Ridiculous Trick or Treat Times

[Maggie Mae]

I remember the first time (in the 90s) we were allowed to go "unsupervised." It was so exciting, running door to door, getting candy, being scared of the "creepy house," and then running home, as though our lives depended on it, at the time we were told be back in the house. We still had the "candy inspection" which was really just making sure it was wrapped and not shady looking. Then I would eat a few pieces, it would get put into a bucket, and I would get a piece in my lunch and eventually forget about it. (I never really cared for the actual candy, more about "getting the most.")

It makes me really, really sad that kids today who are clearly old enough to be walking door-to-door in their own neighborhood, or a friend's neighborhood, are being accompanied by a parent or a grandparent and having to be back before dark. It's weird and makes me question why we are treating all of our kids like 4 year olds. We might have had "suggested times" by the city, but I think it was so that everyone was aware that there would be kids out and about, and the little kids still went out with their parents before it got too late, and then the big kids went out, and then people ran out of candy and shut off their lights.

[Emkay]

My city (~50k people) has always had set times for ToT, too- but it's usually something like 6 or 6:30-8:30. This allows people to get home from work and have a quick dinner before they take their kids out, and people with little kids to go out before it gets really dark. It also gives the older kids a chance to have some freedom and some fun after dark- and when I was younger, it was a close neighborhood, so everyone watched out for each others' kids. Sadly, I probably couldn't even tell you how many of our current neighbors have kids.

[Cannelle]

Jeez, that's not nearly enough time! :( Back home, the hours are usually 5:30-7:30, which still isn't quite enough time, I don't think, but it's at least decent. When we moved down here to the south, I called a friend our first year and asked, "Hey, I can't find anything online about this. What are the trick or treat hours here?" and she responded with, "WTF are trick or treat hours?" :lol: Here, they just go out once it starts to get dark and come home when they're done, which usually ends up being about two hours. It's tons of fun. A friend has a Halloween party every year and ds goes with his best friend. I usually walk with them, but A., they're old enough to walk by themselves this year (although I still REALLY want to go with them) and B., I might not be able to walk this year- I'm pregnant and still in the first trimester, and walking more than a little bit makes me sick (like, actual puking sick), so we'll see how it goes. There's always a huge group of kids and a few parents, so someone will be around if need be. I'm not worried.

[itsthatonegirl]

I had never in my life heard of cities establishing trick or treat days/times, until a few weeks ago. My sister, who lives near Cleveland, was talking about it. She wanted to fly here (Seattle) for a visit, and didn't want to miss TOT w/her kids, but didn't know yet what day it would be. I was like, Um, what do you mean? It's October 31st isn't it? And then she filled me in. I could not get over how bizarre that was, but reading here, I guess a lot of areas in the country do it? Where else in the country is it that way? Here in my area, October 31 is always Halloween/TOTing, and there is no limit on time, either. Most folks go out at dusk, which is, I don't know, 6-ish, and it usually wraps up around 8:30-ish? But that is by no means something that is required or enforced, it's just what most people do.

Does anyone else live in an area where there are no rules about it?

[mockingbird]

Take pity on an ignorant foreigner? Why Thursday?

- Actually, come to think of it, why Sunday? I'd initially thought it was something religious, but the "staying up" seems to negate that.

Thursday because the work week is Monday through Friday... they usually started trick-or-treat at 6pm and I think the rationale was more parents would be more likely to get off earlier on a Friday, and also doing it on Friday when you don't have school or work the next day was better than doing it on Thursday when you do have to get up for school/work the next day. Sunday was the same thing, easy to move it back one day to Saturday so kids could stay up later. They would only ever move it one day though.

My town was mostly Catholic and we didn't have any churches that had Sunday night masses at the time, so that wasn't a concern (didn't interfere with going to church - now that evening masses are more of a thing I'm not sure if that's taken into consideration just so that it's a time everyone will most likely be available). I don't remember anyone having a religious objection to Halloween when I was growing up.

[Ariel]

I had never in my life heard of cities establishing trick or treat days/times, until a few weeks ago. My sister, who lives near Cleveland, was talking about it. She wanted to fly here (Seattle) for a visit, and didn't want to miss TOT w/her kids, but didn't know yet what day it would be. I was like, Um, what do you mean? It's October 31st isn't it? And then she filled me in. I could not get over how bizarre that was, but reading here, I guess a lot of areas in the country do it? Where else in the country is it that way? Here in my area, October 31 is always Halloween/TOTing, and there is no limit on time, either. Most folks go out at dusk, which is, I don't know, 6-ish, and it usually wraps up around 8:30-ish? But that is by no means something that is required or enforced, it's just what most people do.

Does anyone else live in an area where there are no rules about it?

I have a feeling that "Scheduling" holidays is a midwestern thing. The town I lived in regularly scheduled Halloween and the 4th of July on different dates so that they almost always landed on a weekend.

[takers401]

I live in Eastern Washington (Tri-Cities) and the only 'rules' we have are that you only TOT at houses with their porch lights on. It seems really weird to me to not celebrate the holiday on the actual holiday.

