Well, Halloween is over for this year.....
Jim and I went out to lunch and ran errands in the afternoon. On the way home around 4:00, it started to pour rain! I thought we would probably have a lonely Halloween evening. But to our surprise it only rained for an hour or so!!
Lots of candy was ready in a bowl on the table and a warm fire was ablaze in our big brick fireplace. Jim and I were ready for the doorbell to ring and hear happy voices calling out "trick or treat." Seven o'clock came...no kids. Seven-thirty came...still no kids! Eight o'clock the doorbell rang...two little girls. Eight-thirty...two more little kids. Nine o'clock it's all over!! Four children in all. What's happening with Halloween?
Is it the scare of harm to children, is it the economy? Whatever the cause......things have certainly changed since my children were little. Back then the neighborhoods were teaming with "trick or treaters" and the doorbell was constantly ringing.
I talked to several friends tonight and all of them mentioned they had few or no visits.
***What was your experience with Halloween this year?
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20 comments:
Barbara, I understand completely. We didn't have one child come to our home other than our own family kids (and a couple of their friends) and our grandchild. We took them around the neighborhood, the same neighborhood I grew up in, and the streets had children but not as many as I remembered. My sister lives in the house I grew up in a couple of blocks from where I live now and we talked about how strange it was that when we were little, Mom couldn't keep the candy bowl filled fast enough to hand out to the kids.
I think it is the scare of the safety of children today (with good reason) and the economy. The kids we saw out tonight were on foot (accompanied by parents of course). Not many cars like it use to be as you could hardly get down the streets years ago in your car. It seems like not only Halloween but Christmas and all the holidays are becoming less and less observed traditionally as they were "back when". I miss the get-togethers with family and friends. I miss the "tradition" of it all. How do we bring it back?
Check in on www.mywritersjournal.blogspot.com within the coming month for a special Christmas I shared with my children when they were younger and how I brought tradition back to Christmas for them (even if for only one year).
Ang- It's like my husband said tonight, "It's a sad thing."
We used to have so many kids come to the door and every house in the neightborhood would have lighted pumpkins and decorations. Now it's mostly dark.
I don't think it will ever come back the way it was back then. It will only live in the stories we tell future generations.
I'll certainly watch for your stories.
Last year, we didn't have a single trick-or-treater, but I suspect that is largely due to the location of our house in relation to the freeway.
This year we went to a friend's house, and there were probably a good 30 kids that stopped by. My oldest is 5, and this was really his first experience in it, so we just wandered around the neighborhood with him and my three-year-old.
It was pretty fun, and along with candy we handed out invites to our church's children's program, so it was a good time.
Avily- Welcome to The Serenity Gate. Your name will go into the drawing box immediately.
Sounds like you had a wonderful Halloween!
We never had anybody, we never do. It is just not celebrated in this area. I think some people just have private parties now. Please read Call For Support to hear about the new Help Journal for us Bloggers.
We live kinda outa the way so we never have them.
We had about the same experience in our community. I didn't want to waste the money on candy but my husband wanted to so we bought the bags and put the bowl out and eventually two kids came. So we waited some more and finally at about 7:45 a small group came and then that was it. Now to keep my husband out of the leftovers!
Don't know what went on in my hood because all my kids were off at parties of their own, and I cooked & served supper at the men's shelter. My kinda Halloween! More here--->
http://barbaraquinnyearofgratitude.blogspot.com/
Jeannette- OK, I will.
Patty- That's understandable.
Terri- Same here--lots of candy left over.
Angie- What a nice thing to do!!
Hello, Barbara, we had some visitors even though the cul-de-sac was mostly dark. I try to decorate the front so it is inviting. I probably had around 30-40 kids of all ages stop by. Some from the neighborhood. I like getting dressed up and doing something fun when answering the door...this year I had a purple robe and mardi grax mask with a wand that lit up at the end...probably sounds silly but it was fun...the kids loved it. I still had candy left over but it was fun to see their faces when I opened the door and circled their heads with my lighted wand...:) LOL...my husband thought I was crazy....I guess I had more kids than others...lucky! Made me smile all night. Maria
Maria- What fun... You gave, not only candy, but part of yourself! That's very special.
This year the weather was warm and beautiful and we had hordes of kids from about 7 to 8 and then--no one! About 8:20 my husband said to turn off the lights and quit, but I left the lights on until almost 9:00 and we just had two more little ones about 8:50. We had some really big "kids" this year. I suspect some were out of high school. Maybe that is because a local dentist was advertising that he would pay $2 a pound for Halloween candy brought in to him so he could donate it to Mobile Loaves and Fishes--a group that takes trucks out each evening and feeds the hungry and homeless. I recognized many of the neighborhood kids but we also had carloads stopping at our curb and large groups getting out and coming to the door. Must have come from other areas to "trick or treat" in our quiet neighborhood. Interesting dynamics there!
We took our kids to a local neighborhood. Most houses were dark, but all in all, a pretty good haul. I've been doing "trick or treating" for nearly 2 decades now, and I'll be ready to quit walking around and start sitting around to wait! Alas, a few more years I think.
Thanks for visiting the blog. Come anytime.
peace~elaine
Wow, Pat, now I know where all the kids were!! At your house!! Sounds like you had a lot of fun.
Elaine- Thanks so much for the visit. Come by often!!
Glad you had a nice Halloween, too.
Every year I buy a small bag of candy but in our rural area we don't have any. I keep thinking that the area is growing maybe some will come by, but alas, not one. I miss seeing the children all dressed up. My camera and I were ready -
Lea- Sounds like you may have some soon if the area is growing.
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