Trick-or-Treat

i'm not the halloween police. the 'true spirit of halloween' can't really be quantified. i hand out candy to everyone who shows up (even teenagers not in costume who sneak back several times) and wish them all a happy halloween!
:) khairete
S.

let's flip this one: my son was a big boy....& looked like a teenager when he was 10. This held true for many of his friends. Don't punish them for something that's out of their hands. Oh, & 2 of his friends were TALL! One of the girls was 5'8 by 11....& one of the boys was 5'10"! I consider age 11 still well-eligible for trickRtreating!

As for the not dressing up, I always discuss this with them & suggest they say that they're dressed up as "an obnoxious teenager"! Always gets laughs!

& I always offer a joke to the older kids.....& a "trickRtreat" to the little ones, always prompting a response! I never, ever withhold candy....

I can find far better things to get bent about. I truly don't care how old the trick or treaters are or how they are dressed. I do appreciate when the teenagers are polite (and they always are). As for the ones that don't talk or choose not to, I assume they are shy and far be it from me to give them more reason to be shy.

Halloween is supposed to be fun, for everyone. Not just the people on your approved list. Who cares if they say trick or treat? What differance does it make so long as they say thank you? If all of you aren't handing out candy out of joy and generosity, just stop. Turn your light off. We wont bother you.
I live in a very family friendly neighborhood. I like all the people around me. 4 yrs ago, I took my son out Trick or Treating when he was 10 mos old. He could barely walk. But he was adorable in his little costume. It was a great opportunity for me to get out and visit with the neighbors I knew and meet the ones I didn't already know. All the ladies hugged him and loved on him and I could see genuine joy in thier faces. He had a blast. He got to see all the differant Haloween decorations on the block up close. Got to pet peoples dogs and got a bunch of hugs and kisses out of the deal. No one was annoyed that he wouldn't be the one eating the candy. In fact, we went really early, got home, turned on our lights and gave that candy out to the next Trick or Treaters. Every year since I have taken him and his little sister out. I look forward to saying hi to some neighbors I only see once in a blue moon. It's a fun family activity, photo op, and memory. Why be saddled with a list of rules and expectations of other trick or treaters? Loosen up. Have some fun. Get into the spirit. Allow everyone the light of your generosity of spirit and loving nature. Not just those that fit your criteria.

I am one of those moms that dresses the baby up. I can't help it! She's so damn cute I just have to share it with everyone. lol I don't have her go to the door, she sits back while her brothers go, but there are always people that want to give her a little something. Or my boys when they were young. I think Tracy's idea of animal crackers is GREAT!
Personally, I hate all the teenagers that come to the door begging too....HOWEVER, I don't want my house egged, so they get A candy. :)
I would never withhold treats from a kid that wont say trick or treat. That's just mean. MOST kids are shy and get scared when they see someone they don't know just staring at them expectently.
L.

I hand out candy to anyone who shows up. It's just freaking candy.

Well, I don't "penalize" the little ones for not being able to form the actual words, and I usually pick up some packs of goldfish crackers for the wee trick-or-treaters.
As for the older (not dressed up ones), truthfully, it doesn't bother me that much. They're out, they're participating, they are just getting to the age where they're goofballs that think on O. hand they're too "cool" for Halloween, and young enough to be powerless to the lure of a Reese's Cup!
You have a 4-5 year old boy, right? Once he moves up a little into the radar of goof-ball stage--you'll relate better!

I agree with Suz. I give candy because I want to. I do not judge. I love seeing the babies and their proud and excited parents. The teens, I just give them a few pieces, but the little ones, I give handfuls. I love how excited they are.

It is the spirit of it, not an application for employment.

It is kind of like Christmas.. Your child has a meltdown on Christmas Eve.. Do you really not give them their gifts from Santa?

On Halloween, it feels like a bizarre community celebration for the kids and young people. I love participating.

