My trick-or-treaters, Halloween 2010. The werewolf and evil jester are my big boys.
Time for my yearly republish of this post, which always seems to touch a nerve! Enjoy, and as Halloween approaches, let’s try to celebrate the kid in all of us.
One of the things that most pains my Halloween-loving heart is the opposition some older trick-or-treaters face. Maybe I’m just remembering the Halloweens of my childhood through pumpkin-colored lenses, but it seemed like there was more tolerance for trick-or-treaters of all ages when I was a kid.
It’s true, some older kids don’t really get into the spirit of Halloween—instead of donning costumes, some teenagers simply wear a smirk, a bag, and a sense of entitlement.
But I don’t really get the outright hostility that some adults have toward older kids who just want to dress up and have some fun. “They’re too old for that!” cry the naysayers. Too old for what? Dressing outrageously, wandering around town at night, and eating junk food? Isn’t that what being a teenager is all about?
My 13- and almost-15-year-old sons trick-or-treated last year. Their costumes were well-thought-out, and their gratitude for your hard-earned candy was far more heartfelt than my three-year-old’s. But at their ages, many parents start putting the nix on the treats and the tricks. If my son still wants to trick-or-treat this year, will his friends be allowed to go with him…or will he have to hit the sidewalks alone, in a world where many keepers of the candy will judge him not on the volume of his Halloween spirit, but the size of his shoes?
I feel for the teenaged would-be trick-or-treaters. By this point, most of them have given up on the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, and Halloween is one of the last vestiges of childhood magic they’ve got left.
And it’s not like we grown-ups can claim we don’t long for Halloween fun, too. Adults still dress up, but we eat too much junk food and act like children at cocktail parties instead of going from door to door. We don’t want our teenaged kids throwing cocktail parties, so why not let—or even encourage—them to trick-or-treat?
Nobody wants to dole out candy to sullen trick-or-treating teens who look like they couldn’t be bothered to dress up. I get it. But let’s just consider for a moment that the kid who shows up on your door with no costume might just be longing for a bit of that Halloween magic. Maybe he can’t quite bring himself to wear a costume in front of his friends. Maybe he’s just a brat. I don’t really care, frankly. I mean, the kids are asking me for a piece of candy, not a piece of my liver. What’s the big deal?
I’m hereby issuing an invitation: my house will be an equal-opportunity candy distributor this Halloween. If you show up at my door, you will get a treat, whether you’re two or twenty-two. Just a warning, though: no matter how old (or young) you are, I expect you to be nice to me.
Otherwise, I’ve got a special stash of pennies and unwrapped Mary Janes, just for you.
Meagan, I LOVE this post! I went trick-or-treating until I was 16 (one month shy of my 17th birthday!) and I didn’t see what the big deal was about. Many of the people handing out candy were thrilled to see me and my friends in real costumes, being polite. (The last three years I went trick-or-treating, I dressed up as a Renaissance noblewoman, Swedish milkmaid, and Hillary Clinton, respectively.) My family handed out candy like everybody else…why couldn’t I partake of the Halloween magic? The rest of my peers were getting drunk at Halloween parties. I’ll take trick-or-treating teenagers any day!
Yes!!!! I have a 16 year old daughter and we get a lot of teenagers trick or treating at our house. I love to see her friends and just kids that I have seen at school come by dressed up. Heck! I love to dress up too and if it wasn’t so cold out I would probably be trick or treating!!!
The last year I went I was 16 or 17, and I was Pestilence. 🙂 It was a group of us, all dressed up, and super polite. We went at the end of the night, so people dumped their bowls in. If they asked (and a few did) I explained it was my last year going out, and they mostly smiled and gave me candy. 😀
So long as the teenagers appear to be in the spirit of it, I don’t mind. They’re having fun! But then again, there’s far too many parents who seem categorically opposed to teenagers having fun!
