My husband and I both take our kids' trick-or-treating. I normally leave the light on and a big bowl of candy outside with a sign that says "Take two." So last year we came back after about an hour and the whole bowl was empty. I wondered if someone--a bigger kid-- just came by and dumped it in their bag.
So my question is: Should I leave a bowl of candy outside with the light on even though we aren't home? Or just turn the light off?? What do you do?
Thanks.
Thanks for all the chimes. We live on a very quiet street. We didn't even go on our own street because most of the lights were out. That is why I was so surprised when the bowl was empty after about an hour. But I don't like to tag team either because we have so little "family" time that I cherish our time on Halloween as family time! These are my memories!
But I also agree that I don't like it when I see lights out and/or no candy on Halloween. It's a kids' holiday after all and it seems every year, less lights are on.
So I will leave the light on -- and the bowl out with a sign that says "Take two--Santa's watching you" like one of you suggested--forgive me that I can't recall the name. Eventually, I will get a scary scarecrow hovering over the bowl like another suggested.
But it's all in good fun and it's all about the kids! Happy Halloween.
What we DO do is O. of us takes him on O. direction, and the other passes out candy, then the other person takes him the opposite way and the opposite person passes out candy.
We tag team. I go out with DS and hubby hands out candy, then we switch. That way we both get to have the fun of taking out the little guy and giving out the candy :)
I leave a bowl out too...it says,
"Take two...Santa's watching you!"
L.
My children are younger so we don't stay out late. We just go up and down our street to get the experience of trick or treating. Since we are back so early, I don't leave a bowl out or I have someone else come over just to give out candy.
Frankly, it annoys me when neighbors take their kids out to everyone else's house for treats but never give any out. My next door neighbors usually do that and I have always thought it a bit rude...
I like the butterfly you made with the symbols!
I have done Trick or Treating different ways over the years. We have lived in our home for over 20 years. Without a child and then with a child and now with a child away at college.
I have left the bowl out with a sign and it seemed like people "treated" very well, we came home and there was still candy there!! I was very pleased.
I have also given my neighbors big bags of candy and asked if they would mind handing out our candy for us. They said they would be happy to do it and let people know it was from our house.. So I left a sign on our door saying.. We "could not answer the door tonight so our neighbors would be giving out our candy.. That also worked well.
It is totally up to you.. Just give when you want to and can.. ",
The thing to remember is that yes, some neighbors take their children to Trick or Treat so do not hand out candy for those few years, but will once again hand out candy when their kids can either go out on their own or quit trick or treating.. I do not keep a score card on who gives and who doesn't.
My neighborhood always has the little ones out early and home early and the bigger kids wait until dark. We leave the light on, and have a scarecrow that "guards" our big candy bowl (he stands beside the bowl which is on a folding tray), with a sign around his neck saying "Happy Halloween! Please take 2". We leave little packs of small kid goodies. We're home by the time before it's good and dark, and then we pour more candy into the bowl, remove the sign, and let them knock on the door. Haven't had problems yet. Both of us like to go around trick or treating together though, since our boys are very young. Neither of us wants to miss out.
I ALWAYS suspected the bigger kids (from having been a kid myself and knowing the 'candy theives' in school). But, honest to god, 5 years running I've caught the TODDLERS doing it each and every single year! The parents are sending them up to the door alone, and they've shoveling in or dumping the bowl in not knowing any better and (I'm assuming) not knowing how to read.
Could just be our area, but it was shocking to me. Both in my assumptions being way off base, and parents not going to the door with their little ones.
Personally, I'd still leave the candy out. As a kid, when we came across an empty bowl, we knew the person had TRIED. So they got good marks in our book.
I would just leave the light off and participate when you come home.
One of us always stayed home because we get people dropping off kids by the van loads in our neighborhood and if I left a bowl out, the children who are my neighbors would not get anything.
It is a shame but some people are just like that I guess.
Yep a big kid, or a little kid, took all the candy. Leave the light off until you get home. Then pass your candy out. :-) Some kids don't have an honest bone in their body....nor a fair one at that. So I wouldn't leave the bowl outside at all.
leaving a bowl out like that is like buying a big bag of candy for one dishonest kid. I would skip it and just hand out once you get home.
No, just turn off the light and go have some fun on your own. Or one of you stay home and the other go with kiddo.
I sit and pass out the candy while my DH takes the kid/s...1st year it will be 2! :)
Leaving a bowl out wouldn't last 10 minutes in our neighborhood. :(
If you both must go I'd just turn the light off.
I have found that in my neighborhood, the older kids are out later and the smaller kids with parents go the earlier route. So I leave the bowl out with the light on while I take my son for an hour or two and then bring it inside and hand out candy after we are back. I haven't had any problems. I also buy the big mix that has the bubble gum, jawbreakers, etc. I don't buy the "good" candy that would make a kid want to dump the whole bowl. :)
What you mentioned doing is what families around here do. To stop the first person from taking it all, don't give out the really good stuff. Give out stuff that is aimed more towards the little kids. Cookies, Teddy Bear Graham crackers, lollipops. Only have a little bit of good chocolate.
My kids like to hand out candy as much as go get it, so we go out for the first 2 hours or so, then come home and they get to answer the door and give out the treats. I don't leave a bowl out when we are not home.
If you have a neighbor you like, give your candy to them to give our, so they have double. I grabbed handfuls when I was a kid....since everyone else did, and most of us were the good kids! Don't take it personally.
I vote for tag-teaming, which is what my husband and I do. Our neighborhood is basically just one big square block so one of us will take DD around the outside houses and the other will hand out candy - then we switch off and she does the inside houses.
I'm with Amanda H. In our community, the big kids come out later and the small one's are out while we are out with our 5 year old. I haven't had any problems.
If your neighborhood isn't like that, can you and your husband switch off? 30 minutes with your child and then 30 minutes handing out candy? Or do you have a relative that can come over and answer the door? My mom sometimes does that because she doesn't have a lot of kids in her community, she'll come to ours to hand out candy~
My husband and I trade off every year with one taking them and the pther handing out candy.
Get cheap candy and try again. It's likely that yes, bigger kids came by and did that last year.This year they're a whole year older and may have better things to do.
We trick-or-treat at my parents house. Mom, SIL, Neice, my son go trick or treating. Dad and husband watch tv and answer the door and drink beer.
I agree with TF. We have tons of kids bussed in from other neighborhoods every year. It looks like a parade is going down each street with all of the cars! I would definitely just leave your porch light on and you and your signifigant other take turns. One of you take your child out and the other hands out the treats. That's what my husband and I do and it works out great. We get so many kids, a bowl of candy on the porch wouldn't last two minutes. Have fun whatever you do!
When we take our children trick or treating I also end up leaving a big bowl of candy out for the kid's, we also live on a corner lot, but have never had it where we came back and found the bowl empty. I would feel bad leaving the house without putting a bowl of candy outside, it's usually cold out on Halloween, I don't leave the light's on since the Halloween decor is enough light's, one thing I will say is that I do leave a note saying "take two peice's of candy, I can see you through the window!" so I think that may freak them out! But it's all in Halloween spirit! Have a happy and safe Halloween!
Leave the light off. Don't worry about the candy. Enjoy your kids. We take our kids and have never left a bowl outside or the light on. Since our kids are younger they don't last all night, so we come home before it is over, there are still some kids who will knock on the door when they see we are home but we just tell them we don't have any candy.
