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#1
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Thoughts on Halloween
Just a few random thoughts on Halloween:
======================================== My son just turned 2 this week, and if *he* can remember to say "Thank you" to people giving him candy, then the older kids should be able to remember. ======================================== This year, we started having two bowls of candy: the "Gee, aren't you cute, being of appropriate age and wearing a costume" bowl of Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, etc., and the "Gee, if you'd gone through the trouble of finding a costume, maybe it would have hidden the fact that you have more facial hair than I do" bowl of assorted hard candies (plus candy other people gave to my son earlier in the night that no one in this household would ever eat). It's a whole lot less confrontational to give the older kids a bunch of crap they don't want than it is to say, "No, you're too old and you don't have a costume, so no candy for you," but it doesn't reinforce the bad behavior, either. Maybe if everyone started doing this then the older kids would get the message and stop coming out. I think next year I might give the older kids boxes of raisins. Or maybe prunes. ======================================== I think some of the kids I saw out tonight got more exercise trying to run from house to house so they could get more candy in their bags before dark than they did the whole rest of the year. ======================================== Is there a good way to make sure that holidays like Halloween and Christmas don't just turn into unmitigated greed-fests? ======================================== Did you know that there's never been a documented case of tainted candy given out from a residence? There was a guy giving out stuff on the street that had been tampered with, though. Still, it's smart these days to be careful. ======================================== That's all I can think of for now. --Harold Buck "I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ." -Homer J. Simpson |
#2
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Thoughts on Halloween
"Harold Buck" wrote in message ... Just a few random thoughts on Halloween: ======================================== My son just turned 2 this week, and if *he* can remember to say "Thank you" to people giving him candy, then the older kids should be able to remember. I noticed that the younger ones were more respectful-although having Mom or Dad on the driveway hissing "Say thank you!" probably helped. ======================================== This year, we started having two bowls of candy: the "Gee, aren't you cute, being of appropriate age and wearing a costume" bowl of Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, etc., and the "Gee, if you'd gone through the trouble of finding a costume, maybe it would have hidden the fact that you have more facial hair than I do" bowl of assorted hard candies (plus candy other people gave to my son earlier in the night that no one in this household would ever eat). It's a whole lot less confrontational to give the older kids a bunch of crap they don't want than it is to say, "No, you're too old and you don't have a costume, so no candy for you," but it doesn't reinforce the bad behavior, either. Maybe if everyone started doing this then the older kids would get the message and stop coming out. I think next year I might give the older kids boxes of raisins. Or maybe prunes. I gave out little toy items-the little ones were thrilled by it-the big ones weren't so happy. And I figure that a bendy toy or little game is probably better for them than candy, anyway. Besides, I can take extras to school for my treat/birthday box (candy never survives to make it to school). I did have some candy for the under 3 set (where the toys are a choking hazard, and the parents are almost certainly going to eat most of the candy anyway) and for really, really nice/cute costumes (usually worn by the under 10 set). ======================================== I think some of the kids I saw out tonight got more exercise trying to run from house to house so they could get more candy in their bags before dark than they did the whole rest of the year. I'm just thankful Halloween was on a Friday this year, so they have a few days to burn through some of the sugar high before they come back to school. 600 sugar charged kids in one building who have been up late the night before is rather scary. ======================================== Is there a good way to make sure that holidays like Halloween and Christmas don't just turn into unmitigated greed-fests? One of the things my mom had my brother and I do was make little craft items before halloween-then we'd give them out to the older adults in our neighborhood as we were trick-or-treating. It was kind of neat to give something back. We did this the last few years we trick-or-treated, before we got too old for it. We also visited these same people for other holidays (Christmas caroling and the like). ======================================== Did you know that there's never been a documented case of tainted candy given out from a residence? There was a guy giving out stuff on the street that had been tampered with, though. Still, it's smart these days to be careful. ======================================== That's all I can think of for now. --Harold Buck "I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ." -Homer J. Simpson |
#3
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Thoughts on Halloween
"Donna Metler" wrote in message . ..
