I can't believe how many trick-or-treaters have no manners! Several of mine didn't say thank you, or even trick-or-treat.
I had one girl (about 8) who was barely dressed up (just a cape on and nothing else). When I gave her her candy, she said "rats" and walked away. Her brother tried to come inside, and I could barely get him to leave. The bad thing is that their parents were standing right behind them and didn't correct them at all!
Ugh! Why don't people teach their children manners?

By Missmudd on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 10:32 pm:

I'm confused, halloween is tomorrow......

By Kay on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 10:35 pm:

They came out tonight? No one in our city is doing any trick-or-treating until tomorrow, Oct. 31. Did your city make some designation that the event should be celebrated a day early? I know that many have a problem with it being on Sunday, but since we've never personally chosen to acknowledge it as pagan, but simply as a night of fun and candy, we haven't heard a thing about people going out a night early.

As for the manners, I've had pretty good kids in the past in our neighborhood, most of them accompanied by parents who are quick to come in with, "And what do we say?"

I suppose I can let you know how it goes here tomorrow evening.

By Wandilu on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 10:42 pm:

I'm in Tn,and all the cities in our county chose to trick or treat tonight.I'm kind of glad,because Sunday's are pretty long for us.Also,our church is having a family night tommorrow night,so now we are able to enjoy both.

By Missmudd on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 10:58 pm:

We are having a church party tomorrow and trick or treating that evening, they should be good and wired I did have a kid come to the door a couple years back smoking a cigarette, I told him that if he was old enough to smoke he could buy his own candy..... Other than that I usually have very polite trick or treaters.

By Ilovetom on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 11:02 pm:

I'm with ya. I had a bunch that did not say thank you.

By Vicki on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 11:03 pm:

Our trick or treat was tonight from 6-7pm. I don't know what their reason was for changing it as it is always on the 31st, but I am glad they did. It is hard to get the kids settled and in bed after trick or treating on a school night!! All of my little trick or treaters were dressed and very polite!!

By Kay on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 11:18 pm:

Now I know that this is not the first October 31 to fall on a Sunday, so is this 'switching' the trick-or-treating thing relatively new? In all of my 45 years, I have never heard of a city anywhere near us (in Texas) decreeing that trick-or-treating be moved when it fell on a Sunday. Of course, I also have seen a huge decrease in door-to-door celebrating, perhaps due to fear for children's safety.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 11:52 pm:

In Cedar Grove and Oostburg, WI, there is a heavy Dutch Reformed population. They frown upon you, if you wash your car or mow your lawn on a Sunday. They would NEVER have trick-or-treat on a Sunday! I'm sure their's was tonight. Oostburg and Cedar Grove are about 10-15 minutes south of me.

My middle sister lives in a big subdivision out in the country. They always set their own trick-or-treat hours. So, we went there tonight so Emily could trick-or-treat with her cousin!

Tomorrow, we are going to my other sister's house. The go from about 4-7.

I think all the kids were polite at my sister's house tonight! She didn't complain (and trust me she would have, if someone had been rude!)

By Jelygu on Saturday, October 30, 2004 - 11:57 pm:

Yeah, in our town Halloween is always observed on Saturday if it falls on Sunday. I'm sure I will still get a few tomorrow night as well.... too bad most of the good stuff is gone!

By Cocoabutter on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 03:49 am:

They all said "thank-you!" but not all of them said "Trick or Treat!" Some of them just knocked on the door and held out their bags/buckets for candy.

By Karen~moderator on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 10:37 am:

Jennifer, unfortunately, I think we all get trick-or-treaters like that. There's a *less desirable* neighborhood on the street behind mine and the kids from there come to our neighborhood to trick-or-treat. They are generally the ones who are rude - don't say trick-or-treat, stand there in groups of 8 or 10 or 12 or even more (yes, that's true!) holding their bags open and NEVER say thank you. They often push and shove their way to the front and even have the nerve to start grabbing candy from the bowl.

I always say things like this to kids like that, like *You've had your turn, time to go to the next house* - *Say Thank You (said with a smile)* - *Oh - do you want a treat? I didn't hear trick-or-treat*......stuff like that. Because it infuriates me.

And yes, I blame the parents for not teaching their kids manners!