I was a terribly shy child. I don't care if they say trick or treat or not. I truly enjoy all the kids. We did not celebrate as kids so I am loving this all! The only thing that really bothers me is the twelve yr olds in super sexy costumes. Espically if they are alone or only running around with one other person. I get so scared for them. I give candy to everyone. It is tacky that people get candy for there little ones. Mostly I think they just want there babies to have a first Halloween. You could give pacis to those kids. I mean how many babies actually show up 5 or so? As far as the teens they have there struggels and fitting in and being cool is one of them. They are staying out of trouble and slowly letting go of there child hood. Its not a big deal. If your not enjoying Halloween then turn the porch light off.

Ha.

In my grandfather's day (as he so often told me, and so many from his generation have confirmed), costumes were mostly limited to face masks PURELY to hide the identity of the trick or treater.

Because if you DIDN'T hand out a treat... they ACTUALLY PLAYED A TRICK on you.

- Moving your outhouse 10 feet back (so you fell in the pit in the dark)
- Dye in your well
- Sugar in your gas tank / shoes off your horses
- Mice in your grainery
- Sand in your pies
- Soles pulled off your shoes
- Water in your gin or juice in your whiskey
- Switching your salt and sugar
- Nailing shut various doors (house, barn, outhouse, etc., while you were inside them)
- Soaking your mattresses

The list of Halloween 'tricks'/pranks/mischief ranged from merely annoying, to expensive or dangerous. EVERYONE ponied up treats on Halloween, because everyone knew someone who didn't. My grandfather used to complain over and over and over that "Kids have lost their spunk!"

Well, granddad... Just in case one of the upcoming generations finds their chutzpah again... don't you worry. Everyone gets candy at my door!

I don't hand out candy... we go to my in-laws for Halloween since they also like walking around with the kids. I do take out the little ones in a stroller, but don't ask for candy for them, now I also don't turn it down if offered... more so because I do dress them up, they like seeing the other kids and my kids love stroller rides. Plus, inorder to take the kids out I have to take them all... can't leave one home alone - that's against the law you know.

I have noticed in the last few year more houses have changed what they hand out... they actually have different things for different ages. A few of the houses hand out Teddy Grams or little bags of snacks cookies for the little ones, candy bars for the "proper aged" trick-or-treaters and mini candy to the older kids. Which I kinda think is funny cause I have a 16 yr old that gets a little candy bar and then the lady will give the 7, 6, & 4 year olds full size candy bars and the 1 yr old cookies... of course the only one who cares is the teen, but I think she got the hint cause she doesn't want to go this year.

I do appoligise if it irks you all... but some of us only go out 1 time a year, don't hit every neighborhood we can, only stay out for part of the time, and actually walk instead of driving from house to house. Honestly, my kids just like dressing up... the candy is only a bonus - they get more of a kick out of seeing everyones pumpkins and seeing the adults that dress up too.

Wow, my daughter isn't even 2, but last year, at age 1, she was already running and loved going door to door with her sisters. I wasn't going to deny her that and I won't this year either! She loves dressing up and the experience, if she doesn't get any candy, that doesn't bother me, but we aren't being "greedy" at all. I love seeing the babies!

As for the older kids, yeah, it's annoying but I am not going to deny them candy either :)

Wow! It bothers you when a cute little baby/toddler comes dressed up to your door?? I think its adorable! And like another poster said, I think its less about the candy and more about the parent showing off their baby, which I think every parent should do and every baby deserves! My friends and I couldnt wait to dress up our little ones the first year! I had no idea people thought we were collecting candy for ourselves! lol. It was always about the tradition and fun! We usually ended up giving it to my friends older daughter or neice. Now our oldest is (in our group) is four and the others range from 4y to 6 months. We will dress them all up and still have fun and hope we dont have a grump opening the door!

As for the older ones not in costume, I get it that its a bit silly, but a right of passage of sorts I guess! There cant be that many of them in your neighborhood can there? Maybe have a bowl of those yuck cheap candies for when they come by (you know the ones, the black and orange things!)