[Mama Mia]

I had never in my life heard of cities establishing trick or treat days/times, until a few weeks ago. My sister, who lives near Cleveland, was talking about it. She wanted to fly here (Seattle) for a visit, and didn't want to miss TOT w/her kids, but didn't know yet what day it would be. I was like, Um, what do you mean? It's October 31st isn't it? And then she filled me in. I could not get over how bizarre that was, but reading here, I guess a lot of areas in the country do it? Where else in the country is it that way? Here in my area, October 31 is always Halloween/TOTing, and there is no limit on time, either. Most folks go out at dusk, which is, I don't know, 6-ish, and it usually wraps up around 8:30-ish? But that is by no means something that is required or enforced, it's just what most people do.

Does anyone else live in an area where there are no rules about it?

I live in California in the San Francisco Bay Area, I never heard of scheduled days or times for trick or treating until I saw this thread. Here the trick or treating tends to start around dusk and go until 9 ish, no rules about it.

[Arete]

I live in New Jersey, and I never realized there were places that put time limits or alternate dates on ToT. We don't have rules but we do have a basic "etiquette". If you are passing out candy, put your porch or street facing lights on. Coo at the baby pumpkins, ladybugs, and dinosaurs and tell the zombies, ghosts and witches that they are very scary looking. When you are out of candy, turn the lights off.

If you are a TofTer, you may approach and ring the bells of houses or apartments with lights on. If the lights are not on, do not ring the doorbell. If you are not in costume and are not the herd dog for the costumed kids, do not ring the doorbell. Come too early, no one is home from work and your candy collection is not the Great Pumpkin's best for you . Come too late and people run out of candy and it makes the Great Pumpkin cry that you have not maximized your collection potential.

See how we really don't need the town council to work this stuff out for us?

[lilith]

Trick or Treating, and Halloween as a holiday in general, has only become a thing here in Australia in the last ten years or so. Every year more households are participating and more kids are out doing it though (and there is ever more merchandise in stores).

My kids are 6, 8 and 9. I went out with them (and a bunch of other neighbourhood kids that I somehow got volunteered to supervise) last year, and plan to again this year. Would primary school kids be going unsupervised in the US?

We love the few American households in the neighbourhood on Halloween - they go all out with decorations and treats in a way that most Australian households don't yet.

[formergothardite]

I live in Eastern Washington (Tri-Cities) and the only 'rules' we have are that you only TOT at houses with their porch lights on. It seems really weird to me to not celebrate the holiday on the actual holiday.

I'm in NC and that is how it is here. You can TOT at any house that has the port light on. People drive from neighborhood to neighborhood TOTing. We live in a rural area with no neighbors in walking distance, so we go to a relative's house and TOT in their neighborhood with them. It is rare to see anything scary out on Halloween. The scary stuff is usually in stores so kids are going to see it even if they don't go TOTing.

I have one person that I know who won't let her kids TOT because she is convinced that people will somehow kidnap and kill her kids with her standing right there. She thinks it is the most dangerous thing in the world.

And this thread has reminded me that I need to come up with some costumes.

[keen23]

We get the swarms of kids. Last year we hit 100 in the first hour, and I ran out of candy. TOT generally runs from dusk to 8 PM, so about 6 to 8 PM. My husband takes our kids out- it seems like it's a guy thing to do in our neighborhood- I man the door. If there's play-off baseball going on, like has happened in past years, I'll put a TV on the driveway so people can stay updated on the scores.

[Arete]

Would primary school kids be going unsupervised in the US?

I can only answer from my own limited experience in suburban neighborhoods, but no, I have never seen elementary aged children out without at least a teenage chaperone. It probably does happen in some places. If you live in a fairly insular, small neighborhood and know every one of the neighbors, theoretically there is no problem. However, there are always TofT public safety messages in October and the biggest ones are always supervise them and check the loot at the end of the night's haul.

[flubber]

Trick or Treating, and Halloween as a holiday in general, has only become a thing here in Australia in the last ten years or so. Every year more households are participating and more kids are out doing it though (and there is ever more merchandise in stores).

My kids are 6, 8 and 9. I went out with them (and a bunch of other neighbourhood kids that I somehow got volunteered to supervise) last year, and plan to again this year. Would primary school kids be going unsupervised in the US?

We love the few American households in the neighbourhood on Halloween - they go all out with decorations and treats in a way that most Australian households don't yet.

We've done it for the past 7 years in Australia. (pre kids even)...and there are more and more kids every year. Was never a thing in NZ...(although I remember as teenagers we used it as an excuse to go through toilet paper on everyone's houses.

We usually open the gate about 5, as there are a lot of littlies and their parents starting/finishing early and close the gate/turn the light off around 8 (we like early nights)

We have great fun decorating the house and the kids get involved. I'm not up to letting them go out though (too much effort on my part) so they have to make do with everyone coming to our house.