By Mommmie on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

Oh, goodness, who cares if kids are Ms. Manners on Halloween? How can y'all be so judgmental to a bunch of little kids who are dressed up in some costume - whether they want to or not - and walking around at night - whether they are scared or not - and going up to people's doors, oftentimes strangers, and then supposed to "perform" on cue, saying Trick or Treat, then remember to hold out your bag, then they drop some something in your bag - what was it? do I like it? - and then sometimes these adults are standing there asking a bunch of questions, "What are you dressed up as?" "Are you having fun?" "Should I give you a trick or a treat, ha ha?" And, then sometimes the parents are in the background screaming, "Tell them who you are, honey." "Hold your bag out!" "Say trick or treat." Then at some point this is all over and you're supposed to turn around and leave. Oh, and say Thank you.

Then the slightly older kids are just running full speed house to house, it's more of a competition, who can get to the door first, who can get the candy first and start running for the next house, is the porch light on or off, do you think someone is home, do we know these people, my costume is falling off, he has more candy than I do, etc.

I give these kids a break. I don't look down my nose at them or their parents if they don't act perfect. It's supposed to be fun. It's a unique situation. It's rare. It's a lot of sensory input for little kids. If they're not egging my house or dismembering my cat, I'm happy, and I hope they are having fun and not being criticized if they don't act perfect.

By Karen~moderator on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 12:30 pm:

I'm sticking with my opinion - if someone gives you something, you thank them.

By Bellajoe on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 12:50 pm:

Of course i don't mind if the kid is 3 or younger and says nothing. They are babies and are probably shy and confused as to why they are dressed as a witch, holding a bag waiting for a stranger to put something in it.

If the kid is old enough i wait for them to say trick or treat before i put their candy in their bag. Last year, everyone...even the teenagers who were not dressed up and riding thier bikes from house to house said trick or treat! And they all said thank you too. If the teenagers didn't say trick or treat i would tell them "come on, if your going do this, you've gotta say it!" and they laugh and say trick or treat...as if i were pulling their teeth!

Have fun tonight and be safe!

By Claire on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 01:25 pm:

Laura it'a called MANNERS and yes they are important - trick or treat or not.

By Conni on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 01:36 pm:

deleted

By Mommmie on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 03:31 pm:

It's Halloween. It's supposed to be fun. It's not a high-stakes test on manners.

If you think there's the chance your child might not do everything perfectly, then send them to my house. I'll cheerfully give them candy and enjoy their costumes no matter if they say Thank You or Trick or Treat or anything. We'll have a pleasant little 4 seconds together and then they will be on their way. I won't aim hateful thoughts towards them or towards you. There is enough hate in the world.

By Claire on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 03:48 pm:

I don't believe anyone is asking for perfection but I expect my children to use manners and I think that is a reasonable expectation even on halloween.

By Kellyj on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 03:55 pm:

True Halloween is supposed to be fun but I don't think that kids should forget good manners. It doesn't kill any of them to thank people. Even my 19 month old can say thank you. She said it when we trick or treated family. I don't know if she will when we stop at friend's homes but I will at least prompt her to say it because it is the polite thing to do.

I don't think that anyone is aiming hateful thoughts towards these kids. I wouldn't expect young elementary school kids to always remember to say this or that at every house. But I would expect older elementary and pre-teens to at least mutter a thank you.

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 03:59 pm:

Laura,
My kids are far from perfect, but I do expect them to say, "Thank You." If they forget, and they DO, I gently remind them. They're kids and need to be taught manners. Adults around them need to model good manners. It doesn't matter if it's Halloween or any other time. FUN activities are not exempt from common courtesies. No high stakes, just teaching them the ropes during every day life.

By Kim on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 04:18 pm:

I also expect some amount of manners, Halloween or not. I was surpprised at the number of kids that grabed a handfull from my bowl! That's never happened before! I would tell them to pick two and they just took. Older kids should know better. I made sure my kids said thank you also.

By Amy~moderator on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 04:44 pm:

Laura, so if it's Christmas and your child receives a toy that he/she does not like from an aunt, you believe it's okay to disregard common courtesy and not say thank you or even say I don't like this toy or I already have this toy. Just because it's "Christmas"? Would you agree with that?

As far as Halloween, all I would expect would be a simple "Thank-you". Common courtesy extends to every day of the year.

By Cat on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 05:49 pm:

I don't expect perfection either, and I do understand it's a little overwhelming for the little ones especially, but when the parents are standing right there and don't even make an effort to get their kids to use some manners, that irks me. We get some that the parents are standing at the end of the driveway and yell, "Just get the candy and let's go!" It's no wonder these kids don't say "thank you". Some of these kids don't have models of good manners at home. That's sad.

