@heelibrarian last year bradley kept giving people his candy. He would say trick or treat and then reach in his bag and put a piece of candy in the persons bowl, it was adorable!
Also part of it is kind of me being an old lady and thinking "kids these days!" Because seriously, do any of you guys remember both of your parents taking you around?
Yes actually. Both my mother & step father always took us. My step father worked two jobs & made sure he had off Halloween night to take us...
I would have loved it if my dad would've stopped being an a** for two seconds and actually went with us. He was either too busy working or too busy being a colossal jerk to actually spend fun time with his kids. And maybe I'm in the minority but I did care that my mom was there because she usually didn't spend a lot of time with us and ToT was one of the times we got to hang out with her and have fun. I have some pretty awesome memories of Halloween with my mom.
Also, I'm not trying to start a fight but when I was kid, all I cared about was getting candy. Whether someone put a bowl out or handed it to me, it didn't really matter. I don't ever remember thinking 'oh boo, no one was there to see my costume and I couldn't say ToT and no one put candy directly in my bag, I had to do it myself!'
@dmlk413 it sounds like i hit a nerve with some deeper halloween issues with you. Do you need a halloween hug? I have a little lion here that is sending a trick or treating hug your way, no tricks!
I think it's really interesting that @calikat80 pointed this out. It reminds you that Halloween is really a community holiday. It's a chance to get to know all your neighbors and band together for the kids to have the best experience. I wish we had a good ToTing neighborhood.
Hug Lion @dmlk413 ! I just pictured a little dmlk at all these bowls of candy by herself crying and saying, "i can put the candy in the bag myself. Don't worry, i dont need anyone!" And that makes me a sad panda.
OMFG. REALLY? I just wanted to point out that your post sounded as entitled as people asking for gluten free stuff. You were all 'how dare you take your kid out ToT and not answer the door and give my kid candy and tell him his costume is cute?!' How is that not entitled? Way to teach your kid it's all about them.
OMFG. REALLY? I just wanted to point out that your post sounded as entitled as people asking for gluten free stuff. You were all 'how dare you take your kid out ToT and not answer the door and give my kid candy and tell him his costume is cute?!' How is that not entitled? Way to teach your kid it's all about them.
Dude Halloween IS all about them! I just like trying to make it a happy kid holiday for our hood!
ETA and for the record this is nothing like asking for gluten free stuff. I'm just pointing out if everyone went trick or treating with their kids then no one would answer doors. And I don't think that it's entitling to ask that other people pay my kids the courtesy I am paying theirs- it's called being part of the community.
Dude I'm out guys. I need to go sit at my front door patiently now for our first trick or treater. I don't want to miss one knock or I'll feel like a hypocrite! Happy Halloween!
Edited after... I actually am not quite sure what's going on, except that I can tell it's getting heated and I wanted to join in @CL8badB 's gif party!
Everybody please sing kumbay
I sent a hug lion, yo. I don't know how much more of an olive branch I can extend!
@kari5186 I totally agree. I usually give out candy based on costume effort as well as ToTing effort. If a snarly teenager comes to my door and mumbles trick or treat, 1 piece for you! I think that you should only ToT if you are really into the spirit of Halloween, not just walking around to score a bunch of free candy from strangers.
I'm late to the game but what is the point of trick or treating if you are just going up to a door with a candy bowl set outside of it? As a parent you can just give your kid a bag of candy and it would be the same thing. Isn't the point to go, knock on a door, yell trick or treat and get candy? I also don't understand why both parents have to bring kids out trick or treating. My mil always goes to my bil's house so that they can bring their kids trick or treating. Their kids are 13 and 10. It's ridiculous that they both need to walk down the street with their teenage and almost teen children. In our neighborhood the dads bring their kids and drag a wagon of beer around with them. That's the way it was when I was growing up too. I like to stay home and see the costumes.
@CL8badB For how many ToTers you must get, I can't blame you! ToTing seems to have gone downhill from when I was a kid. For the last 4 years H and I lived right around the corner from the house I grew up in. Purely coincidence based on what was for sale when we were buying. The first year I based my candy purchasing on what I could remember for numbers when we were kids. I distinctly remember getting 200-250 kids every year. So I planned for that. The first year we barely got 100, and every year after it was more like 80. Do not as many kids ToT anymore?
@CL8badB when I was a kid my mom did about 20-30 goodie bags for kids we knew. We just handed out a couple pieces of candy to everyone else. It's what I planned on doing too once the kids I knew were really old enough, but we didn't get a single ToTer out here in the country this year so we may not ever do it now. I'm going to get to know a few of the newer neighbours (we live in an acreage subdivision about 15 min from town) I noticed a few with kids so I'll have to find out if they plan on maybe doing the loop of our neighbourhood next year and I'll be prepared! There's a similar sized subdivision across the road so if the kids from both subdivisions did both loops they'd probably do pretty well considering we (the homeowners) would probably really spoil them!
