Halloween regret :(

[CJ2008]

I don't like Halloween and don't particularly "care" too much about kids so I never get candy.

This year for some reason I really wanted to give candy to the kids. So today I went to Walgreens and bought some.

But the kids didn't come, even though I turned the lights on.

I drove around so I did run into some kids trick or treating with their parents and gave them candy so that was good, but for some reason I really wanted to hear the doorbell and see the little kids all dressed up.

Next year, right?

 

[kenny]

Sorry you didn't get what you wanted.

Funny, this year we did just the opposite.
We give out candy every year and we always get hundreds and hundreds of kids.
They bus them in from the lower-income neighborhoods.

My SO has a cold so we decided to not hand out candy this year.
I can hear the TTTHHHRRROOONNNGGGSSS of noisy kids outside.
Our house is dark and I turned the computer screen so they can't see it from the sidewalk.

SHHHHH!

 

[CJ2008]

Sorry you didn't get what you wanted.

Funny, this year we did just the opposite.
We give out candy every year and we always get hundreds and hundreds of kids.
They bus them in from the lower-income neighborhoods.

My SO has a cold so we decided to not hand out candy this year.
I can hear the TTTHHHRRROOONNNGGGSSS of noisy kids outside.
Our house is dark and I turned the computer screen so they can't see it from the sidewalk.

SHHHHH!

Kenny, sounds like MY house every year! haha

But yeah, this year I really wanted to see the kids. I think the reason I regret it is because I KNOW I will probably not feel the same next year.

 

[ame]

The max we've ever gotten was 7 or 8. We just never get any kids. Growing up, my parents would have to have enough for 200-300 kids, as we lived in a huge subdivision packed full of kids. We'd get cleaned out. There was a guy that lived caddy corner to us that worked for a candy company and HIS was THE HOUSE to hit. Hell, we went there when we were in college. He would always be like get over here, you're never too old! So we did. It was awesome!

My sister and brother in law took my nephew around for a little while, but she said they got about 7 kids within about the first hour. We had 3 in the first hour and only got 2 more after that. I had gotten a decent bag of candy, knowing I'd be bringing it to work.

 

[CJ2008]

The max we've ever gotten was 7 or 8. We just never get any kids. Growing up, my parents would have to have enough for 200-300 kids, as we lived in a huge subdivision packed full of kids. We'd get cleaned out. There was a guy that lived caddy corner to us that worked for a candy company and HIS was THE HOUSE to hit. Hell, we went there when we were in college. He would always be like get over here, you're never too old! So we did. It was awesome!

My sister and brother in law took my nephew around for a little while, but she said they got about 7 kids within about the first hour. We had 3 in the first hour and only got 2 more after that. I had gotten a decent bag of candy, knowing I'd be bringing it to work.

Yeah, I'm sure that's where OUR candy is going to end up! Thank goodness the candy I got is not candy I really like...

 

[Autumnovember]

We dressed our dog up and took him for a walk around the neighborhood so I can see all the kids. They're so cute!!! I'm hoping we can give out candy next year!

 

[lambskin]

Well my two weathered the storms and ultra cold weather and trick or treated. Since the weather was so bad only few groups went out and some parents even drove their kids house to house. I just walked with mine. Since practically no one came out my kids got a lot of candy. We did not get a single visit. I agree that you can never be too old to have fun doing it. I just remember when I did it and see the fun in my kids' eyes during the hunt and sorting the candy mounds... can't wait for next year.

 

[kenny]

We dressed our dog up and took him for a walk around the neighborhood so I can see all the kids. They're so cute!!! I'm hoping we can give out candy next year!

Aww.
Got a pic?

That's another thing we didn't do this year.

 

[monarch64]

Aw, sorry you didn't get any trick-or-treaters, CJ. Don't give up!

I grew up on a small farm, waaaaayyy off the road, and we never had anyone trick or treat. My mom used to drive us to the nearest neighbors' and then to another neighborhood where a lot of our friends lived. And back then, people did old school treats like homemade popcorn balls and caramel apples.

We live in a subdivision and go by city trick or treating hours (~6-. It was SNOWING this evening, so my 2 year old daughter and I made it to 3 houses before I said "we're done" and came home. It was just too cold. We had about 50 trick or treaters, though. My husband stayed home and Supermanned the door. (He dressed like Clark Kent, with a Superman teeshirt under his shirt/tie, it was so cute!)