...or if it really bothers you, you could provide a list of "trick or treating rules & guidelines" on your front door. Put all your age requirements, dressing requirements and wording preferences! That might help lessen your holiday aggravation! :)

Happy Halloween!

I haven't read all the responses yet, but we always have 2 bowls of candy: one with the yummy halloween goodies (kit kats, reese's, almond joys) for all the good age-appropriate kids, and another with the crappy candy no one wants (black licorice, root beer barrels, dum dums) for the older teens as tall as me that aren't wearing costumes and are just there to shove candy in their backpacks. It works for us. We rarely see the same teens twice.

HAHAHA!! My husband and I love when little punks try to come around :) The TREATS are for the little kids... the TRICKS are for the punks!!

My husband, years ago, dressed in camp from head to toe, and hid in the bushes by our door with an airsoft gun. He emptied the ammo, but kept the CO2 pumped. Whenever some teens tried to come to the door and give me a hard time, he'd jump out screaming like a mad man and start 'shooting'. Kids would be jumping into the bushes and behind cars, thinking they were really being shot at!! HAHA! Jokes on you, punks!!

I especially love it when I know their parents... nothing scares a teen more than 'I'm calling your father!!!!!!'

For me the spirit of Halloween is giving. When you start putting conditions on holidays or traidtions...then it becomes no fun.
If you come dressed I don't care how young or old you are...dress up your gold fish for all I care and you would get a piece of candy. I buy it to give it out. Not to pick and choose. Thats the fun of it for me.
The little ones are being showed off by their parents, and I love to see it. They are so stinkin cute. If the parent spends the money on a costume and takes the time to show them off, then why not give them candy?
I know thats what I did last year. I spent 20 bucks on a costume (not including shoes and tights) so my 1.5 y/o could experience the holiday. So she could see all the people dressed, so she could go door to door and hear the people ohhh and awww over her like I do. Yeah we got a couple handfulls of candy, but the costume was more expensive then the candy we got. So if I wanted to be greedy wouldn't I just buy a bag of candy and hide it somewhere just for me? The amount of candy we got was no where near the cost of the costume, but it was just plain fun and thats why we did it!
For the teenagers that are half into it..I make them work for it. If they don't say trick or treat or happy halloween then I tell them they have to say it to get that candy. If it all really irks you that much then just turn them away.
Happy Halloween.

Silly. Like someone else said, there's so many better reasons to get bent out of shape, I swear.
The first time my eldest went trick or treating, he was 12 months old. He couldn't say "trick or treat" but he was a baby zombie (making fun of his stiff legged, arms out walk), so he would say "EEEE" or growl like a monster. It cracked everyone up. He rode in his brand new wagon around the neighborhood and then would get out and go to the doors. That said, he was also trick or treating with a friend of ours, who had a 2 year old daughter. But it was fun. Nobody was lame enough to be judgemental because he couldn't say trick or treat. (He did try to say thank you). My youngest was 11 months old last year when he went trick or treating with his big brother and neighborhood friends, and he couldn't say it (we practiced!) so since he was dressed like a monkey he'd just scratch his belly and say "ooooo, ooooo eeee, eeee" while my 4 year old sang out the TRICK OR TREAT! THAAAANK YOOOOOU. Was the candy for me? NO. How judgemental that someone would assume so.
Maybe our community was just way better. Trick or Treaters that were really young (nothing official, but around 0-5) would go before dark and be done and back in the house by 8. They were given a pack of goldfish, teddygrams, smarties, m&ms, boxes of raisins, gummie bears, dum dums, etc. Around 7:30-8:30pm the next wave comes (bigger kids, or bigger kids with little siblings) and they got a handful of normal candies (pretzle packs, blowpops, miniature candybars, jolly ranchers, etc). And 8:30-9:15 the teens without little siblings would come through. They always made a little attempt at least, noone comes just as themselves....at least a mask or something. And they are always polite, and say thank you. Maybe it's in how they're received? All of us (me, my husband, my sons) open the door to see what's out there and say "HI!!!!". Maybe if you were semi-friendly they'd feel confident enough to smile, say trick or treat, and thank you. I give them slack because their parents might not buy them costumes anymore, but they still want to have some fun...and don't have much of their own money. It's also the end of the night---they can get BIG handfuls of whatever's left, until it's gone. I also have a "Baby Sleeping--please KNOCK" sign that I tape over the doorbell. When I'm ready to get into pjs, I'll let someone have whatever's left in the bowl and then turn off the light. Everyone in the neighborhood that participates does the same. We also have a game where we "Boo" our neighbors starting October 1 and that goes on all month. Kind of a secret santa thing, where one person starts with 2 houses, and those 2 houses start with 2 houses, and it spreads. It's fun to drive down the road and see so many houses with the sign in their window saying they've been "booed". It's fun, it's good community spirit, and I think it's silly to stress and put stipulations on things for what "you" think it "should" be.

