Trick or Treating - 2014

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Was weird timings too. Didn't see a single kid until the hockey game was starting (grumble) and they came in 20 minute burts until ~9:30.

Did each interruption to the game make you die a little inside?

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Are parents taking kids to malls or 'only' out to houses they 'trust'?

Going to the malls now is a way bigger thing than I ever recall. Although I don't know if it's a helicopter parent thing or more for the warmth/convenience.

[tvp2003]

Had the day off so we went to Market Mall and it was quite the clusterfata. Kids all over the place, no lineups (just crowds of people), general chaos (IMO). All for a lollipop or some other piece of crap candy that the store is giving out.

Contrast with going out at night -- no crowds, handfuls of candy at each door, more interaction with each person, way less stress. Kids had fun at both, but from a selfish parent standpoint: real trick-or-treating >>> mall trick-or-treating.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Did each interruption to the game make you die a little inside?

Naw I wised up and turned the TV on in the living room beside the front door so when I was moving about I missed very little play.

Also if things were intense I made the wife answer the door

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

I kinda wonder what the whole "helicopter parent" thing has to do with it, too. Are parents taking kids to malls or 'only' out to houses they 'trust'?

I went out with my kids, but I stayed a distance back and let them do their thing without my interference. Mainly just because my daughter was there, and she's so short she could be easily backed over by a car.

The thing is, after their bags were filled, they just wanted to go home, and it wasn't even to empty their loot and go out for another round. They were done. My thought was just that the value of candy has diminished so much, that the thrill is gone. It might have been different if they were with friends. A lot of kids I saw were also in a similar situation, just siblings and parent(s). When I was that age, going out trick or treating with friends was a big thing. Plus more security in numbers from candy thieves.

Helicoptering has crossed my mind. I have been testing my son out a bit recently, giving him tasks like giving him money to go get something at the store and get back home. I am getting worried that kids won't be able to function without parents around. I also want him to start taking the school bus. Save us mucho bucks in not enrolling in before/after school care.

[JonDuke]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Had the day off so we went to Market Mall and it was quite the clusterfata. Kids all over the place, no lineups (just crowds of people), general chaos (IMO). All for a lollipop or some other piece of crap candy that the store is giving out.

Contrast with going out at night -- no crowds, handfuls of candy at each door, more interaction with each person, way less stress. Kids had fun at both, but from a selfish parent standpoint: real trick-or-treating >>> mall trick-or-treating.

We went to Market Mall too, and have for a few years. I usually like it because it's warm for the kids, and usually it's not overly packed. My kids enjoy it usually. This year was madness though. Clusterfata indeed. The amount of people in the mall was too much for me and we left by 11. I have two young ones and it's crazy to see the mannerisms of both kids and their parents as they push and butt in line in front of younger kids. I'd say more than half of the stores didn't even hand out candy. I doubt we'll go back next year.

Side note, I dressed up as the big bad wolf for the mall trip, and was amazed at how many Asians smiled at or took pics of me. I must have missed something in my cultural studies to understand that specific fascination.

[brocoli]

4 kids in our village down south. Wife decorated our porch as a haunted house and had 4 kids go through it at 5:45. Those were the only kids we saw all night.

[Locke]

We had almost 50 kids in Douglasdale this year, last year we got like 8.

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I miss our old neighbourhood in Calgary. The homes on the street always had beer or hot chocolate/bailey's for the dads as we went around.

You'd probably get arrested for that these days.

Originally Posted by Minnie

Asked our neighbors and they said it's very rare there are kids that come around on our street, so we didn't buy any candy and went out instead.

Or are they just skipping your house...?

[burn_this_city]

We had low numbers in McKenzie Towne last night, maybe 30-40 total, by 7:45 it was pretty much dead. Hardly any older kids, which surprised me, too lazy for candy these days?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

We had low numbers in McKenzie Towne last night, maybe 30-40 total, by 7:45 it was pretty much dead. Hardly any older kids, which surprised me, too lazy for candy these days?

I must be out to lunch, I consider 30-40 pretty good actually. Around 50 was getting mighty annoying at times for me.

Some people's kids just have no damned respect, ringing my damned doorbell all damned night. Cant they understand that some people are trying to watch the freaking hockey game? Can they not read my 'No Solicitors' sign?

[burn_this_city]

We only answered the door 10-15 times in 3 hours. I missed the first period but the second was pretty much uninterrupted.

[verda13]

63 in Royal Oak... we were down to 10 candies at 7, ran out to Wal-mart stocked up and, of course, only 4 more kids showed up.

[GP_Matt]

Any suggestions on what to do with the leftover candy now? We had three kids show up last night for our first Halloween in Edmonton. If I leave it in the house we will eat it and if I throw it out it will feel wasteful? Should I just leave a bag in the lunchroom at work?

[Slava]

I would say we had about 40-50 here in Somerset. Not amazing, but good.

I think that part of the reason there are fewer teenagers and few kids in general is due to the cheapness of the candy companies. I mean some of the chocolate bars are basically non-existent. The "snack bags" of chips are pathetic at this point...we used to think they were small at 32g and what are they now? Its an overall cheapening on the part of the candy manufacturers that just makes it less worthwhile (especially as a teenager). Even my daughter (9) asked "how much would it cost to buy all this candy...$100" And sadly for her the answer was probably $10-15. If you were a teenager going door to door for a couple hours for that piddly of a haul you just have to question whether its worth it.

The one thing thats funny though is that basically everyone gives out chocolate now. I remember as a kid (and early chocoholic) that we received some chocolates in our bag, but a lot of halloween kisses, rockets, suckers and everything else. Now the bags are full of chocolate with much less of these other items. Its interesting how times have changed in that respect.

[calgarygeologist]

My kids received a large amount of chips and cheezies. Lots of chocolate for sure. I wish they had got more stuff like Twizzlers and Starburst. They didn't get any Jolly Ranchers this year. I really want some Jolly Ranchers.