Our boys generally stopped in grade 8, and I think that is about when I stopped...or maybe grade 7.

My job was to decorate the house for hallowe'en...and i had a lot of fun doing so.

The first time I went out alone I was 11.  It was me and two other girls and we had a walkie talkie with us and the other was with our"home base" (friends house).  I'm still going out tonight (probably my last year, mabye) but I know people in grade twelve who are going tonight too. 

 Also, comment if you would on the trend in some US cities (haven't heard of it in Canada), to schedule Hallowe'en by neighbourhood / region...so that some kids go out on say, the last Saturday in october, and others, the 2nd last...etc.

* * *

wow talk about regulatiing the fun out of  stuff. I am sure it has it's benefits but you only get that 'feeling' on THE day. Sort of like opening Christmas presents when it isn't Christmas. The magic just isn't there.

The busygang went out in our neighbourhood by themselves tonight.  Busydaughter is 11 and she did a good job watching her brothers.  They had a walkie talkie and called me a few times.  This was a first, and I was a little nervous but knew that they'd be OK as we live in a very small town where everyone knows one another.  Busydad got home around 8:00 and I caught up with the kids and continued trick-or-treating for a bit.  It was a good night.

Tonight I saw a lot of high school age kids.  Not sure if it was because it was so mild, or Friday night....could be lots of reasons.

We went out for the FIRST time tonight.  My son's 2, and I left my daughter with my husband to give out candy.  We just went around a small town block, normally would take about 5 minutes for me to walk (if that).  Took us a whole hour.  And it was fun.  I don't think he said 2 words all night after I put his costume.  Except near the end of the night where he started to really think the "Pumpkins with lights" were neat. 

Our granddaughter is 11 and in grade 6.  This year a group of five friends went out together without an adult accompanying them - they dropped by here shortly after 8:00 pm excited and in a hurry.   One of the parents had invited them all back to her place for pizza, drinks and a scary movie.  About 10:30 our granddaughter phoned that the party was breaking up.  I offered to walk over for her, but then Grampy offered to pick her up with the car  (she was already in pajamas, stuffed to the belly ache stage, and tired but oh so excited). 

Daughter took grandson around this neighbourhood, and then home where his Dad would take him around. 

(They moved to a new neighbourhood during the past year and granddaughter still has best friends and is most familiar with this area.)

Kenziedark - that sounds like a wonderful halloween!!  I just love the amazement on a 2 year old's face at Halloween! 

My own little guy was a Scarecrow when he was 2 - he had rubber boots and I tacked some patches on his overalls.  He had a flannel green plaid shirt and a bucket hat with straw & patches.  And a red painted nose.  Gosh!!! I stil remember it like crazy.  He was silent all afternoon & evening, taking it in, following the pattern of holding out his treat bag, seeing the decorations & all the other kids. 

MMMMMMMMM!!

My daughter was planning to trick or treat, at 13.  Some of her friends were, some were not.  She ended up not going out, but we had a bonfire with friends and so it was a fun night anyway.  She wore a costume to the school dance though.

My son has only been out once in his life. It was when he first came to Canada at age 12. He wanted to try trick-or-treating as he had never done it in Korea. On October 31st, he stays home and does homework, or plays games on the computer. As for rescheduling Halloween, I think the whole thing should just be cancelled.

wow, match3frog...what is your objection to hallowe'en?

possibly, it is those of us who have fond memories of running around in the dark, things we rarely were allowed to do, dressed up in costumes, the planning of what to wear, who to go out with...then seeing all the houses..and going to the "scary" house...

it is such a fun night...or at least has been for our family.

Oh don't get me wrong, Pinga, when I was a kid I loved Halloween!

What's better than getting dressed up in a neato costume of your choice, and then going out with family and friends to get treats.

Not to date myself, but when I was young the treats were almost regular size. Much bigger than the crop of goodies today's kids pull in.

It was a great old time. Our next door neighbour always played eerie ghost sounds on an old cassette player, and a lady up the next street always gave out real caramel apples. My favorite year was when my brothers and sisters and I dressed up as people from Star Trek. I was the Klingon. What fun.

For about the past seven years, however, I have been a member of a Fellowship Baptist church in Toronto. Our Pastor is very much against Halloween. His parents were wiccan, or pagan, or something like that, and he warns us every year not to take part. Says Halloween is evil, and no Christian should be involved.

This year I was thinking though, maybe next year my family and I will pass out some Christian tracts when the kids come to the door. I mean, what other time of year do you have a mob of children coming to your door looking a treat?

Heh, sure, they will become bombs to throw each other as they walk down the streets.

So, you clearly didn't become a wiccan due to having some fun as a child.

Why do you think your pastor is so convinced he must limit you & your family so that they do not head out for a fun night? 

ps...if you do, ...do me a favour, and make sure it says what church it is from..and not some generic Christian message.

Hi Pinga,

When I was settled.  It is great.  I don't need to go candy hunting every year I can visit parishioners and get goodies on a daily basis.   Sweet. 

Or did you mean something else?

Grace and peace to you.

John

lol...thanks for the good laugh. 

I stopped when I was 19.  I was too cool to go from the ages of 14-18.   Last year I went with my foster daughter and several of the houses tried to get "her older sister" to come get her candy and not be shy.

I stopped when I was 19.  I was too cool to go from the ages of 14-18.   Last year I went with my foster daughter and several of the houses tried to get "her older sister" to come get her candy and not be shy.

My daughter still dresses up for school, grade 12 and has a blast.  Now it's just a good night for a party though, no trick or treating

Sadly i didn't have a single kid this year.  All our children have grown up on the street and the housese have not yet turned over to new families. 

