How long does it go?

[primsong]

I talked my group of five tall teenagers out of trick-or-treating and sent them to a skate party instead. Two of them are now 18, the 16-year old is taller than anyone in this house and has a deep voice, the 'little kid' is 13 now! I thought they might terrify a little old lady with a bowl of caramels, mobbing a step. They all agreed but one who argued 'you're never too old to trick-or-treat.' What do you think?


[Poll #1289316]

Comments

[niee87.livejournal.com]

I'd say through middle school so 7th/8th grade-ish, but maybe that's just me.

[iorhael94.livejournal.com]

wait a minute...your family has grown on me! Not just age wise...I thought you only had three kids! I can't think of who else would be 18. And it seems like your youngest was about 10 or so just a couple of years ago...what happened??? ;)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Hah...no, you aren't remembering them wrong. We've taken in a girl who needed a home so she could graduate (she's now turned 18) and her 16-yr. old brother is very, very often here as well. Gives them a point of stability in their lives. My youngest is 13 now (yikes!). :-)

[memorae.livejournal.com]

In my house the cut-off was the end of elementary school, so about 11, but you're never too old to dress up, I think. I'll be doing that with a walker in the old-folks home.

[bonnie-halfelvn.livejournal.com]

I agree. I dress up now to hand out the treats. ;)

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I hope you do one day - I'd love to see more old folks all jazzed up for the holidays! I agree, dressing up is something you never quite outgrow.

[lothithil.livejournal.com]

I think that the trick or treating aspect of Hallowe'en should be the provenance of little kids, through middle school. Older trick- or- treat'er are disturbing. Now this is coming from a true Hallowe'en supporter--it's not that I dislike older kids particiating in Hallowe'en--it's that as a person handing out candy, I'm always afraid, when I open the door to a pack of teens, that I'm going to end up on the next CSI: Crimescene!

Heh. Paranoid much? Yeah.

When I was a kid in my hometown, the older kids would dress up if they wanted and drive up and down the streets, presumably watching out for (chaperone) the little kids that were trick- or- treating, but in reality they usually ended up getting drunk and hitting the kids with their cars or catching things on fire. You can see why I moved. :-p

[primsong.livejournal.com]

Exactly my thought - it isn't that they're *going* to mug that poor lady with her poodle, it's the fact that the lady (and her poodle) don't know that. Five teenagers can be pretty intimidating, even when they're just all in my kitchen raiding the fridge. 0.o

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

LOVE your icon! Court Jester is one of my favorite movies. My I copy and if so, whom should I credit?

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I made it because I couldn't find any Court Jester ones anywhere, tsk. You are most welcome to snag it, no credit needed. :-)

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

My 17-yr-old went out with her 17-yr-old cousin and a 16-yr-old friend. I said, "You're a senior in high school and you want to go trick-or-treating??" She said, "Yeah, it's the last time I'lll be able to until I have kids of my own." The girls had a ball, and yes, they did wear costumes.

We had no children at all come to our house this year. Hubby said we should move somewhere where there are kids because he missed handing out candy.

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it's going to fade away as a tradition - there are hardly any kids on the streets around here either, and we have *tons* living in this neighborhood. They all go to big indoor events now, more like the old traditional 'costume ball' meets indoor carnival, parents prefer them for safety and the kids like getting together with their friends. Who knows? Maybe when we are old we'll be saying "remember when they used to trick-or-treat outdoors...?"

[hiwytozion.livejournal.com]

I actually went trick-or-treating my first year in college. My friends and I got down on our knees at every door. It defintely won us points and candy. We don't get kids at our door either. Most parents go to the mall with them. There may come a time when it becomes "en vouge" to go door to door again, but for now it seems to be riding off into the sunset.

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

In our case, there are very few children in the neighborhood. We live on a busy street, albeit toward the quiet end of it. We didn't realize it when we bought the house, but there just aren't many children on our street. There are smaller, quieter streets on either side of ours, and they have more kids, but for whatever reason they don't trick-or-treat on our street.