By Jelygu on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 05:57 pm:

I also am not sending "hateful thoughts" toward any of the rude children. I just appreciate good manners when I see them, but I have not been seeing many of them lately.

I had several other trick-or-treaters who didn't say thank you, and I didn't chase them down and dump out all their candy. It was just the little girl who said "Rats!" that kind of irked me. And I wondered why her parents, who were right behind her, didn't correct her or apologize to me or anything.

I just think that parents should teach their children manners, and they should use them on Halloween, Christmas and every other day. And yes I know they will slip up and make mistakes. That little girl may have perfect manners otherwise. I was just complaining about this particular situation.

Geez... it isn't like I pulled out a voodoo doll of this girl and started poking away!

By Insaneusmcwife on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 06:11 pm:

I expect my kids to say Thank you and to stay off the grass when possible. If I have to remind them too many times then we go home. Halloween or not, manners are very important and a very big part of their everyday life.

By Mommmie on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 07:05 pm:

My son is actually well behaved and relatively polite, despite having 9 dx's. Even when he was 7 and received FOUR Pokemom Boggle sets for his birthday he still said Thank you and didn't let on it was the 2nd, 3rd or the 4th one (as they didn't come at the same time). He never complains about what he receives. He's a lovely child and I'm proud of him despite his disabilities that sometimes affect him negatively. His school teaches social skills every day, in addition to what he learns at home, but age 10 he is still a work in progress. I am not as fortunate as you people to have children who present already perfectly trained.

My guess is in his few years of trick or treating (and this will be his last at age 10) that there has been a house or two where he didn't perform up to Good Housekeeping standards. I can't tell you for sure bec I'm not standing over his shoulder waiting to correct him. In fact, I'm not even there. He is trick or treating with some friends several streets over right this moment. They are going without an adult this year.

Last year his friend's mom went with them. I think there were 2 adults and 11 children. Who knows if every one achieved perfection at every house with their behavior? I know these moms and if they were aware of someone not saying Thank You they would prompt them, but they are, afterall, looking after 11 kids of varying ages and one mom, I know, was struggling with her bridesmaid dress and mask she was wearing and may not have been aware of a Manners Transgression and failed to be a Good Parent and seize this Teaching Moment and Prompt the Offending Child so they can pat themselves on the back and think, edited by moderator I'm a Good Parent.

Maybe there was a house where someone didn't say Thank You. The homeowner has no idea that this child said Thank You at the last 20 houses, but this time she had a brain blip, or maybe some kid pushed her right then, and she didn't say it and the homeowner thinks, What a rude child and then it happens again and so this homeowner posts on a message board how rude these kids are on on Halloween.

I don't understand this! These are children who are still learning! Of course, we teach our children how to act. Duh! But this indignant attitude of, I can't believe this child didn't say Thank You to me on Halloween, I just don't get.


It is against Momsview Posting Guidelines to use profanity on our boards.

By Tink on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 07:29 pm:

I don't think anyone is attacking your child or any one child in particular. It is the general pattern of behavior that seems to becoming more and more common. And there are plenty of parents that aren't working to change this pattern. I'm glad that your son is doing so well and I don't think that anyone is talking badly about the children that are too shy to say thank you. It is the children that grab the candy from the bowl and race past the children coming up to the door, all the while complaining that this house is just giving out junk! I, for one, find this unacceptable and if this is the way that the majority of children starts acting, we won't be answering the door anymore on Halloween.

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 07:49 pm:

I agree - if a child is old enough to say "trick or treat", s/he is old enough to say thank you. And I don't buy that s/he may have said thank you at the last 20 houses and just missed my house. (Though, in fact, all the trick or treaters I have had in the last several years said thank you. And if they forget or are very young, mommy or daddy or big brother/sister is poking the child in the back and saying "say thank you" - and they do.) And to comment negatively on the free gift s/he receives - totally unacceptable. My reaction would be "if you don't like it, give it back!"

I'm sorry - yes, it is a night to have fun, but that doesn't excuse having bad manners. And for a parent to just stand there when a daughter not only doesn't say thank you, but says "rats" in response to the free gift offered - more than unacceptable. Even worse for the brother to try to come inside the house without being invited in - and the parents don't say anything - unbelievable. I don't have words to describe my reaction, and that's a rare thing.

By Ilovetom on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 08:12 pm:

Halloween, Christmas, or Easter Bunny my children always say thank you.

I expect it from mine and I expect it from a child I don't even know who is old enough to say trick or treat. But that's just me.

By Kathy on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 08:17 pm:

I agree too. Be thankful and be polite.

