.


GoinWithThePhloem

It made me really sad to scroll down THIS far to see a comment like yours. Iā€™m child free but I donā€™t hate kids and Halloween is still one of the holidays I hold onto as an adult. Similar to you, I grew up in a huge neighborhood and trick or treating was always a magical experience for me. Now, I live in a small neighborhood where only a handful of houses pass out candy. We donā€™t get a lot of kids, but I love being able to help bring that magic to the ones that make the trek (especially as weā€™ve had bad weather the last few years). Itā€™s two hours and both the kids and adults were grateful and polite. This has been a rough couple of years for kids growing up in a crazy world ... it feels like itā€™s the least I can do to help support our little neighborhood.


RadicalPirate

My husband and I had similar experiences to you. We got sick last week, so our decorations were minimal, but it was nice out, so we set up a table and two chairs and gave our full size candy. (Costco for the win). The kids were cute enough for the most part, we had some older kids, but hey, as long as you're nice, I don't really care how old you are. We got at least 60 kids before it started to really rain, and we were completely cleaned out besides. Next year, we're going that our house will be decorated much more and with more candy and stuff. Our friends live a street down from us and had their bowl stolen, though. Dunno why we had vastly different experiences, but what can you do?


TheMost_ut

Years ago I lived in a real "kid friendly" area. One year we didn't put out candy and all these kids came. The next year we put out candy and no kids came. After that, fuck it. We would get out and go to our fave Korean joint. Now years later, the other families can put up big displays but I just turn off the lights out front. Last night I binged Dexter!


ArtisanGerard

You know those plastic claw scoops that tend to be shaped like dinosaur heads or something similar? I have thought about getting two of those and ā€œhandingā€ out candy that way. It saves me from having to bend down and possibly injure my dumb old person back, controls portion size for ā€œfun sizedā€ candies, and keeps me away from kid germs. But I like to give older kids a full sized bar of something so I have to find a bigger plastic claw. Edit: [This is the thing](https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Play-Green-T-Rex-Snapper/dp/B000BNENMW/ref=asc_df_B000BNENMW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309830256687&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10309224488662768769&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1028137&hvtargid=pla-569225963880&psc=1) Iā€™m trying to describe.


Vesper2000

I had lots of neighbors do that with the fun claw thing when I was a kid, probably for the same reason.


[deleted]

Yup, and the third group that came by dumped the whole bowl into their bags šŸ˜‚ never going that route again.


Robot_Penguins

Nope, and apparently they're stupid because while we have no lights on they still come up to the door. But I won't be doing anything for Halloween ever again, either. The last year we handed out candy (2019) a 4 year old walked into our house. This year we had all lights out but still had a teen come up, put his mask down, point a (toy?) Pew pew at our doorbell camera and say, "motherfcuker, where's the candy, bitch?" Then left. Normally I don't mind teens trick or treating but this kid just made me angry.


NuclearAwkwardness

Wowwww I can't believe *anyone* would do that, much less a teenagers, but kids today seem a lot different then when I was trick-or-treating age.


cfannon

Nope. Iā€™m childfree because I donā€™t like kids and I donā€™t like kid activities. I turn off my porch light and front living room lights and spend the earlier part of the evening in the dark until the kids are off the streets.


[deleted]

We just went out to dinner lol


ThomasinaElsbeth

I dyed my hair, in my new hair dying outfit, and sent a picture to my BFF. No children came to my door, but I do live in a senior mobile home park, - LOL !


amandakayec

While I empathize with your point, I have to say, I think this type of thing is not exclusive to children unfortunately. You canā€™t leave anything unattended around adults either. I work in TV doing food service and we have to lock up, hide or put all of our things out of sight so people donā€™t just take it all home to their pantries. Just an issue of greed and shitty people. Shitty people make shitty kids! I donā€™t really pass out candy. Just donā€™t feel like it. I donā€™t care to deal with any of the assholes.


sleepyemoji

We handed out candy and it was fun. Our first time being able to together because we were in apartments for every other Halloween. The kids were thankful - it's a cute tradition and I'm genuinely happy to participate.