I buy candy/snacks for older babies to have. I LOVE seeing the babies.
I do think it's tacky when people ask for candy for infants. And there seem to be enough parents that realize that, as not all do.

The older teens...as long as they are dressed and polite-heck even if they're just polite-I happily give candy.
It's the older rude kids that really grate on my last nerve.
Oh and the mostly naked girls in the 50 degree weather. :(
Thanks-I really don't want to see your butt.

We spend a lot of money on candy to give away to these kids. I actually have had several panicky dreams where it's Halloween and we can't afford to buy candy. :(
So I don't think it's unreasonable to be frustrated.

Here are my rules: babies-M&M's or something baby friendly.
Appropriate aged, costumed trick or treaters-4/5 pieces of candy
Teens dressed up-same
Teens not dressed up-depends on the politeness. But probably not as much as other kids.
Adults (we get a lot of adults)-1 piece.

FWIW my neighbors are super candy stingy-1 Tootsie roll or 1 Starburst or 1 small Reeces cup-everybody participating sits outside. So I don't feel too guilty fluctuating what I hand out. They do better at my house no matter what I give them. ;)

ETA: Because I needed to make my post even longer... ;)
I have an extremely shy child (or so she says), I don't have a problem w/ shyness. But in our neighborhood we have a lot of downright rude kids. There's a difference between shy and rude-even in teenagers.

Once they turn 15 I let them know to come back toward the end of trick or treat and I will give them some if I have any left. I explain that this is a new and exciting experience for the YOUNG children and I want to make sure I don't run out before they get to me. That drives me crazy, too, and to be honest I didn't let my teens participate after about the age of 13. They got to help decorate, pass out candy, take the little ones with us for "a cut of the candy profits," and "sort" with us.

The little ones don't bother me as much because the parents are so excited to get to do one of the first kid traditions with their child, kind of like the first Christmas or Easter. They get to buy the costume and walk around showing off their baby pumpkin or butterfly or whatever else they have chosen their little one to wear. I remember feeling that way and being excited. We still waited until after their first birthday to take them, though.

we give out candy to who ever comes. but I do make them say trick or treat before they can have it.
dressed teens don't bother me, I went trick or treating when I was a teenager, it's fun.
We don't usually see many if any teens not dressed around here.

I have no trick-or-treaters at our house, we are too rural. We take our kids to my parents' house to trick-or-treat. I have no problems with young kids and babies being taken around, but I can't stand the teenagers in street clothes with pillowcases full of candy. If you are going to participate in the trick-or-treating I think you ought to get/make a costume.
Last year there was a woman (at least 30) in full costume with 2 bags for candy. When she knocked and said "trick or treat" I put candy in the first bag and she produced the second and held it out. I was too taken aback to say anything, but, seriously? Not cool.