We don’t do Halloween over here… but I so love the sentiment of this post!!! My oldest is just fourteen and is starting to tower over me and I had to buy him size 9 shoes the other day – startling really!!! A month ago he was half a head shorter than me a 4 shoe sizes smaller!!! To be honest he doesn’t look like the same kid he was a month ago… but his heart hasn’t changed a jot. Still the playful, happy go lucky oldest kid who loves playing with his younger siblings all day long. He would hate to be left out of anything because he was fourteen and he would be devastated to discover that his new found height makes him a sulky scrouge to society.
Great point! I would much rather have the teens in my neighborhood having fun trick-or-treating than having drunken parties. Let them have good fun!
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I love having teens trick or treat at my door! Give the kids a break! They aren’t allowed to go to parties, not allowed to get romantic with a partner, not allowed to sleep in; AND cannot play on the park gym, or trick or treat. Sometimes I think they feel fed up! They are stuck in the middle! People! Let the teens trick or treat!! Honestly!!
My husband teaches high school, and for years my theory was that if kids came to the door and said “Hi Mr. B!” they were too old to trick or treat. My husband, however, saw it differently and said we should be glad they’re out doing something as innocent as trick or treating. Makes perfect sense to me – now I welcome his students.
Yes~~
I like this. I can’t remember how old I was when I stopped trick or treating, but I think I was a teenager. I loved dressing up, getting to roam the streets after dark with friends, and the general special, festive feeling. Living in an apartment, we aren’t likely to see many trick or treaters. But if we do, we are an equal opportunity home! I hope my little guy still can hold onto to some holiday magic as he gets older. I just think kids grow up fast enough as it is.
I don’t refuse candy to anyone. I’ve given candy to the parents of trick-or-treaters. But I really do prefer it if people wear a costume, no matter their age. (Ultimately, though, I agree with you–why be generous right up to the point of an absent costume, and then be stingy and judgmental?)
I’m so with you on this. What’s the big deal? Some people are so grumpy about it. I think I trick or treated until 14 or 15.
My kids still go trick or treating with their younger siblings, but they dress up. I know I used to use my little brother as an excuse to go trick or treating.
Amen!
This year, we have some older children visiting our church from Africa and staying with families. They will be trick or treating and do not have costumes. We’ll try to pull something together today, but they won’t be elaborate I’m sure. This is their first, and probably only, Halloween, and I hope they can enjoy it.
I always used to get annoyed with the teenagers trick-or-treating, because I didn’t think they were cute like the little kids.
Your article just totally changed my attitude. If I get any teens at my door tonight, they are getting candy AND a big smile.
Candy is definitely a better alternative than alcohol.
Oh, this makes me so glad to read, Sarah! The way I see it, Halloween is really about bringing communities together – it’s the one day you go out and make contact with ALL your neighbors, not just next door but spread across blocks and blocks. I want big kids to be a part of that spirit of neighborliness, too, even if they aren’t necessarily cute 🙂
I think I was 14 the last time I went trick-or-treating. After that there was a general sense that I was too old.
Teen are welcome at my house. Well, except for the one(s) who smashed our jack-o-lanterns two nights ago. It’s not cool to bust up a 2 yr old’s pumpkins. 🙁
Love it! I used to trick or treat as a teen (maybe until I was a senior in high school?) and it was super fun. I think it’s for everyone!
PS I saw your pics on Twitter. LOVE YOUR COSTUME!
Steph
Ha! I’m equal opportunity too… never considered the pennies though!
My policy on occasions in which I am giving something away is that I am giving it away, regardless of who is receiving it. Theoretically, if we lived in a place in which people showed up at our door and we were distributing candy (which we never have), I would give it to whoever showed up at the door. To me, giving is an exercise in generosity for the giver, not a judgment opportunity.
When I was a young teen (middle-school) I loved to dress up, because it was a chance for creative expression and public performance. Candy…okay, whatevs. As I got older (high school) my friends and I didn’t trick-or-treat anymore, but we still had parties with themes requiring costumes–not just at Halloween either. I wouldn’t prescribe to a teen that showed up at my door, but the parties were more fun to me, anyway, at that age.
Meanwhile, there is also an unspoken factor here, for your family, and that is, you have a large brood ranging from littles to bigs. Teens taking younger siblings trick-or-treating sounds really lovely to me. I’d love to see that at my door.
