@anastasiav – I agree with you about the – gorge themselves on candy comment – we do the same once we pick through the bits we don’t want them to have (things that remove fillings and such) – other than that the candy is their for the taking – assuming dinner is still eaten and chores get done.

We had a lot of houses in our neighborhood that kept the light on but didn’t answer as well. I wonder if that is something that is slowly fading as a tradition. Much like needing to be *something* vs. just putting on a costume and having fun.

I am curious though – what age are all your kids. We have a range of 2, 4, 6 and 8 with the 6, and 8 being our boys. Do you let them go through the neighborhood alone or do you go with them? I think the boys are likely old enough and smart enough to run about but that parenting devil sitting on my shoulder tells me to hold on tight to the lease. What do you all do? When (if) did you let them go on their own?

Merry Christmas…Oh… I mean Happy Halloween – all the sudden and drastic changes in every store around Atlanta to the Christmas holiday, one day after Halloween, had me confused. :-)

I agree, anastasiav, I don’t get the trade the candy thing, either. We let the girl have some candy, in moderation. Shouldn’t you teach your child moderation?? Not trick her in to thinking there is yet another fairy/santa character.

Lucky for us, though, past Nov. 1 she forgets all about her goody bag. Even at age 6…amazing. Good for her mom, who tends to gorge on the sugary stuff over the next two weeks.

I didn’t learn moderation as a child, obviously.

Hope y’all had a great Halloween. Ours was interesting and fun!

I don’t get this whole “trade candy for a toy” thing. I mean, I do, but…. One of the kids who was trick or treating with us, her parents do that, but she has a milk allergy, so it makes a certain amount of sense to trade something she can’t use for something she can. At our house, though, we let him gorge himself last night and today in the old-fashioned way, and what remains (and there is quite a bit) will be dolled out slowly as a reward for eating a complete supper. Last year, combined with the Christmas stocking candy, the halloween-treat-bucket rewards system lasted until May, so you get a sense of our reason for bribing him to eat his veggies.

I decided to leave the lights on and put all the candy on our porch in a big basket. I had no idea if even the basket would remain at the end of the evening.

People in our neighborhood must be pretty cool because we return home hours later to find the basket and remaining candy on the porch.