Ok, I'm way late to this party but it seems inappropriate to hang on to this for next week. I hate muscled costumes. It seems like the equivalent of fake boobs in a princess costume (which I think most people would be really appalled by).
Um @vitafelix all 3 of my boys had muscled costumes and they were stinking adorable. The equivalent to fake boobs would be a cod piece, which they didn't have.
Video games are a waste of time- come at me bro X_X
I feel like one could say the same of a lot of people's leisure activities--watching tv and movies, birdwatching, sunbathing, etc.--but that doesn't mean I am going to stop watching a TV show I enjoy just because I don't have anything to show for it at the end of the day like I would if I crocheted a blanket or something more productive like that. I think the whole point for people who enjoy video games is just to unwind and relax.
Ive said this before but parents that both go trick or treating with their kid/kids and leave their door unattended for other kids are selfish. My kid likes to knock and get a person, so c'mon you can take turns helicopter parenting your child and instagraming them at every door and man your damn door. It's a one parent job.
Disagree. I spent so many years handing out candy when I was kid-free, and I will spend many more when LO is too old to trick or treat. So if I want to make trick or treating a family event for a few years (when LO is old enough) so that my husband and I can both see the joy on my son's face as he goes around the neighborhood and so that we can make memories together as a family, I don't see how that is selfish at all.
ETA: In our neck of the woods, you only go up to someone's house if the porch light is on, so we wouldn't be knocking on doors where no one was home.
@WasNotWas I agree that your boys were adorable, but the muscles on kids' costumes have gotten really crazy, and I think they would've been just as adorable without the muscles. Yes, everyone has muscles. Kids already have muscles, they don't need additional muscles on their costumes. It's not the anatomical equivalent of fake boobs, but it is the sexualiztion equivalent. It's a thing for young boys to aspire to- to be big and strong and hot- so they can be really insecure about it in middle and high school when it's totally unattainable. DH and his family all have ridiculous body image issues (and I teach in a middle school and high school), so I'm more sensitive about this sort of thing than most people, I think. It doesn't keep me up at night or anything, but I am aware of how action figures have changed over the last 30 years and I don't think it's just advances in manufacturing and design. That said, if B really wants over muscled GI joes and got them, I wouldn't hide them away or anything. Just like if this girl really wants barbies, I won't prevent her from having them. If he wants a muscled costume I might try to encourage a different choice, but I'd let him wear it if he really wants it.
I get that, @mcbush, and that's why I'm not judging parents who buy them. I just don't like the over-stuffed muscles, and I wish I didn't have to constantly deal with the negative body/food talk in our house.
It is a little different from beer commercials though. By the time they really know what beer is and are seeing beer commercials, they can process the information in a more sophisticated way before they internalize ideals unintentionally. BUT I do think it has way more to do with home environment than what they see and hear in the world around them.
Regardless, I completely expect to throw a super hero and/or princess birthday party at some point in the future.
Video games are a waste of time- come at me bro X_X
I feel like one could say the same of a lot of people's leisure activities--watching tv and movies, birdwatching, sunbathing, etc.--but that doesn't mean I am going to stop watching a TV show I enjoy just because I don't have anything to show for it at the end of the day like I would if I crocheted a blanket or something more productive like that. I think the whole point for people who enjoy video games is just to unwind and relax.
I like a good game of Mario Cart! It just seems like gamers often stay up all night and can neglect other aspects of their lives. NOT everyone. I just haven't seen the same level intensity and involvement with other recreational pass times (maybe crossfit). Video game addiction is a thing- can people get addicted to knitting? Not being snarky- I have no idea.
Yeah, it's gone too far if someone is an addict. But when we were child-free, my husband was a gamer (not hardcore or anything but it was a hobby of his), but he never let it interfere with his chores and or time with me and stuff. And now that we have LO, he will sometimes still play, but only after LO is sleeping and if I am doing other stuff. I even played some of DH's games from time to time, but I don't now with LO; I want to go to bed not long after LO or read a book or something.
I wasn't knocking knitting! That's a productive hobby to me. (I do know some women who are constantly knitting--even at family parties and stuff--but I wouldn't say they are addicted. You can talk and do that if you are experienced.)
What I was trying to say is that there are a lot of "unproductive" hobbies I don't personally get like bird watching or sunbathing. But I know some people who do them find them relaxing, so I would never consider them a waste of time, even though I don't personally understand the appeal.
ETA: I feel like some people are the same way about TV as video games; I've known people that watch hours and hours of TV every day. But I agree that I probably haven't seen the same intensity with a lot of other hobbies.