Shannon, I have the same mindset as you do about giving, I think. It’s not about whether the person deserves my gift or not, it’s about whether I’m willing to give it with an open heart. And you know, candy is candy. It would cost a teenage kid about five bucks to buy the same amount of candy they’ll get on Halloween, so I very much doubt they’re all doing it to pull the wool over the sucker adults’ eyes. Even when they don’t wear costumes, I think a lot of teenage kids just like being out, walking around, doing something special and fun. And why wouldn’t they? I don’t wear a costume when I take my kids T-or-Ting, but I still benefit from getting to be out (and the “mom tax” of a few good chocolates out of the bag before it’s all picked over.) A lot of teenagers don’t have the opportunity to take youngers out. I just can’t begrudge them wanting to participate in the holiday.
I’m completely okay with teens dressing up and Trick-Or-Treating. I think I was 14-15 the last time I went with my friends. We just stopped at some point. It was a natural attrition – not forced.
Of course, unruly tricksters are not welcome…but that’s at any age. I don’t think teenagers have cornered the market on bad behavior.
If they come tonight, I’ll give em candy 🙂
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I think I was 14 the last time I went trick-or-treating. After that there was a general sense that I was too old. | 😛
I have to echo your sentiments. My kid is lucky enough to have a 15-year-old babysitter who not only loves dressing up for Halloween but WANTS to come trick or treating with us each year. I’m hoping her enthusiasm sticks with my daughter as she ages and faces peers who think it’s “uncool.”
I have the reverse for you. I had a couple come by one Halloween with newborn twins. They did the obligatory trick or treat and we all commented on how cute the babies were, put some candy in the bag, and then the dad asked about candy for the second bag. I actually said really how much candy do you need? I felt he went a little beyond greedy. I was fine with one bag and even thought it cute but the kids obviously were not going to he eating any candy. He actually would not leave until he got candy in the second bag.
That is a little ridiculous! We’re taking our almost-2 1/2-year-old trick-or-treating for the first time this year for that reason…we didn’t want to look like the greedy parents for hauling around a kid who could barely even eat candy!
Okay, that’s crazy! And just proves, as Dana pointed out above, that teenagers have not cornered the market on bad behavior.
Wow, they sound totally clueless. I bet they are the same type of people that will invite everyone they know to their twins’ birthday party, complete with a detailed list of where they are registered for gifts printed clearly in the invitation, haha.
We took our babies trick-or-treating to a few select neighbors, did a couple pictures and then went home to hand out candy. Until age 3 none of them really want to do more anyways. (I did eat the candy though;)
We went to the houses of our neighbors that we were close to when our oldest was 13 month old. They were expecting us and were gracious to provide little boxes of raisins, pumpkin stickers, and small packages of goldfish crackers. We didn’t get candy to eat for ourselves. Our neighbors were sweet to pass out little things our daughter could enjoy at her age. As a toddler until about age 7, her bag of treats was just big enough to get a piece or two from about four houses until very recently. Now that she is 10, she and her friends dress in themes and carry large sacks – the grown-ups are not excused. We will ALL be dressed as superheroes, but the adults do not expect to receive candy. We appreciate the joy our neighbors bring us and our children. I cannot imagine someone expecting to receive candy for newborn infants and then demanding it be placed in two bags.
This is the first year we have lived in a neighborhood that we can trickor treat in. My oldest is 17 and dressing up. Can only hope everyone is like you.
LOVE this article. I too went trick-or-treating until sometime in my high school years. I did dress up though, and one time, even got my mom to join me dressed up as well. I remember a lady wearing an M&M costume answering one door and then she looked down at us saying “aren’t you two a little OLD to be trick-or-treating? We thought that was really funny coming from a grown woman dressed as an M&M.
Nowadays, I tend to be a bit “harsh” on the non-dressed up teens that show up at my door. I forgot all about my Halloween experiences as a teen. Thanks for the reminder.
I agree. As long as you’re in costume and into the spirit of Halloween, come to my house no matter your age. My daughter is 13 and feels like this is her last year. She says she’ll still dress up next year, but have a party with her friends instead of Trick-or-Treating.