No, it does not bother me at all. I tease the teenagers who do not dress up. I adore the little toddlers tagging along. I love seeing all the kids. I give treats to all and we always are left with candy that I don't want. At the end of the night I'm telling kids, take more! They always look surprised. Some kids are too shy to say trick or treat. I try to talk to each kid and ask them about their costume. I remember one year when I was very very little my mom took me trick or treating. I remember she told me to go up to the door and ring the bell and say trick or treat. I was very shy. She stayed by the sidewalk and made me walk up alone. The door opened and a lady bent way down to say oh how cute! She was right in my face and I was so shy and panicked. I reached up and touched her nose and said "beep!" and ran back to my mom. I can still remember this bc I was horrified and did not know why I did that! I must have been 4. Funny!

We pass candy out to anyone who comes to the door with a bag/pail. Sometimes we leave a bowl full of candy on the porch with a note to 'please take one.' (I'm sure there are dishonest people, but I'd rather enjoy some family time than police other people's children.)

On the other hand, I never request/receive candy for my costumed infant. And I make sure my older one(s) are saying "trick or treat" and "thank you." I try to help *my* children learn not to be greedy/selfish and I hope other parents do the same.

I do the same as most of the other moms. I give candy to everyone (babies are so cute dressed up!) but if teens come not dressed up I tell them to come back at the end and if there is any candy left I will give them some. If they can't be bothered to at least dress up, then they can have the leftovers.

I get annoyed by the same things as you do, but I just give candy to everyone!

Oh and by the way, some years I have kept little bags of animal crackers for babies...

i take my son out :) then i don't have to worry about it!

how about going to visit someone that night and watch THEM hand out candy, that might be more fun.

If the teens have put effort into a costume and say trick-or-treat, then I happily give candy. If they don't bother, then I don't either. But most of the teens in our neighborhood are bringing around their younger siblings, so I definitely don't have a problem with that. For the pre-walkers and talkers, that doesn't bother me. I love seeing their adorable costumes!

I'm with you, C. M. I don't wanna give candy to a baby, they shouldn't have candy. I don't wanna give candy to a kid that isn't polite enough to say anything when they come to our door, and I don't wanna give candy to a kid who doesn't do THEIR part of Halloween (dressing up).

How do I handle it? I give them the darn candy anyway! LOL!

I DO NOT mind giving candy to teens that are dressed up... In fact, I LOVE the fact that they still trick or treat. I was a pretty innocent teen myself, and I was NOT ready to stop trick or treating:) Really, if the teens are dressed up, why NOT give them candy???

Happy Halloween everyone!

Ok - I did not read responses, but I did read your "so what happened" and I feel for you. People on this site can be EXTREMELY critical. I understood what you were saying.... I dislike the 16 year olds who don't dress up and carry around their pillow case in hopes of collecting tons of candy. For those "kids" I give out 1 tootsie roll - period! For the kids that don't say trick-or-treat, I look at them as they look at me - each waiting...after 30 seconds I will say - is there something you want to say??? trying to urge them as WAY TO MANY kids just hold out the bag waiting for things to be given to them. Huh - let's teach our kids to do nothing and get something -GREAT!! So - I AM WITH YOU!! When our girl was 3 months old we did dress her up and she sat with us to pass out candy, when she was 1 we did dress her up and she went to maybe 5 neighbors. In all honesty - when I see babies being walked around and parents asking for candy - it's the PARENTS who want the candy...I would ceratinly hope they are not feeding under 1 year olds candy...but as I said before, we are also teaching kids to do nothing and get something?!?! So, I smile at the baby and say - ah your cute - and heres a piece of candy for your parents.... me all smiles and baby talks - LOL, I hope the parents get it - probbably not! Yep - I will pass out candy this year, but the kids who dress up and say trick or treat get the good stuff...and if they say thank you, I give them even more =)

Here, the bigger kids come out when trick-or-treating hours are almost over. Some have costumes, some don't. I usually ask them, "Did you see anyone else out on the street?" If the answer is no, I ask them to open their bags to dump all the candy that's still in the bowl. I also remind them how much time they have left. Then I turn out the light and we're done.