I agree that TV watching is just as bad as video games, but at least with sunbathing/bird watching you are outside and getting some exercise and fresh air. Not the same at all. I also think the problem with gaming is that there is no end to it the way it would be if you were watching an hour of programmed television. It is also far more addictive, especially considering some of the computer games that are out there that just go on and on and on.....I've seen people suck half the day away playing those things.
To keep rolling with what @TheTamedShrew said, I think movies are better than TV for kids to watch because they have a clear beginning middle and end as opposed to the flash pow bang of a TV show
DH and I played a lot of WoW in college. We quit when we moved back East and couldn't stay up late enough for group activities. I'm really glad we quit. It ended up being all we talked about IRL too. Before B I spent a lot of my summers playing video games. I think I've played about 5 minutes of a minecraft demo since he started being mobile, though. The first couple months of his life I played a lot of skyrim during nursing and napping sessions. Other favorites: Harvest Moon, Fable (1&3), Civilization, Pokemon, Viva Piñata (eta childhood favs: Monkey Island & King's Quest...and leisure suit Larry because my mom wanted help finding all the Dildos. I wish I were kidding.)
I think they can be a good exercise in self-discipline, but they are also really really addictive and there are so many in-game incentives to keep playing. We haven't talked about when we'll let B play video games and what sorts of limitations he'll have yet.
Re: UO Thread
#Bodymber14 #Bodygate #itsMillerTime
Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
Also, I'm not trying to start a fight but when I was kid, all I cared about was getting candy. Whether someone put a bowl out or handed it to me, it didn't really matter. I don't ever remember thinking 'oh boo, no one was there to see my costume and I couldn't say ToT and no one put candy directly in my bag, I had to do it myself!'
my read shelf:
my read shelf:
Dude Halloween IS all about them! I just like trying to make it a happy kid holiday for our hood!
ETA and for the record this is nothing like asking for gluten free stuff. I'm just pointing out if everyone went trick or treating with their kids then no one would answer doors. And I don't think that it's entitling to ask that other people pay my kids the courtesy I am paying theirs- it's called being part of the community.
Dude I'm out guys. I need to go sit at my front door patiently now for our first trick or treater. I don't want to miss one knock or I'll feel like a hypocrite! Happy Halloween!
@calikat80 you were condescending, you weren't extending an olive branch.
But whatever, we can agree to disagree because I'm sick of talking about this.
my read shelf:
I hate muscled costumes. It seems like the equivalent of fake boobs in a princess costume (which I think most people would be really appalled by).
#Bodymber14 #Bodygate #itsMillerTime
Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
ETA: In our neck of the woods, you only go up to someone's house if the porch light is on, so we wouldn't be knocking on doors where no one was home.
Yes, everyone has muscles. Kids already have muscles, they don't need additional muscles on their costumes.
It's not the anatomical equivalent of fake boobs, but it is the sexualiztion equivalent. It's a thing for young boys to aspire to- to be big and strong and hot- so they can be really insecure about it in middle and high school when it's totally unattainable.
DH and his family all have ridiculous body image issues (and I teach in a middle school and high school), so I'm more sensitive about this sort of thing than most people, I think. It doesn't keep me up at night or anything, but I am aware of how action figures have changed over the last 30 years and I don't think it's just advances in manufacturing and design.
That said, if B really wants over muscled GI joes and got them, I wouldn't hide them away or anything. Just like if this girl really wants barbies, I won't prevent her from having them. If he wants a muscled costume I might try to encourage a different choice, but I'd let him wear it if he really wants it.
It is a little different from beer commercials though. By the time they really know what beer is and are seeing beer commercials, they can process the information in a more sophisticated way before they internalize ideals unintentionally. BUT I do think it has way more to do with home environment than what they see and hear in the world around them.
Regardless, I completely expect to throw a super hero and/or princess birthday party at some point in the future.
I wasn't knocking knitting! That's a productive hobby to me. (I do know some women who are constantly knitting--even at family parties and stuff--but I wouldn't say they are addicted. You can talk and do that if you are experienced.)
What I was trying to say is that there are a lot of "unproductive" hobbies I don't personally get like bird watching or sunbathing. But I know some people who do them find them relaxing, so I would never consider them a waste of time, even though I don't personally understand the appeal.
ETA: I feel like some people are the same way about TV as video games; I've known people that watch hours and hours of TV every day. But I agree that I probably haven't seen the same intensity with a lot of other hobbies.
#Bodymber14 #Bodygate #itsMillerTime
Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
#Bodymber14 #Bodygate #itsMillerTime
Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
I think they can be a good exercise in self-discipline, but they are also really really addictive and there are so many in-game incentives to keep playing. We haven't talked about when we'll let B play video games and what sorts of limitations he'll have yet.