Okay, I'll do my best, but part of it will sound like a generic message I'm sure.

His parents were wiccan (wiccans?) who celebrated Samhain I believe it's called.

As a result, when he thinks of halloween, he associates it rightly or wrongly with their celebration of the dead. That's one of the main reasons he's against it.

He also doesn't believe that Christians should celebrate a festival belonging to a different religion.

That's about it in a nutshell.]

then I guess Christmas & Easter are out, too, right?

He celebrates both Christmas and Easter. He doesn't really celebrate them in a big way, but they are important to him.

I'm 15, and have no plans of giving up trick or treating any time soon

hmm, both Christmas & Easter have their roots in the same area as does Hallowe'en.

Where is Witch when i need him, he could give you the lowdown.

Hallowe'en = All Saints Day

Have you asked him why he will choose to continue to recognize two Christian holidays which originate from pagan roots, but claim a 3rd is pagan and should not be followed?

Haha I'm 15 too and am totally going until I'm 50!!

nm

Good God, Halloween is about as Pagan these days as Christmas is....Both are commercialised beyond recognition.....

Sure, hand out religious tracts.....odds are you'll be picking the pieces of them out of your lawn or bushes the next day, though.

I first went out on my own with two other friends in grade 7.  It was the oddest experience ever because someone my mom knew from work lived in the neighbourhood we were trick-or-treating in.  My mom had shown a picture of my costume to her (hand-made by my mom!  Love it to death and wear it every other year) and when we went to her house she talked to me.

Very scary in the dark but thankfully I had met her before.

I trick or treated in grade 7 and 9.  I spent grade 8 and 10 handing out candy, and grade 11 and 12 at a friends house watching scary (or not to scary because they weren't) movies.

I think the last time I went out as grade 9. A bunch of my friends dressed all in black and had my friend's dad airbrush images onto our faces. It looked really amazing and I wish I could find pictures. I was a wolf (imagine that) but others had their eyes dripping down their cheeks or really gorry cuts etc. We stayed out for a few hours and managed to fill 2 pillow cases.

After that I stayed home or went to my best friends house and handed out candy  and watched movies. I think in grade 10 we felt odd not going out so we grabbed masks from my house and di my street.

11 years old

I stopped trick or treating at 15 (it was my last "great harvest"...a motherload to boot).  Me and my friend for the past two years have just hung out and given out candy in inventive(lazy) ways (like thowing it out the window of the computer oom >:P).

Oh well, all's well.

Assalaam Alaiykum

-Omni

I took my boy out for the first time age 4, and he'll probably trick or treat til he's 12 or 13. That's when I stopped. I don't mind 14 or 15  year olds coming to our door so long as they have suitably good costumes on for their age and are enthusiastic, not just miserably rounding up free junk food in their jeans!

That American thing about staggering trick or treating days sounds weird! It has to be the 31st and only the 31st!

My mom usullay makes older kids also tell her a joke or sing a song or something unless their costume is really really good. Always fun to listen to what they come up with.

You hang in there Freundly Giant, and to the candy givers how about not criticizing teens who are out trick or treating instead of ....

To those who welcome trick or treators of all ages yay you! 

My oldest is 12 and I am not sure how long he will continue to go out.  I have a 7 year old and we go as a family along with other families so we have not had to broach the him going alone topic.  Not sure what will happen when the little miss makes it to an age where she wants to go alone.  

Actually I think your second question answered your first. If they don't want you around, they probably are planning things they don"t want you to see.

 I love Halloween and miss trick or treating.  I wish I knew some kids here so I could have taken them out!  We had a rule in my house - high school = no more trick or treating but my sister and I would sometimes go to a few houses if we had a break between dance classes that night.  My sister even went out her 1st year of university!  She got some food because some people just assumed she was doing the trick or treating for the food bank.  Maybe next year I'll go out for the food bank.

Easter is derived from the Pagan holiday of Beltaine. Beltaine falls on May first, and is the holiday of fertility. Think of your Easter now, rabbits, eggs, what more can scream fertility at you?

Christmas comes from the Winter Solstice on December Twenty-first. On this night, the shortest day of the year, the Sun God dies and is reborn, and the days become longer and longer. It is theorised, and probably correctly, that when Constantine converted Rome, he placed Christian holidays near or on Pagan ones, thus quickly eradicating the previous meanings. Is it not true that most experts agree that Jesus was actually born sometime in March?

Samhain is the day of the dead, but not in the way you might think. It is the night when the veil between the worlds is at it's thinnest, therefore the Upperworld and Underworld inhabitants may cross into the middleworld and vice versa, these inhabitants include Gods, Goddesses, mythical creatures, and spirits who are waiting to be reborn or who have exited the wheel of life and therefore do not regenerate (reincarnate) any longer. It is also the end of the Harvest, and the year passes into the dark half, belonging to the God, whereas the light half from Beltaine to Samhain belongs to the Goddess.

I hope that's enough background information. I'm a practising Celtic Pagan Re-constructionist, so that is my source.

And as pertaining to the quesiton, I began when I was quite young, and finished trick or treating last year, when I was sixteen.

Slan Amaya, cad é mar a tá tú?

Nice to see another Celtic Reconstructionist here, we're a bit rare on the gound at times, eh?

Yes, it's hard to find others of the same beliefs, but the same fact makes finally meeting a like-spirited one quite a joy.

When the people at the door squint and ask how old you are.  I was 15.

 As the person who answers the door on Halloween, I don't mind what age you are.

If you are dressed up in some way, prepared to sing a song or do a dance  - or something kinda crazy you deserve a treat.  It's all in fun - and helps to keep us all young.

I'd say the time to stop going out for Halloween would be November 1st.

Lol xandersdad