So anyways...this year, my oldest daughter who is 10, wanted to collect money for UNICEF while she trick-or-treated. So after her friends got their candy, they took off without her and DD was yelling, "Wait for me!" while she collected money. After every coin was dropped into the little cardboard box, she said, "Thank you for supporting UNICEF." Even if the person told her that they already contributed, DD said, "Thank you for supporting UNICEF anyways." I don't think alot of the people were expecting that. She collected $9.55 and I'm proud of her. Not just that she collected the money, but her way of doing it.

By Rayanne on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 08:43 pm:

I made the kids say Trick-or-Treat. If they came up to me and opened their bag and didn't say anything, I asked them what they were supposed to say.

I had this one family come up to my door after all of my lights were turned off and everything and just rang the door bell and knocked on the door. The mother was with them too at my door. SO, I finally opened it, and they didn't even say thank you. They all had bags and so did the Mom and then she said baby baby, and pointed at her child in the stroller. I was like ok, and she held out her hand. HOW FREAKING RUDE!!!!!!!

By Amecmom on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 09:06 pm:

If my not quite three year old can say trick or treat, thank you, and politely tell someone what his costume is, then I expect that other, older children can exhibit the same skills. This is not about asking kids to jump through hoops. It's just about showing some respect.
Ame

By Palmbchprincess on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 09:12 pm:

We went on Saturday (all of our local towns except Ft Hood did Trick-or-treating Saturday) and it was the first time the kids really "got" it. We had them say thank you each time, and I apologized whenever one of them continued asking for more. (Maddie kept holding her bag out a second time, she just batted her eyelashes... cute but embarassing!!) I agree that it is simply rude to not say it, and to complain about what they were given is totally unacceptable.

By Beth on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 09:15 pm:

We had a pretty good bunch of people. We had one small problem with some older kids and my dd 3 actually took care of it for me. She said don't you have parents. I just had to laugh. Because she even knew that is not how people should be acting. I don't freak if they don't all say thank you. Because I agree that kids can miss a house or two. I prompted my dk's 3 and 6 all along the way. But there are times when they are so many kids and there moving fast from house to house and we just do our best to say thank you. As long as my dk's are making an effort I think that is what matters. My dk's are polite most of the time and I know that did not not say it on purpose.

By Mommmie on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 10:05 pm:

Well, they've come and gone and here's my report card on my visitors' behavior.

One group of children (sibs) were obviously trained to say Happy Halloween instead of Trick or Treat. Actually several groups said it, but this one sibling group was obviously instructed to NOT say Trick or Treat as the parent was standing there giving instructions. I gave them candy despite them altering the script.

As I was handing candy to a 5th grade boy, he ask me "Republican or Democrat?" I said, "Democrat." He said, "I hate you." I said, "But you love my candy, don't you?" Ha Ha.

Another older child complimented me on the fact I was handing out chocolate because everyone else, she said, was giving crummy regular candy. She made me laugh.

I had *plenty* not say thank you, but most did, I'd say. Sometimes it was too chaotic on my little bitty porch and I couldn't tell you if they did or didn't.

I had one nice couple pushing their infant child in a stroller and the mom said Trick or Treat, held the bucket and said Thank You. I bet that 2 month old will love her candy.

I had *plenty* not in costume, but they were mostly all very polite, slightly embarrassed and just really wanted some free candy.

I had a couple of grabbers, but they were all under age 5, so all is forgiven.

All in all, very pleasant folks.

As for my own child, I went a few houses with them, and I can honestly say, uh... there was...uh...I saw opportunities for improvement.

By Kate on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 10:18 pm:

Laura--you have a definite gift for writing! I'm not terribly interested in this topic, but I've been reading it all along for your humor and wit.

By Kristie on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 10:18 pm:

OK, Its seems to me that nobody said all children have to be perfect and everything everyone said has been blown out of proportion! Finding any child with good manners these days is almost impossible. Parents don't teach their children how to be polite and grateful. So if a child is being disrespestful to me while they stand at my door wanting candy I WILL say, can you say "thank you?" I don't care if the parents are standing right there or not. May-be I will imbarress(sp) them into teaching their kids manners. My son ALWAYS says "please and thank you". Even if he dosn't like what he is given, you would think it was something he has always wanted. A child who dosn't have manners is not a child I want around me.
Can you believe that a bunch of kids around 17 came to my door!! I gave them each a dum-dum sucker and they said "thats it". And I said ya, thats it! And this one said "Don't ya know the bigger the kid the more candy they get?" And I said "oh I must have skipped that part in the tricker-treaters hand book, was it before or after the part that said the cut off limit for most kids to trick or treat is 14-15." And I shut the door. It was funny, I don't think they expected me to say anything back. And I'm not responcible for my actions right now, I'm hormonal and in extream pain and not in the mood for smart mouth kids or teen agers.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN

By Nicosmom on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 11:00 pm:

I can't say all of our trick-or-treaters said "thank you" but a number of them did. If they didn't, I said "your welcome" anyway, this was a little reminder to them. Most of them followed with a thank you.