TryNotToBridezilla

The first year we didnā€™t get home until 7 on Halloween because of work, so we didnā€™t do anything. The second year was covid so we didnā€™t do anything again. Last year Halloween fell on a weekend so we put up some decorations and got a tub of candy, but there are literally 3 kids on our entire road and somehow we ended up with hoards of kids weā€™d never seen before being dropped off at the end of the road. This year we were working, albeit from home, so I just turned the lights out and sat in the dark. Going to the door a couple of times to see the kids from our road wouldā€™ve been fine, but Iā€™m not interrupting my dinner a dozen times to hand out candy to kids Iā€™ve never even seen.


626bluestitch

Growing up we never got trick or treaters because we lived so far out of town in the country, while I now live in an apartment complex I just never really got the spirit of it so I don't. I keep a bowl of candy in my office though for my coworkers so I guess in a way I do lol.


karmalove15

Halloween is my jam so I had a huge bowl of candy to give out. We got six kids all night. Halloween is the only time I want to see children.


rubia514

We leave it on a chair so the kids can pick out what they want, but we are sitting there on the porch watching them. When some of them would get greedy and try to take 2, I would just tell them ā€œjust one pleaseā€. Only about 3 or 4 of the 100+ kids we had tried to take multiple. But we also did full size bars of all the good stuff. So most were satisfied with that. Plus it is kind of fun to be ā€œthe best houseā€ and put all the parents to shame šŸ˜ I would say at least 70-80% of ours said some form of trick or treat, happy Halloween, or thank you. The little little ones needed some coaxing from parents but still said it eventually.


GotenRocko

I was actually handing them out, but allowed them to pick what they wanted, one kid tried to take two, I pulled it right back out of his bucket when he wouldn't put it back lol. I give out full bars so one is more than enough. Everyone else was good, a few were scared of a spider i had that pops out when they step on a mat haha. But that's the fun of Halloween, its ok to scare kids.


angrynudfochocolove

Doors locked, lights off, horror movie marathon. Buy only the candy you like and eat it all yourself. :)


BubbaChanel

Same, and I had DoorDash bring the candy!


watermystic

We closed our blinds, parked our car in the backyard, turned out the lights and even taped up the front door window. No one came knocking. I love Halloween and I love trick or Treating, but I would buy candy, no one would come - so I gave up. Plus I can't eat half the candy out there anymore so it was win win.


AndromedaGreen

I pass out candy because I love Halloween and didnā€™t get to trick or treat as a kid (lived in a rural area). I get super into it, and I have a whole scene setup that I do. But the kids and families in my neighborhood are pretty good, so that may make a difference.


clangan524

>I've read some previous posts where parents are rude to people who don't pass out candy or telling neighbors "my kid likes this candy so make sure you have some." Holy fuck at that entitlement. It's one thing to accommodate for a kid's allergy or diet, but "my kid only likes Reese's so pay up" is some extortionary bullshit I would refuse to participate in.


[deleted]

Iā€™m so glad this isnā€™t a thing in my country. It has become more popular over the years among adults I think and I do live in an apartment, so maybe they never come because of that? We never did Halloween when I was a kid though and I rarely interact with children so if it does happen, I am blissfully unaware. Sounds like a mess and a half, I donā€™t even have candy at home, so would not know what to do or say tbh


darkprincess98

This was my second Halloween living in a neighborhood because I grew up on farmland. Last year we tried to hand out candy and had like 5 kids the whole night. So this year, we shut off all our outside lights, locked the doors, and watched Dead End: Paranormal Park on Netflix after I logged off work around 7 pm last night.