Great article! I agree, I don’t see the harm in older kids trick or treating and I think we should let them hold on to this part of childhood as long as possible. They grow up too fast in many ways. I prefer that they wear a costume, but I give them candy even if they aren’t.
I teach middle school and I have kids and grandkids. I say, let them be kids. Why are they too old ? I see this with television shows, movies, trick or treating, etc. We push kids to grow out of the innocent things then weep and wail when they embrace “adult” activities too soon. Let a kid be a kid.
I agree…the only one i will give the side eye too are those kids(all ages) that do not dress up. And that is the parents fault not the kids, i would suspect.
trick or treating for me, is fun regardless of age, right??
A hearty, “hear, hear” from the other side of MI! This might be required reading for my halloween guests next year! 🙂
So glad to see this article and the supportive comments! My two girls went trick or treating last night and were dressed in full costumes that took weeks to plan. The younger is 14, the older turned 17 today! They went with friends who were also 14-16 years old, ranging from Freshmen to Juniors in high school. They had a blast and only a couple of people asked if they were too old for trick or treating. They said they just tried to be very polite to everyone regardless of how they were received. I am thrilled that they are not “too cool” to have fun walking around with their friends in silly costumes, and am over the moon that they still get excited over candy versus alcohol.
Where we live, our city and the surrounding cities have set a legal age limit for the last year of trick or treating at 12. There was even talk that teens or their parents could be fined if over 12’s were caught out that night, although unless the kids were making trouble, I’m not sure that would actually happen. I don’t agree with the policy, but I also believe in teaching my children that we have to follow rules even when we don’t agree with them. What is everyone’s take on that dilemma?
What a horrible rule! IMHO, unless one breaks the rules, the rules don’t get changed. From a legal stand-point, the controversy is not “ripe” because who knows if it will be enforced. Only through enforcement can the law be challenged. Fom a historical standpoint, this is exactly how so many of those crazy and unfair rules were changed: somebody stood up and broke the rules. We can all think of Rosa Parks and her decision. We need a teen-Rosa Parks of Halloween for your town! And for what it’s worth, I can’t imagine this law passing anytype of muster.
I think it’s important to teach our children to stand up when they a wrong being committed–of course, perhaps not permitting a teen to trick-or-treat is not the same type of injustice. 😉
I am shocked at this rule…honestly, flummoxed that it would be such a big deal to the city (why? Are they citing safety issues? If so, stopping older kids from trick-or-treating is not IMO going to solve anything.)
I’m with Phoenix on this one…sometimes unjust laws only get changed when people resist. I might not tell my kids to perform civil disobedience, but I’d be making a LOUD stink about it myself.
I’m not against trick or treaters of any age coming to my door AS LONG AS they are wearing actual costumes. If you come around in a t-shirt and jeans with maybe a smear of lipstick on your cheek as your “costume” you can bet that I will be mean, stingy and dismissive. You will not get candy from me. I trick or treated through high school, but always put a lot of effort into my costumes, often planning and sewing for a month ahead of time. I did it because I loved the theatrical aspect of it and also considered it the price for the candy. Bah humbug!!!
MrsJennyK-please rethink this. Many, many middle school kids have absolutely no support at home. No one to help them put together even the least costume. They can’t drive, can’t do for themselves. Yes they could be creative with what they have-but many have nothing. Even those who do sometimes have parents who say no. I’d much rather give a kid a piece of candy when they could have done better than be grinchy to a kid who is just trying to have a little fun in an other wise glum existence. And don’t count them out because of socioeconomic status. Just because parents COULD help their kids do something doesn’t mean they will. You might be the nicest person they see today. Just saying.
Nicely said Nana…I know it can be annoying when we don’t feel like people are getting into the spirit of something that’s important to us, but you just never know somebody’s back story. I figure it costs me nothing to be kind, you know?
Me and my family are having fun during Halloween party…This is really fun!!
Hear hear. I would never begrudge a kid a miniature piece of candy. To me, teenagers trick or treating shows they are still connected to their community and like having honest fun. I think it’s sweet.
