Posted on 10/31/2009 3:54:02 PM PDT by sharkhawk
When did kids stop saying thank you for all the candy they're getting. I am running about 1 in 4 of the kids saying thank you, and I am not talking about the little ones either. Only about half are even saying trick or treat. I also saw some parents following the kids in their car, and I am on a small circle street. Are they just too lazy to walk with the kids?
I don’t think I’ve ever had a kid come to our door who didn’t say thank you...we actually don’t have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, so Halloween’s a pretty slow night for us.
And as far as parents riding in the car, don’t judge too quickly. If it’s someone like me (who has MS) you wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun, but can’t do the walking, so you’d follow in the car.
First van dumped their load in my area at 4:10 p.m. You must be kidding...
Because the consensus is that is not safe to let the kids wander around on their own. And the older kids you probably don’t want wandering around.
Well, we decided not to “do” Halloween this year. I guess we should have left the house. When I was growing up, and as I taught our kids, if the outside lights are off on a particular house, don’t go up to it to trick or treat. Not working here, so far. Not only that, they are ringing the bell incessantly and yelling to their parents that they can see we’re inside watching football.
A pellet rifle has successfully kept them off my porch for the last few years..........I think they learned their lesson.
Oh yeah, the kids whose parents are driving them in the car are probably not from your neighborhood. At least that has been our experience in the past.
Besides, most kids don’t want their parents following them to the door. I know I never did. ;-)
As with anything, the younger kids aren’t really too sure of what’s going on, so it helps to be friendly, complement them on their costumes, ask them if they are having fun, and things like that. The young ones get tired very quickly after 8pm.
I try to make it special by giving out thin glow sticks, which are about 10 for a dollar in addition to the candy. The parents like that too.
Older kids who know what is going on, are generally more polite, especially if you encourage them to get a lot of candy instead of just a piece or two. I don’t even object to older teenagers trick or treating, because it means that they don’t have a party to look forward to, so are getting one last taste of childhood.
(And their parents have supplied the thank you.)
We'll see how long it lasts, but so far, so good.
We have yet to have a single trick-or-treater. Maybe it’s the weather. I hope all the gloom-and-doom swine flu tactics didn’t keep them all at home.
Small group this year, but terrific costumes and lots of thank-yous!
But I am the neighborhood BIKER, so they are a little skeered of me. LOL
Every child in my neighborhood is saying “thank you.” There was only one exception, a high school kid who was too old for this and knew it. He said thanks when I reminded him.
I am not in a small town, but in a suburb of Washington DC.
Everybody has been pretty adorable tonight. We’re winding down, now; the rush is over by 7:45 and the door closes for the night at 8.
You should have stuck your hand in her bag and taken a Reese cup and given her a big old thank you.
They’re all saying thank you here.
Is that really a conservative point of view? I'm in a pretty upscale community and every child here is polite, within the usual limits for kids of a particular age group. The mini-thugs from the next neighborhood sometimes need to be reminded to say please and thank you, but generally they too have been kind and there have been many smiles.
I think that more than the degree of affluence in a household, the degree of faith is what determines whether a child will be nice or not.
We had a few more kids than last year. Almost all of them little kids with mom and dad in tow. They all said ‘’thank you’’. Bought too much candy however. (’’burp’’) Sorry. Well, that was the last of the M&Ms..now on the the Reeses PeanutButter Cups....
So far all the kids have said thank you, some after being reminded by their parents but, they were really small. It’s hard to hear anything over the barking of my two dogs. They don’t understand Halloween at all, and they are not amused.
As for me, I can’t wait for it to be over so I can put my pjs on and relax.
I've been in my house since 11/2001 and every year I have decorated the outside of my house to the max and have purchased candy for the kids.
Last year I gave up on the decorations and the candy and guess what, I had one little kid show up. Not thinking, I had to tell the kid that I had no candy for him when I could have maybe dropped a dollar or something in his bag.
Well, this year I have my lights on and two bags of Reeses Peanutbutter cups for anyone who shows up but as of this writing (7:41 p.m.) I haven't had a one........
They’re all saying thank you here.
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