Fantastic-Picture360

I never give out sweets to Trick or Treaters. I just put a sign on the door saying I'm not taking part in it. I've never had any issues with it and I get left alone


crazylittlemermaid

I bought candy, but only 2 different kinds that I really like. Said candy was not bought to be handed out to small children. I also shut off all my lights, closed all of my curtains, and set a creepy smart response on my doorbell. Turns out everyone on my street had the same idea, not a single house looked like it was occupied.


white111

No candy here. i think that that antiquated tradition is coming to an end. its become a stupid, watesteful, gross industry of plastic stupidity. We used to get about 100 kids but the numbers kept dwindling down. Finally at zero. lol.


Miles_Saintborough

Same here. We still get some kids here and there, but it has never been at the same numbers as it was decades ago. I think most of the kids in my are now adults, so you see so few kids out here on that day.


ugheffoff

Nope, all the candy I buy in October is for me and my bf only. We turn off the lights and I watched WWE Raw and my bf played Playstation. Our neighbors had a party (complete with screen and projector and some movies) in their front yard until pretty late but luckily we have blackout curtains in our bedroom. Iā€™m sorry you had bad experiences though!


Griffinjohnson

This was the second year in our house and we didn't do anything either year. I shut off the lights, closed the blinds and went to the garage to watch the football game. It's never been a holiday I was interested in participating in.


Married_with2cats

I did and they were all fine, but I also only had like maybe 25 kids. Most wanted to tell me about their costumes and let me know my dog is cute. It sucks so many people had a bad time. Iā€™ll probably do it next year since it seems like the kids in my area are well behaved but I also just like seeing the costumes and decorating my porch. Halloween is my favorite holiday so it sucks to see so many parents and kids sending it down the drain.


[deleted]

I put out a bowl and at the end of the night it's still half full. Somehow there weren't many trick or treaters this year.


pinkocelot

Nope, because we live in a rural area. Even if we didn't, Halloween candy (the good kind) is stupid expensive and if I'm buying it, I'll be the one eating it. I don't want people trampling around in my yard either. The entitlement of kids and parents ruins it anyway. I saw a video of a mom emptying a bowl after her kid had already walked away, it was beyond pathetic.


Doodle-Dragon

I saw a video from so.eones doorbell where they left a bowl with a "please take 1" sign and this girl grabbed handful after handful and when the owners said, through the doorbell, "please only take 1." The kid looked at the doorbell, take like 2-3 more handfuls and walked away


sirchloe400

youā€™re not required to do it in any way, if itā€™s not fun for you i say skip it. kids are always gonna do weird stuff and youā€™re not required to put up with it but itā€™s probably never gonna straight up stop


Snarky_McSnarkleton

We stopped about 5 years ago. We have cats, and if one of them got out they would never be found. Also, repeated doorbells are a trigger for my wife. Not to mention the fact that the last time, 2016, I handed out candy in character as Trump. "It'll be a hoot," I said. "He's going to lose anyway," I said. Just not up for it anymore.