Thanks for this post! I’m 16 and went trick or treating with my friend (also 16) this year. I’m very nonthreatning looking and very polite, sometimes making cute small talk with the adults( and teenagers) who give out candy. Some adults were very kind, some hesitant, and some just down right rude. Multiple families made me leave without any candy and many more made it clear they didn’t want to give me any. I will say I wasn’t dressed up in a great outfit, I painted my face like a cat & stuck on kitty ears, but I had done that ever since I was 5. People like that kill the holiday cheer, sure I could just go buy a bag of candy but it’s fun to walk around and ask candy (and exercise as well). When I grow up, any one can come ask for candy as long as they respect the light on/off rule. It’s a holiday for goodness sake.
That was an exciting Halloween Party!!I think they really enjoyed it….
I’m 18 and still go trick-or-treating. I love it. I plan my costumes out forever in advance and it’s really my favorite.
I’ve received LOTS of hate for trick or treating at my age.
I usually take a munchkin with me just so I can avoid it.
I am 27 and still trick-or-treat. Some sneer at me,slam doors in my face or curse me for being “too old”. But I do not drink,smoke,do drugs or “party”. So I still enjoy getting candy and exercise. I think u can still appreciate what we enjoyed as children. To me and my family,its ok to do it. Too many people lose their sense of fun,childhood memories and happiness after certain age. People in my town call me a redneck freak for trick and treating still. 🙁
27? Well….After all, her NAME is Candy!
I read this blog because my soon-to-be 17-year-old Junior in high school has an elaborate princess costume and plans to trick or treat tonight with her best friend, who has an elaborate 1800s ball gown. They have classmates who have been going to basement parties and making out and getting intoxicated since freshman year. I’ll take the candy route anyday!!! But next year, I may host and chaperone a basement party of our own and have a Scary movie marathon for the girls….I just think senior year may be a stretch for trickortreating….
Candice, I love it that you are still trick or treating at 27, and you would get a generous helping of sweets at my house! I think to keep the festive spirit for as long as possible can only be a positive thing. I don’t even mind when the teens come out late and don’t dress up, I am always happy to see the kids in my neighborhood. I decorate my house to the extreme hoping that everyone will know to stop here, I also get dressed up even though I am home alone just answering the door, this year I think I might offer hot cocoa to the parents : ) Happy Halloween all!!
My only problem with the teens are the ones who act in such a way that the little kids are scared of them. Or get knocked over by them. Be polite and yeah, any age is fine.
I know I went trick or treating throughout high school and can even remember at least one year that I went with some sorority sisters in college. We had fun and were always respectful. I’ve seen a trend lately, at least in our neighborhood, where the teenagers are grabby, rude and often pushing little kids out of the way which I really, really hate. It makes me not want to give them anything but I do anyway. Your point is well taken…they could be doing a lot worse things on Halloween.
This is a good reminder for me. My 14-year-old (who will be 15 next month) is still going out this year and I admit that it annoys me. I feel like he’s too old for it. But mostly I just feel tired of his complicated costume ideas that always require a lot of effort on my part. I was hoping that he was about done with this. But I didn’t get to dress up at all for Halloween because it was against my parents’ religious beliefs and I always felt cheated, so maybe my resistance to my oldest son going is related to that. I suppose I should try to chill out and enjoy it because he’ll be grown up before I know it.
I always give teens candy, but I live somewhere that we get hardly anybody trick-or-treating. To me they’re just big kids. Plus I remember the year my now ex-husband refused to give candy to some teens and our house got egged. I haven’t thought yet about when I’ll stop my kids from going. Elizabeth Welch-Johnson’s idea of age 15 sounds good (but I don’t really want to think too much of it yet; keep these kids babies for as long as possible!).
Like another Sarah said earlier, you changed my mind on the non-costumed teens. I think I had a grumpy attitude about them until reading this, but you’re so right! What’s the harm in giving some candy and a smile?