By Kim on Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 11:47 pm:

Laura, I agree with Tink. No one was attacking your child. I have children with problems also, not quite like yours, and I tend to try and be more understanding. But it really is becoming more common for the kids to *not* be polite, whether the parents are standing there or not! Manners are becoming rarer to find. I do not expect perfection, not at all. It didn't uswed to be like this and I think people are astonished!


I also prompted the visiting kids to say "TRICK OR TREAT" and also "THANK YOU". It lets them know what is proper whether their parents tell them or not. I do realize that some kids are too young or just too shy to say anything at all or have said it too many times. I try and be flexible.

I am sorry if you took this post personally. I don't think it was meant the way you took it.

By Annie2 on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 12:01 am:

I agree, Kate!

By Karen~moderator on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 07:26 am:

Well, *trick-or-treat* or *thank-you* wasn't an issue last night - it rained all day and we had ONE little person at our door all evening. How disappointing. :-(

BTW- he said *thank-you* 3 times though! LOL

By Kittycat_26 on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 08:31 am:

We had a good time last night. At 2, I only took timmy to a couple of houses but it didn't take long for him to catch on. He loved walking up and down the side walk looking for the lighted houses. The doorbells were all too high for him to reach to ring and it took a couple of tries to get Trick or Treat out but he does know Thank you. I'd take it out again in a heartbeat. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Everyone was extremely understanding and many said that he didn't have to say Thank you but all it took was a reminder and he spit it right out.

I'm so proud of him.

By Bellajoe on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 08:41 am:

Like everyone else said, it just comes down to manners. The kids don't have manners because the parents don't have manners. If they don't have manners then they don't teach their kids manners. I'm am NOT talking about the little ones. I'm talking about those who are 8 and older. Who are old enough to know to say "thank you" when someone gives you something.

No one said any thing about "perfect manners during trick or treating". No one is perfect.

My kids did great saying "trick or treat" "happy halloween" and "thank you" but of course they had to be reminded and since i was with them, it was my job to do the reminding.

By Eve on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 09:36 am:

Cute, Karen! LOL!

Yes, I did a lot of nagging last night. "What do you say?" With a 3 year old, there was lots of saying "Thank you" instead of "trick or treat" and vice versa. My DD was also one of the kids who kept grabbing candy! Who could resist that big bowl of candy? Aggh! LOL! Luckily, my niece was a good example for DD. She was very polite.

By Kaye on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 10:03 am:

It rained here too last night. We only had about 75 kids, so pretty light for our neighborhood. As for manners, no one stood out as terribly rude. I did have one kid at the front of a line go around to the back of the line and say, I'm his twin brother...i said that's okay, I gave him extra the first time..LOL. I didn't really have older kids. Maybe a few. I went out with my middle kid for a bit. I noticed that he stands very close to doors and takes a step toward the people, sometimes into the house...HELLO...kid where did you learn this. After about 10 houses he had this figured out though. My other two were with their dad, so I don't know how they did, but they had a great time, they got great stuff. One house was handing out beanie babies, one had hot wheels. Several had teeth and plastic toys. It was a fun night.

By Kolbysmom on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 10:14 am:

DS did really well with saying "trick or treat" and "thank you". We didn't stay home to pass out candy, but we were at my mom's for while. I was amazed at some of the kids. Most of them said "I want a big piece" or "I want Tootsie Rolls". One little girl(she might have been 5), asked my mom if she put poison in the candy. LOL Her bigger brother said that her mom told her to be careful because some people MIGHT put poison in the candy.

By Bellajoe on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 10:22 am:

It sounds like everyone had fun.

We went to my brother's neighborhood just to show them the kids' costumes. They have a big neighborhood with lots of houses and lots of kids.