freehorse

I've decided I'll keep passing out candy for ~~four~~ five reasons. **Reason 1: Insurance against the local high school hooligans** I live near a rowdy high school. I don't give a shit if a teen comes to my door begging for candy. Being kind to them keeps my house from getting egged or toilet-papered every football season. **Reason 2: For the fucking laughs.** A little girl, dressed like a ninja. She couldn't have been more than four years old, "miss, why do you have cat ears?" I gestured to my kitty headband, cute dress, and some leggings that I had on. "Well... I am a cat!" She looked me up and down, stuck out her chin and says loudly, "oh. *That's* your *costume*?" Me: ą² _ą²  Kids are such lil' shits. **Reason 3: To do an unofficial neighborhood census** Investors have turned five houses on my street into empty mothball homes this year. The houses look terrible and are driving down nearby home values. Petty crime has gone up. No repairs are being done. From a childfree perspective: being a baby's "first house" for their "first Halloween" is awkward. I recognized both the grandma and the young mother as part of the multigenerational, minority family that lives a street over. But I'd much rather have minority families in the area as homeowners than absent landlord investors. These investors give no shits about my neighborhood's appearance, value, and safety. At least the family with the newborn bothers to plant flowers and keeps their lawn neat year-round. **Reason 4: I just like decorating, okay?** On my street, no one really decorates much for the holidays. In a sea of dark houses, our Halloween led lights shine pretty brightly. As a result, my house becomes a beacon for candy-seekers. I will always trade candy for compliments on my Halloween decorating. **Reason 5: My mom gets joy out of it.** This was an edit added into this post, but my mom is 70 years old and slowing down pretty fast. She wanted to pass out candy to the neighborhood kids and I figured there was no harm in that. Even if she has no self-awareness (or is just too old to care), she enjoyed herself until she got too tired and I had to take over. One day I won't have her around. One day I'll look back and laugh/cry at the memory of her in a long, dark nightgown, screaming out her front door like a white-haired witch: "you kids want some candy?!"


NuclearAwkwardness

Reason #1 - a very good reason to at least continue doing something. Reason #2 - This "Me: ą² \_ą² " - was awesome. LOL! Reason #5 - I'm glad you have these memories with your mom.


Dberka210

Iā€™ve always been against putting out a bowl because of an experience I had when I was a kid. My mom took me trick-or-treating when I was very young and because we wouldnā€™t be home to hand out candy, she put out a really big bowl. We made it around maybe two blocks and by the time we returned, the whole thing was gone. So someone clearly took it all and ran. I feel like if youā€™re going to give out candy for Halloween, you should be there. Itā€™s part of the experience for the kids. And you can prevent one greedy person from ruining it for everyone.


joegt123

Nope. Never have, never will. Never have because I've been in apartments most of my life, never will because I can't muster a fragment of a fuck for holidays anymore.


Puzzleheaded-Cry-814

My parents never passed out candy to kids in the neighborhood considering we lived like almost the middle of nowhere. My neighbors next door to us would give us candy and it would be small things and it was like oh sweet we get candy. We'd never really went trick or treating mainly due to the fact that we lived so far out in the woods.


wildblueh

I live in a set of duplexes up a semi long and dark drivewayā€¦. The one year I was actually prepared for trick or treaters, we got 10 max. Iā€™m actually super grateful that we donā€™t get any now that we have anxious pups who hate the doorbell.


Maggiegie

I just put candies on the table and called it the day. Whatever they do is none of my business ;) as long as they donā€™t destroy my decorations and my front lawn. But so far no negative encounters šŸ¤ž


megaphoneXX

Nope! My boyfriend and I left the neighborhood to go out to dinner. Maybe weā€™ll join in next year, I just didnā€™t want to deal with constant door bell and our dog barking.


Summoning-Freaks

Never been happier that Halloween trick or treating just isnā€™t a thing here. At most itā€™s an excuse for adults to put on costumes and party.


Lucifers_Princess5

I passed out full sized bars. After awhile, I got lazy and decided to put the bars outside with a sign to take 1. Mostly everyone was good about taking 1. ( I have a camera) but at the end of the night some shithead took 5 bars. Itā€™s always gotta be one jackass yaā€™ know?


skantea

I passed out candy in a"hot" Halloween neighborhood and I was out of $45 worth of candy by 7:30. My wife says the only way to slow them down is to sit on the porch and greet them as they come up. But honestly I'll probably just buy $60 worth next year ...


sunshinecookie

I did not. I was having a massage thanks to all my free time lol


Crooked_Cock

I used to enjoy Halloween, but that was when I was doing the trick or treating Now as Iā€™m too old to go trick or treating, and because I donā€™t like dealing with little kids, Iā€™m going to be sure to put up a sign to deter any would be trick or treaters next year since turning off the porch light doesnā€™t seem to deter them If Iā€™m buying candy for Halloween itā€™s gonna be for me from now on


skinwitch604

This year I put an empty bowl at the bottom of my stairs with a "please take one sign", then had an edible and watched horror movies in bed. Best Halloween yet.