I'm not mad that we only have that many every year. Candy is pretty expensive! I picked up some at Target yesterday--$8 a bag!

DD went as Wayne from "Wayne's World," I went as Garth. Wore my husband's grungy band practice clothes.

 

[AprilBaby]

Two years ago we got a dozen; last year 6. This year 3. That means next year we will get one and a half!

 

[VRBeauty]

I don't get more than a handful at my house, and I always prepare for a bunch, so I always end up with a bunch of leftover candy.

Which was OK when I was working and could bring the leftover candy in to work! That is no longer the case though, so this year I went and hung out with a friend who gets quite a few trick-or-treaters! I brought dinner, he supplied the Halloween candy (and adult libations), and we passed the time between trick-or-treaters watching campy old Halloween movies. "Return of the Vampire," anyone?

 

[Gypsy]

We live in an apartment. We NEVER get trick or treaters, and I hate it. One of the reasons I can't wait to move and buy a house.

I find that the houses (not apartments) that have Halloween decorations outside are the ones most likely to get trick or treaters. Particularly ones that leave the porch lights on and make the house look safe and festive.

 

[missy]

Sorry CJ, I hope some late Halloween trick or treaters showed up at your house last night.

We didn't do Halloween this year but at the beach house we saw there were trick or treaters from our security cameras. I wish we could have been there because it would have been fun to dress up and hand out candy. I always enjoyed Halloween when I was younger.

Gypsy, I wonder if you could do a sign up sheet at your apartment building? For the people who want to participate in handing out candy. They sign up and the people with kids know which apartments are OK to go visit for Halloween. We do it at our co-op and it has worked out pretty well. We didn't participate this time because I cannot easily go back and forth yet from sitting to walking so we skipped signing up this year but I think it's a great idea for apartment buildings and even neighborhoods where people know who wants to participate.

 

[Niel]

We had maybe 6 different knocks on the door. My husband was really into Halloween this year, so he was hoping for more. But to be fair, it snowed yesterday, so there wasnt going to be a whole lot of kids.


At my work they have kids indoor trick or treat. Thats always adorably distracting.

My daughter doesnt care or really get halloween yet so we didnt dress her up. She didnt need the candy, and she didnt need to be out in this weather.

 

[packrat]

London's in 5th grade this year and apparently that's "too old" to trick or treat-they're big kids now yanno...for this year anyway, I'm pretty sure they'll all be back out again next year. So, we took Trapper around. It was in the 30's, windy, didn't end up w/much candy. Hours are 5-7 and there were blocks only 1 house had a light on, on our way to the main drag. I probably should've stayed home b/c now my heel feels like it's been smashed w/a hammer. The nursing homes and Wellness Center have it inside, so I'm sure they were hit hard b/c of how cold it was.

 

[alexah]

I'm sorry you didn't get to see the little cutie pies, CJ! For years when I lived in NYC, there was no T-or-T in my building and i really missed seeing kids dressed up. If Halloween was on a weekend, I would visit my brother in NJ, as he lived in a large community with a lot of houses close together - there were so many kids and I loved handing out the candy.

We moved a year ago and spend Halloween with my other brother now; he lives in a gated community and they bus kids in from all around. Everyone in his community sets up tables outside and just hang out from 6.30-9.30p(ish) because otherwise the front door would have to be open that whole time. It's really nice and there are SO many kids! We went through over 20 bags of candy.

It really depends on where you live... do you have any friends or family you could visit next year (assuming they get a lot of "traffic")?

 

[Autumnovember]

We dressed our dog up and took him for a walk around the neighborhood so I can see all the kids. They're so cute!!! I'm hoping we can give out candy next year!

Aww.
Got a pic?

That's another thing we didn't do this year.

Yes! I will post when I get home from the movies!

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I don't like Halloween and don't particularly "care" too much about kids so I never get candy.

This year for some reason I really wanted to give candy to the kids. So today I went to Walgreens and bought some.

But the kids didn't come, even though I turned the lights on.

I drove around so I did run into some kids trick or treating with their parents and gave them candy so that was good, but for some reason I really wanted to hear the doorbell and see the little kids all dressed up.

Next year, right?