Adults with trick or treating babies only get one piece of candy. We usually tell everyone else to "pick two". If I know the kids, I'll tease them about not saying thank you, "I'm going to tell your mother!" But most kids around here are polite.

wow!! I've not had this happen!! All of our Trick or Treaters are cute and funny!!! Some even have manners and say please and thank you!!!

If I had someone who just held their bag up to me? I would say Yes? You want something? Manners go a long way.

I generally don't care and give treats to everyone. I give out very limited candy though and usually give out something like pretzels with a small sucker or sweet tarts (much to my kids' dismay!). At about 8 or so when it looks like it's mostly teenagers left and I don't feel like answering the door anymore I just lock it and turn off all of the lights. Or when I run out of pretzels/candy. You've reminded me--time to go out and get my Halloween pretzels!

I give candy to everyone who has a bag to put it in. At the end of the night, we always have a group of 5 which is a mom with a baby attached to her hip and then some kids. None bother to dress up at all. I usually just give them the rest of the candy because we won't eat it all.
My son can't say trick or treat because hes non verbal so I don't expect other kids to say it. The not dressing up thing does bother me a little.

I have made my 200 bags for Halloween treats....those who come to our scary porch must say TOT in order to get candy unless they cannot talk yet.....we make the effort to scare the kids at our big 130 year old house and we and they have a lot of fun. I will have on a very scary mask and I sit motionless until they come right up to me and I do not talk except to say "What do you say?" and "Happy Halloween!" after I give them their candy.
Most of the kids who come here do dress up, and some of the parents too.
Every year we have several who do not get candy because they would not venture onto the porch....one year it was two neighbor boys that we knew well who would not(their sister did), and this was in daylight!! I hope the weather is good this year!

Yes it irks me in a big way. I get so frustrated when the parents of a 6 month old (or any baby younger than 2) comes and has a big old bag and says "Trick or Treat". Really? You're asking for candy for yourself? I usually say something snarky as I reluctantly give the candy like, "Gee does he/she even have teeth yet?" Then I only give one piece. Don't like it? Don't come to my house next year.

As for the teenagers who aren't dressed, I just say, "What are you supposed to be?" Usually that makes them embarrassed and they leave. If they have the audacity to still stand there, I say, "If you came dressed up, I would have given you a handful of candy, but since you only came as yourself, you get the dreaded tootsie roll." Then I hand them one small tootsie roll. :)

It's supposed to be about kids dressing up (that can actually EAT the candy) and being polite and saying Trick or Treat. If they cannot talk yet or refuse to dress up, they don't get a big handout from me.

Happy Halloween! :)

I give candy to anyone who comes, but I do tell those holding a bag for a baby that I have no candy suitable for babies.

hmm, I'm very proudly taking my 11 month old trick or treating. i like going out, I have older kids who will go, and there is no way I'm not giving the baby a bucket and letting him have fun. I think the little kids are cute, and who really cares who eats the candy.

Sounds greedy to me to be so picky about what people come out to trick or treat.

around here it is against the law for kids over 12 to trick or treat. I am pretty sure the same is true in Cincy. When I was 13 though I went door to door with my cousin dressed as hippies and handing out flowers instead of asking for candy. and when my sister was 15 my parents bought candy for trick or treaters (they live in the middle of nowhere and never get any) and my sister asked if we could have some and my dad said it is only for trick or treaters. So I took an eye liner pencil and drew whiskers and a little nose on my sister and she rand the the door bell and said "meow I'm a kitty trick or treat."

I had one pregnant women tell me it was for the baby. No other kids with her just her and her husband/baby's father whatever. I said I'm sure your doctor doesn't want you feeding candy to your unborn child but since you have enough nerve to go out trick or treating here and I gave her the candy. After my little lecture she didn't say thank you but I wasn't expecting it.