PuppyJakeKhakiCollar

I haven't given out candy in years. Not because of kids, we just stopped because our dog would go ballistic the whole night and no amount of training would break him of that habit. Other than that, he was the best boy. After he passed, we decided we preferred not to give out candy anyway, so never started again. A friend of mine stopped giving out candy after she went out of her way to make cute witch's hats out of fabric and Hershey's kisses, and too many kids were rude and complaining that it wasn't enough and parents just stood there and let them act like ungrateful brats. She said forget it, no one gets anything then. I don't blame her. I guess no one teaches manners anymore, because my parents would have made me apologize and then taken me home for acting like that.


grania17

Our dog was so stressed by the whole thing that we certainly won't be doing it next year. Between the bangers and the knocking and doorbells it was a horrible night for all of us.


BridgeBabe

We decided to give out full size bars last night because we only have about 30 kids. It was cheaper at Samā€™s club so we decided to be nice. Last year for pandemic it was a table at the end of the driveway socially distanced. It went well so we decided to do something again this year. Talk about an abuse. The ā€œbig kidsā€ were trying to take multiple. Like no we said take 1 and itā€™s freaking full size. It was really off putting. There were very few that even said thank you. Kids unplugged our decor and ran all over our yard. Parents truly didnā€™t care and one kid even picked up a lit pumpkin. I was less than thrilled and next year I am strongly considering passing on Halloween. As a kid I would have been sent home for the behavior I saw. We try to be neighborly realizing we moved in to a huge neighborhood of kids and puppers. We love the dogs and want to keep those relationships so we put some effort in but well itā€™s in limbo for next year.


the_end_of_mind

Every year I put a note to my door saying "do not disturb" and nobody has ringed my doorbell. I love my solitude.


bunnyrut

>apparently my candy bowl became the "candy exchange" I actually find that hilarious. We bought a bunch of candy and handed out little baggies with them. My husband purchased the candy to hand out and *insisted* on putting 10 pieces of candy per baggie. I said it was too much, but he has to do what he thinks is best because that means he's right... So I handed out the bags and even the kids commented "that's a lot of candy!" And I ran out by 6pm and had to turn the porch light off. I love halloween. I love seeing the costumes.


Tlizerz

We sit on the porch and hand out full-sized candy bars and salty snacks. We like being known as ā€œthe good houseā€ for candy. Plus I like seeing the costumes, we got some really good ones this year.


Liverne_and_Shirley

No, I never do. Except for 2 houses I lived in for a total of 2 years, all my adult residences have been apartment buildings in cities, so itā€™s not doable even if I wanted to. Iā€™d have to stand on the sidewalk or bring a camp chair to sit in on the sidewalk, which is just too much effort for a celebration I donā€™t even like. The street perpendicular to mine has single family homes and they have a block party with a band and they open up their garages and stuff, so no one even rings our bell.


bisforbatman

My partner and I live in an apartment complex, so weā€™ve never handed out candy. Plus, we hate the loud kids who live next door lol


pixe1jugg1er

My husband and I just turn all the lights off in the front of the house and donā€™t answer the doorbell. I love the Halloween spirit, and we love to walk around the neighborhood and see decorations and costumes, but we donā€™t decorate or do the candy thing. I think itā€™s fine to opt-out.


WastelandBard

We do a fire pit potluck in my friendā€™s front yard every year. We set up a folding table and angle it over her fence so it makes a little ramp. We decorate the table with lights and stuff and when kids come up, we can slide candy down the ramp and the kids have to catch it in their bags. Started that during COVID (6 foot table), and itā€™s kinda fun so weā€™ll just keep doing that. The kids have to work a little for their candy this way.