My hometown was adjacent to a big university with a huge party scene. Halloween was so legendary in the college part of town that they used to bring up LA riot police to keep things in control. In high school the “cool” thing to do was to head out to THAT scene for college parties…. Now as a mom, which would I rather my kids do? HMMMM… 😉
I’m both “yes” and “no” on this question. If kids take the time to dress up, if they’re polite, if they arrive at my door at a decent hour, if they’re courteous and caring of the wee ones who should come first on a day like Hallowe’en, then, yes, I’m in favour of teens who go out trick-or-treating. Sadly, though, I’ve had some very negative encounters in recent years: Teens without costumes, surly and demanding – and sometimes outright rude – have arrived on my doorstep. I’ve seen them push aside little kids to get to the door first. I’ve heard them ask “Is that all?” or express their disapproval of what’s on offer with profanities. I’ve had them knock on my door not only after our lights are out, but even after we’ve turned in for the night, and we’ve experienced vandalism when we don’t live up to their sense of entitlement.
It’s hard for me to feel warm and fuzzy about Hallowe’en when it means encountering rudeness and experiencing property damage. If your teens are going to go out trick-or-treating, please be sure that you brief them on good behaviour before they go out and that you know where they are after they leave the house.
I am loving all the comments (old and new) on this post, and wanted to address the “rude teenager” thing. I agree, that’s a problem. It’s also a problem when little kids and/or their parents are rude – which I see every Halloween, too – but I think we tend to give little kids a pass because they’re cute and we assume don’t know any better. In any case, I try to differentiate in my mind between the kids who are truly ill-mannered (pushy, stealing candy, shoving kids) and those who might be more boisterous than the littles, or shy/insecure. AND keep in mind that I’m far more likely to notice the ‘rude’ big kids than the ones who quietly walk up and say “trick or treat” which may then lead to an unfair bias against bigger kids in my mind.
In either case I think Halloween is an opportunity! This might be the only time those big, burly boys come and ring your doorbell all year. Do we have to stand for rudeness? Of course not, but as adults in the community we have the right and the responsibility to show these kids the right way to behave – whether it’s by pointing out that they almost knocked over that four-year-old ninja or by saying “what’s the magic word?” before handing over the treats.
I have to say I haven’t encountered a lot of TRULY rude kids trick-or-treating, but when it happens I try to keep in mind that showing kindness isn’t harming me and that I shouldn’t allow the misbehavior of some to turn me against a whole demographic of kids. Oh, and yeah – I’d rather they were trick-or-treating than out drinking somewhere.
Thank you so much for this post. I hope my boys will stay kids and young at heart for as long as possible. There is so much pressure to grow up and get on with life that I am all for them keeping some of the magic of childhood. When my boys decide they are too old to trick or treat our house will be the Halloween party destination for their friends (adult supervision of course!). It’s one of my favorite holidays and I hope it stays one of their’s too.
I love trick-or-treaters of any age and never deny candy to anyone. What I don’t care for is when the teenage trick-or-treaters have inappropriate costumes. Handing out candy to a jail-bait French maid or sexy stewardess is not my idea of fun.
AGREED!
They should be in scary stuff or fairy costumes.
They are to young to be dressing sexy.
I am with you, if it means I have to buy a few more bags of candy just to let them be kids a little longer I am all for it. My family actually looks forward to the hour when “it is just the teenagers by now”. I do not care if they are dressed or not just they idea of it puts me in the spirit.
What is with everyone acting like teenagers arent kids anymore and shouldnt trick or treat?
Rather you guys like it or not they are kids! They are not 25 years old yet so they are still kids!
So what if they trick or treat? Just give them a piece of candy and STOP BEING CHEEP!
Unless of course you want to have a egg house…
I welcome teens to my house too. We actually have a lot of teens who trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Some of them get really creative with the costumes too. Even if they DON’T dress up, they get candy and a smile.
I really liked what you said about holding on to some of the magic of childhood. I’ve never really thought about that before. Kids seem in such a rush to grow up these days. So it’s nice to see kids enjoying being kids for a little while longer.
Thanks for the reminder! I will remember this when the doorbell rings….