[Aurora rising]

I live in Germany and Halloween get´s really popular here. We live in an area with lots of children and all of them are coming for TOT. We didn´t opened (because we just don´t like it) and even switched our door bell off because we had appr. 50 (!) kids there. When we didn´t opened the door, some of them were even banging their fists at the door and shouting. :cray-cray:

But to limit the time in the USA? :snooty:

[Nothing2CHere]

I had never in my life heard of cities establishing trick or treat days/times, until a few weeks ago. My sister, who lives near Cleveland, was talking about it. She wanted to fly here (Seattle) for a visit, and didn't want to miss TOT w/her kids, but didn't know yet what day it would be. I was like, Um, what do you mean? It's October 31st isn't it? And then she filled me in. I could not get over how bizarre that was, but reading here, I guess a lot of areas in the country do it? Where else in the country is it that way? Here in my area, October 31 is always Halloween/TOTing, and there is no limit on time, either. Most folks go out at dusk, which is, I don't know, 6-ish, and it usually wraps up around 8:30-ish? But that is by no means something that is required or enforced, it's just what most people do.

Does anyone else live in an area where there are no rules about it?

I'm from the Cleveland area, and we've always had established trick or treat hours here. I never thought much of it before, because in all the cities I've lived in, it's always been 6 to 8 on Halloween night. I think it's mainly so that everyone - the candy givers and the trick or treaters - are on the same page about when they're supposed to be knocking on people's doors. The "only go to houses with a porch light on" thing is also VERY prevalent here.

The only time I recall trick or treating not being on Halloween proper was last year, because my city was affected by power outages from Hurricane Sandy, so the officials postponed trick or treating until - I think it was that Sunday night after Halloween. Because the time change had already happened, and my husband and I were thrilled that we got to take our son out for trick or treating for his first time in the actual dark. Ever since they pushed back the end of daylight savings time, it means that trick or treating around here starts when it's still light out, and we're purists, that's just not right!

[Lissa1481]

We live in a small town, there isn't anything official, but somehow everyone knows the "rules"

TOT is usually 5:30-8:30 ish. Only go to houses with their lights on. No one hands out anything homemade. Families with younger kids go earlier, the teens go after 6:30. We don't have problems with the teens being destructive, there aren't many of them in town, so we know who they are.

[duplessis3]

We just moved but in our old neighborhood it is a huge deal. Almost every house decorates and one house is crazy decorated. All ages til about 9 or until we turned the lights off.

[Shoobydoo]

I'm from the Cleveland area, and we've always had established trick or treat hours here. I never thought much of it before, because in all the cities I've lived in, it's always been 6 to 8 on Halloween night. I think it's mainly so that everyone - the candy givers and the trick or treaters - are on the same page about when they're supposed to be knocking on people's doors. The "only go to houses with a porch light on" thing is also VERY prevalent here.

The only time I recall trick or treating not being on Halloween proper was last year, because my city was affected by power outages from Hurricane Sandy, so the officials postponed trick or treating until - I think it was that Sunday night after Halloween. Because the time change had already happened, and my husband and I were thrilled that we got to take our son out for trick or treating for his first time in the actual dark. Ever since they pushed back the end of daylight savings time, it means that trick or treating around here starts when it's still light out, and we're purists, that's just not right!

I almost wonder if this is an Ohio thing, because I grew up near Dayton and we also had an officially sanctioned "beggars night". Usually they would move it to the nearest weekend day so students wouldn't be out late on a school night. Then I moved to Minnesota and all my college friends were incredibly confused when I asked when Beggar's Night was. :lol: The "only go to houses with the porch light on" was ironclad law in Dayton as well. Only one hour for trick or treat is ridiculous, though. That's barely enough time to do a couple blocks!

I had the good fortune of growing up on an extremely large Air Force base, so my Halloweens were always fantastic. The residents gave out tons and tons of candy, as well as the police and the fire department handing out candy from their trucks, and since the place was saturated with police and firemen and military guards us kids were pretty much free to roam at will.

[Rescinded and Mended]

[laura oz]

We've figured out how to give our kids the trick or treat experience without having to go to a trunk or treat at a church that we've never stepped foot into before. *awkward* My husband has told all the people that work for him locally that we'd really appreciate it if we could stop by with the kids and let them holler "TRICK OR TREAT!!" & get some candy. I also called every friend I've made since we moved here a year ago & they're expecting us as well. This will be their first time going & I can't wait!!!! They're going as a cheerleader and a cowboy & are just too, too adorable :D :cracking-up:

[itsthatonegirl]

[attachment=0]evil halloween candy.jpg[/attachment]

Woooooowww. I have heard the whole "Halloween is evil because of its roots" argument, but "candy has been dedicated and prayed over by witches?" Do the witches work at Hershey's and Nestle? How do they get ahold of the candy to pray over it? Here is a witch stirring the Hershey's chocolate: :stir-pot:

[itsthatonegirl]

[attachment=0]evil halloween candy.jpg[/attachment]

I found the original story... it was written by a charismatic lady who actually looks very nice and normal... but...

http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/prophe ... -halloween