"Harold Buck" wrote in message You need to move to an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. We had ONE group of trick or treaters although we live on a street with probably 200 kids on it. The group that came knows my kids from school, but they didn't even ring the doorbell, they knocked. I *love* when Halloween comes on a Friday night! Marjorie |
#4
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Thoughts on Halloween
"Harold Buck" wrote in message ... Just a few random thoughts on Halloween: ======================================== My son just turned 2 this week, and if *he* can remember to say "Thank you" to people giving him candy, then the older kids should be able to remember. Becuase they are excited, sometimes the smiling faces and the enthusiastic "trick or treat" is better than a forced Thank you ======================================== This year, we started having two bowls of candy: the "Gee, aren't you cute, being of appropriate age and wearing a costume" bowl of Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, etc., and the "Gee, if you'd gone through the trouble of finding a costume, maybe it would have hidden the fact that you have more facial hair than I do" bowl of assorted hard candies (plus candy other people gave to my son earlier in the night that no one in this household would ever eat). It's a whole lot less confrontational to give the older kids a bunch of crap they don't want than it is to say, "No, you're too old and you don't have a costume, so no candy for you," but it doesn't reinforce the bad behavior, either. Maybe if everyone started doing this then the older kids would get the message and stop coming out. I think next year I might give the older kids boxes of raisins. Or maybe prunes. My 12 yr old is 5'5" and could pass as 20 but she is still a kid. Don't jusdge too quickly ======================================== I think some of the kids I saw out tonight got more exercise trying to run from house to house so they could get more candy in their bags before dark than they did the whole rest of the year. Hey it there one shot ======================================== Is there a good way to make sure that holidays like Halloween and Christmas don't just turn into unmitigated greed-fests? Nope ======================================== Did you know that there's never been a documented case of tainted candy given out from a residence? There was a guy giving out stuff on the street that had been tampered with, though. Still, it's smart these days to be careful. Yup ======================================== That's all I can think of for now. --Harold Buck Please write us back in 8 years |
#5
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Thoughts on Halloween
In article ,
"Mary Ann" wrote: It's a whole lot less confrontational to give the older kids a bunch of crap they don't want than it is to say, "No, you're too old and you don't have a costume, so no candy for you," but it doesn't reinforce the bad behavior, either. Maybe if everyone started doing this then the older kids would get the message and stop coming out. I think next year I might give the older kids boxes of raisins. Or maybe prunes. My 12 yr old is 5'5" and could pass as 20 but she is still a kid. Don't jusdge too quickly Did you see the word "and" in there? If your 12 year old shows up without a costume, I don't think she deserves any good candy. Do you? ======================================== I think some of the kids I saw out tonight got more exercise trying to run from house to house so they could get more candy in their bags before dark than they did the whole rest of the year. Hey it there one shot Huh? --Harold Buck "I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ." -Homer J. Simpson |
#6
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Thoughts on Halloween
Harold Buck writes:
Did you see the word "and" in there? If your 12 year old shows up without a costume, I don't think she deserves any good candy. Do you? While it's possible to see Halloween as an economic transaction between children and adults, in which the children entertain you by dressing up in costumes, in exchange for which you give them candy, I don't think that's the only interpretation, and, in my opinion, it's not the most satisfactory. I would prefer an interpretation in which they dress up in costumes because (and only if) they enjoy it, and you give them treats because (and only if) you enjoy it. In that view, no one is more or less "deserving" than any other, but of course you are free to give or not give treats to whomever you choose (e.g., you could give candy to every third visitor, or only to those carrying paper sacks, or whatever other distinction is important to you). David desJardins |
#7
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Thoughts on Halloween
DD went out trick/treating with her friend who lives near a slightly wealthier neighborhood than ours. She got a couple full-sized candy bars (!!). The mind boggles. I walked around with DS and his friends and some of their parents, and we got all caught up on the neighborhood gossip. Left out a bowl of candy on the porch -- most kids took 1 piece, even the few roving bands of middle- school boys. Still, we ran out of candy around 7:15, which had never happened before, but that's when DS was done, so we turned off all the lights out front, and no-one knocked again, except for two friends of DD's. I gave them rejects from DS's bag (He hates snickers bars, for example). Almost everyone was off the streets by 7:15. Picked up DD from her friend's house at 8 PM, then DD and DS sorted candy and swapped before getting in bed around 8:45. All in all, it was pretty relaxing. Scott DD 10 and DS 7.5 |
#8
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Thoughts on Halloween
Harold Buck wrote
This year, we started having two bowls of candy: the "Gee, aren't you cute, being of appropriate age and wearing a costume" bowl of Snickers, Twix, M&Ms, etc., and the "Gee, if you'd gone through the trouble of finding a costume, maybe it would have hidden the fact that you have more facial hair than I do" bowl of assorted hard candies (plus candy other people gave to my son earlier in the night that no one in this household would ever eat). I don't begrudge them going out when they're teenagers. I remember doing it once even after we'd stopped for a couple of years. Big nostalgia trip. Most teenagers still have an alive-and-well little child inside still. But I agree that they should be in costume! Maybe make 'em do a trick (sing a song? Do a dance?) if they're not in costume? I think some of the kids I saw out tonight got more exercise trying to run from house to house so they could get more candy in their bags before dark than they did the whole rest of the year. ======================================== Is there a good way to make sure that holidays like Halloween and Christmas don't just turn into unmitigated greed-fests? I think it's natural for kids to be greedy. Hey, how often are they giving out candy for free?! You better make sure you get all you can! But we adults don't have to overindulge by buying too many X-Mas presents and too many decorations and by starting the "celebration" too early just because the stores do. You can also limit how far you take your kids trick-or-treating. |
#9
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Thoughts on Halloween
In article ,
David desJardins wrote: Harold Buck writes: Did you see the word "and" in there? If your 12 year old shows up without a costume, I don't think she deserves any good candy. Do you? While it's possible to see Halloween as an economic transaction between children and adults, in which the children entertain you by dressing up in costumes, in exchange for which you give them candy, I don't think that's the only interpretation, and, in my opinion, it's not the most satisfactory. I would prefer an interpretation in which they dress up in costumes because (and only if) they enjoy it, and you give them treats because (and only if) you enjoy it. My take is that I enjoy being part of the fun for kids (including teens) who still get into the whole Halloween thing and still enjoy the dressing up part. For (older) kids who don't bother/enjoy dressing up anymore, it just seems like a big old candy grab, and something rather more crass that I don't enjoy participating in. So... I don't exactly see it as an economic transaction as you suggest, but I don't share your view either. --Robyn |
#10
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Thoughts on Halloween
Robyn Kozierok writes:
My take is that I enjoy being part of the fun for kids (including teens) who still get into the whole Halloween thing and still enjoy the dressing up part. What if they dress up as part of an economic transaction, but they don't actually enjoy it? How would you measure their enjoyment? I think there are a lot of kids, even younger ones (i.e., younger than teens) who see dressing up in costume primarily as an economic bargain in exchange for treats, rather than something they do because they enjoy it. And/or something they do because of peer/cultural pressure. I'm not sure how you would verify or test this, though. Perhaps I'm just projecting my own feelings onto other people. David desJardins |
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