It irks me too. My daughter was 11 mos on Halloween and we didn't go out. At that age she didn't like or need candy so why go. For the teens I tell them to get a job. The main thing that bothers me is so many kids don't say thank you. One of the basic rules in life. When my daughter gets candy she says thank you as she should.

I hope everyone had a safe and and fun Halloween!!

I (personally) don't think little ones need candy. If it bothers you then have some small toys to give out.
Last year my son was 6months and my daughter was 9years. She was dressed up and he was in a carrier on my chest. I told people we were a two headed ogre and no I didn't collect candy for him. This year he will be 18 months and I am going to dress him up as Plankton (from Spongebob). I don't think I will ASK for candy but if they want to give sister some for him then that's fine.
My daughter will dress up and go with us as long as she wants to. I hope we get people that can appreciate how cute my son is and what ever costume my daughter decides to dress up in and not get some crabby person that is going to be rude.
If it really bothers you THIS much then why pass out candy at all? *shrug* No one says you HAVE to. TBH, after a few years in my neighborhood no one would come to your house if you were cranky to the 1)parents of young kids, 2) older kids that dressed up and 3) didn't give out treats because you didn't want to.
PS as far as the being polite/saying 'trick or treat' yes I believe that manners should be required.

When I'm handing out candy for Halloween, I sit at the end of the driveway to pass it out. It's a lot easier and you get to see the whole "parade" of treaters, and I think it's easier on the little kids than for them to "go it alone" to the door while their folks wait at the sidewalk. I don't mind the older kids out there doing it...at least they are still participating. Even if they aren't dressed to the hilt, having a mask or crazy makeup is still something. I always give to them. I also give to older kids not dressed up who are taking the younger kids around...I'm sure they could think of 15 better things to do than take little bro or sis out for treats. As for people who are taking out little babies, I always have juice boxes for the babies. The parents are usually happily surprised, and say they wouldn't have thought of that. I get 3 or 4 packs to make sure I have enough (juice I like), and when I have some left afterwards, I don't mind a bit. When the little kids come up that don't say TOT right away, I kind of tell them with a smile that they gotta say "it", but if they look stressed out, then I just say ok, maybe you can say it next year, and they still get candy. Usually though, they get the idea and say it. More often than not, everyone remembers to say thank you.

Yes ma'am it irks me too!!! I haven't read all the responses, but I think maybe we are in the minority. I CAN'T STAND the teenagers coming around in packs to T or T, wearing a mask and a flannel shirt. Seriously?? If you are old enough to have a job to earn money for your own candy, then you are too old to be trick or treating! I especially love how they will come to your door at the last minute hoping you will dump your leftovers or when they come twice because you have good stuff. So this is how I handle it: I have two bowls...one with the good stuff...chocolate and one with tiny tootsie rolls and cheap toys like birthday party gold pirate coins. The rude teenagers or the kids who are trick or treating and have to shave to put on makeup get the cheap stuff. I know one mom who collects empty wrappers which she gives to the big guys. I can't go quite that far.

It doesn't bother me as much about the babies. I figure new parents just can't wait to dress up their kids, baby siblings are getting a new experience, and every parent who has either a new baby or more than one kid could use a little sweetness.

I don't care if they say the words or not, unless they aren't saying it because their voice has already changed. I always hated saying the words too. It does annoy me when parents don't encourage their kids to say thank you. But I don't withhold from them

I give the non dressed up kids a hard time. The little kids - i think it's mainly about showing off how cute their tiny kid is & getting a little candy for the parents (i mean, they are slugging kids around). :)

We're out in the middle of a soy bean field so we don't get trick-or-treaters.
Our county has a rule that says you must be 12 or younger to trick or treat.
If a parent comes up with a baby, tell them the baby looks sweet enough already and doesn't need candy to make them any sweeter.
I think some parents just want to show off a baby costume but it's better to do that at a party than taking an infant out door to door.