You've got a rep for not giving out candy, lol. People remember which houses to go to and which ones not to bother with. If you want people to ring you have to decorate a little, that's universal sign for "I've got candy". Put out some pumpkins and spiderweb and maybe you'll have better luck.

 

[luv2sparkle]

We weren't home last night so we didn't have to do the trick or treat thing. We usually have lots of kids, like Kenny, they come in buses to our neighborhood. We have lived her for 10 years and I could now so live without the whole thing. It makes me smile to read that people who don't get trick or treaters want to move so they can get them! When we lived in the mountains we didn't get any and we had to take our kids to the other side of the lake where people just sat out on their front porches and it was a huge party. That was fun! I know I am getting old because our family room is about 50 feet from the front door and just as soon as we sit down the doorbell rings again and the dogs go crazy. I get tired of doing that really fast. I guess we should sit out on the front porch like they did in Lake Arrowhead!

 

[CharmyPoo]

We had non-stop kids for around 3 hours and it was cold and raining! Love it and we give out candy every year.

 

[FrekeChild]

We handed out candy to about 75 kiddos. Last year we had about 125, so we were a bit thrown off. All of a sudden they just stopped, and it was way too early. Took us a little while to realize that the wind had picked up like crazy, and less than 30 minutes later, thunder, lightning and downpour. It hasn't rained but maybe once in the past year, so it was quite a surprise, even with the forecast predicting it.

Our little one went out early with a friend, and LOVED handing out candy once she got back.

I'm sorry that they didn't come. I enjoy it, and dread it all at the same time.

 

[partgypsy]

I usually hand out the candy, but this year I dressed up (Gamora) and took my youngest while my husband handed out candy. We decorate our house with a couple interactive items, so people know we are open for business . I take my little one to an adjoining neighborhood that people drive in to trick or treat. I hadn't gone in the last few years and forgot how much fun it was, a ton of people, houses all done up, the people handing out candy dressed up, lots of great costumes on the kids. Everyone was having a good time. We didn't stay out real long because her feet started hurting. When I came back we were still getting trick or treaters. A couple of the groups, in particular ones with grown up zombies, ended up talking to us for awhile and then took pictures in front of our house, which I took as a compliment. A couple friends/neighbors also came by still dressed up and we ended up having a few drinks and watching stuff on tv (part of Nosferatu and then the Innkeepers)

 

[partgypsy]

I usually hand out the candy, but this year I dressed up (Gamora) and took my youngest while my husband handed out candy. We decorate our house with a couple interactive items, so people know we are open for business . I take my little one to an adjoining neighborhood that people drive in to trick or treat. I hadn't gone in the last few years and forgot how much fun it was, a ton of people, houses all done up, the people handing out candy dressed up, lots of great costumes on the kids. Everyone was having a good time. We didn't stay out real long because her feet started hurting. When I came back we were still getting trick or treaters. A couple of the groups, in particular ones with grown up zombies, ended up talking to us for awhile and then took pictures in front of our house, which I took as a compliment. A couple friends/neighbors also came by still dressed up and we ended up having a few drinks and watching stuff on tv (part of Nosferatu and then the Innkeepers)

 

[kenny]

We dressed our dog up and took him for a walk around the neighborhood so I can see all the kids. They're so cute!!! I'm hoping we can give out candy next year!

Aww.
Got a pic?
That's another thing we didn't do this year.

Yes! I will post when I get home from the movies!

AN, I'm waiting patiently for your Halloweenie doggie pic.

 

[CJ2008]

Thanks for all your stories and your encouragement everyone

Asscherhalo - definitely - I told DH they probably know that I never hand out any candy!

But I spoke to 2 neighbors across the street, only 1 of them got a pair of kids!

And when I found the kids walking around the parents told me they hardly saw anyone out...so not sure if it was just a quieter Halloween this year...a lot of you seem to be saying the same thing.

But yes, next year if I get into the same feeling I will definitely put out some decorations to advertise I've got the goods! haha

ETA: Monarch, your kid looks adorable! And yes, candy is EXPENSIVE! What made it worse is that I had picked up only one bag and then panicked and had DH pick up 2 more.

ETA2: I too am waiting for the doggie picture!

ETA3: Freke, what a good way to put it...enjoying and dreading something at the same time. Seems to be a feeling I have often! haha