I was there for maybe 30-45 minutes. In that time, these 2 girls who were maybe 11 o 12 came by twice. The second time my brother said "weren't you just here?" and she looked at him so surprised. He told her that there weren't that many witches with shiney stuff on their hats! LOL he didn't care, he gave them the candy anyways. There was also a little kid dressed as spider-man who my brother says came by 3 times! His dad was with him. You'd think the dad would say "hey, we were already at this house". Oh well, it's a fun night anyways. My kids got SO much candy, they will still be eatig it at Easter time.

By Cat on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 10:40 am:

I didn't really have any rude kids. Most were very polite, including the older ones. I knew several of them from the kids schools and had at least half of my daycare/former daycare kids come. A few of them made special trips just to come to my house (they don't live in walking distance). It was fun. I had spooky music playing and we have a skull hanging out front with motion sensors that says, "Hey! I see you. Where you going?" It startled quite a few kids (not the little ones though--it's hanging high enough to not detect kids under about 4 feet). Dh took the kids out and he said they were both really good about saying thank you and that Robin even got on Randy's case a few times for saying "Thanx" instead of the "proper way". lol That's those ocd tendencies showing! They each have a big gallon ziplock bag full of candy that should last quite a while (until I get sick of it sitting around or they run out of good stuff and we throw them away). We threw out about two or three pieces each that were opened and funny, but each kid had a whopper--yes, ONE whopper--unwrapped in their bags. Was someone handing out individual whoppers??? Oh well. They had a blast. The weather was okay, in the 50's, until about 7:30pm when the wind picked up. Those last few kids between 7:30-8 got BIG handfulls of candy! I have just a little bit left and dh took some to work. We probably only had about 50-75 kids total. Our area is really going to Harvest Parties and such. Our street also wasn't very busy--only three or four houses with lights on. It was a good night though.

By Kellyj on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 10:40 am:

We only had 14 trick or treaters and they were all very polite. Even though I told them to reach in the bowl and take a bunch, most only took a few items and no one was pushy or super grabby. That's the most kids ever for me! We have sooo much candy left over.

DD (19 months) went to 3 houses. She waved to 2 of the people and said trick or treat and thank you to one. She gets to trade in her candy for animal crackers and homemade cookies. I was very proud of her. I was worried that she might cry. She actually hugged DH's coworker!

By Tink on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 11:04 am:

MY dks went to about 25 houses and they were worn out when they were done. We also went to a friend's house so she could see them and we went to DH's work so that he could show them off to his employees. At one point, DS asked if it was his bedtime and, when I said no, he asked what time it was. It was 6:30!!!

We didn't have any trick or treaters but we were gone from 4-8:30. We did have one group of trick or treaters come up on a porch with my dks and say" move, you babies!" and push past them. Their dad was with them and he just laughed and said to one of the dads I was with "They're in such a hurry."

By Janet on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 12:26 pm:

Most of ours said, "thank you," but I had the worst time getting them to say, "trick or treat!" I stood with the candy and waited, then said, "What do you say?" They thought I was crazy, but it's the principle of the thing! LOL

By Debbie on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 01:20 pm:

We had lots of trick or treaters. Most were polite and said thank you. I also had several older kids. As long as they are dressed and polite, it doesn't bother me. Most of the older ones came at the end of the night. I gave a few of the last ones, big handfulls of candy just to get rid of it. They told me "Thank you, you rock". Hey, most kids, no matter how old they are, love candy. As long as they are polite and make the effort to dress up, who cares.

By Jackie on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 02:05 pm:

We had a great time trick or treating. I left the baby home with my husband to pass out candy, and took the 2 older ones out, and my friend and her 2 kids were with us as well.. I did have to "remind" my 5 yr old about manners, but I would say 90% of the time she remembered.. I did cut her some slack, as its a very exciting time for them, and for the most part she did remember, and if she didnt, she would yell "thank you" as we were walking away. I do believe that these kids(well the ones who are older then toddlers)should be using manners, even on Halloween..Do they have to be perfect, "heck no"..but have to show at least some effort, even if mom and dad have to prompt them to say something.

By Amecmom on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 03:44 pm:

I didn't get to go with my son. My husband had to take him while I stayed home with our newborn. She'd ben fussy and had a slight fever ... oh well, no bunny costume for her.
She finalle settled down and we were all able to go out to dinner together, which was really nice.
Ame

By Emily7 on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 04:05 pm:

The ones we had were GREAT.
One little girl even asked her friend to hurry so they didn't let out all of the heat.

By Kay on Monday, November 1, 2004 - 10:24 pm:

We only had 4 children come by to trick-or-treat. I'm sure that was due, in part, to the fact that we had some thunder and lightning around 5 p.m.