Funny, I’ve never even thought of the costume thing, but I do refuse candy to children who don’t say “trick or treat” (unless shyness is clearly an issue, or lack of English language skills). I mean, it’s the one requirement – the whole point of giving candy was meant to stave off the “trick” part!
Busted out laughing at the liver comment. Pinning now.
I love this! My youngest brother is 13 this year and has always been very tall for his age (he is 6ft 3in and wears size 15 shoe! 13 years old!). He is not going trick or treating this year because he was so embarrassed last year by all the comments he got about being too old to trick or treat. He is going to have a doughnut making party instead (excellent alternative) but I think it’s a shame he can’t go trick or treating!
I think most people have no problem giving candy to teenagers as long as they are in a costume. It becomes annoying when one kid dresses up and wants to go and invites his friends but they don’t dress up and they show up at the door asking for candy with the costumed teenager. Parents need to do a better job of telling their teenagers they better not go knocking on people’s doors unless they are going to dress up and be respectful Of the litte ones. My husband is a police officer and we had his car parked in the driveway last year, we went trick or treating with our 3 year old and we saw three teenagers in costumes walk up to our door and dump the bucket of candy we had left out into their bags! Those teenagers make a bad name for the other kids. And they ruin Halloween for the little kids. 🙁
I’ve got a pretty simple system for dealing with older kids: 1. Great costume and polite? Just as much candy as the littles. 2. So-so costume and polite? Option to “sing for your supper”. do it with a good attitude and win your equal-opportunity stash. Do it with a bad attitude or refuse and I’ll either hand out the super lame cheap-o sucker, or I’ll refuse to hand out anything until you bring your “A” game. For the most part even the kids with “bad attitudes” end up coming through, often goaded on by their laughing friends. And so far no one’s egged my house, so I guess it seems fair to the kids, too.
I didn’t get to experience the joy of dressing up until I was 13, and I have a 15 year old who is VERY into getting dressed up.
I too will welcome treaters of all ages! 🙂
I love this post! I remember being 13 or 14 and being told that I was “too old” to be trick or treating while I was out in costume going door to door. Meanwhile I’ve always been told I look younger than I am but then the one time I want to use that to my advantage they turn me away! I still go trick or treating and dress up at 31 (with my god-daughter who is now 7 and my best friends) and we occasionally get offered up some candy by the nice ones. This year will be exciting because it will be my first Halloween with my little one!! We can’t wait!! Glad to know there’s still some nice ones who give up the goods to those to treck it out in the cold in costume and go door to door!
I agree completely, my 14 year old is 6’2″ and looks so much older as does my 11 year old (he looks at least 13) and he’s still my baby – plays with his toys all the time and is super excited about trick or treating tonight! But I had to comment, the jester and werewolf costumes are the same ones both my sons wore a few years ago, so now that I felt like a kindred spirit, just had to say thank you for your post, I will be sharing on my FB wall!!
I have pretty fond memories of trick or treating as a teenager, sometimes in costume, sometimes out of it. Even better were the days when, on the walk to school the morning after Halloween, people would put notes on the door or bowls on the porch offering up all the leftover candy.
Big kids just want to have a bit of fun, too. Let them have it. I’ve seen parents of small children who behave worse than the teenagers who show up on Halloween. If they’re polite, let them have their bit of fun. You should never be too old or too big to take pleasure in something so simple.
Also consider that teenagers trick or treating, and not being treated poorly because of it, are teenagers who aren’t getting drunk, partying, or defacing houses, at least for that time they’re candy-hunting. I’d much rather have these kids at my door for candy (and often with pretty damn cool costumes!) than on the road.
I totally agree! Lots of teens trick-or-treat in my neighborhood, and they have some of the best costumes. Since they tend to come later, I give them more candy than I give the little ones. My 13 yo and 17 yo are each going trick-or-treating this year with a bunch of their friends. It’s the last year that the high school senior can go, since it doesn’t really happen in college (where they switch to the partying thing instead…).
I’m going tonight and I’m 13. I’m taking a younger sibling, but I’m really nervous that I’ll be told I’m too old. I really hope I don’t get dirty looks :(. We’re still kids too… At least were not going to parties and getting drunk and egging houses.