MOMania

By MA

October 23, 2008 7:57 AM | Link to this

My sixteen year old is going as a peasant girl. Bought two skirts(one to cut up and make patches) and a shirt(8 dollars for the three). But, before you say 16 is too old to go trick or treating, she is not going to collect candy. She is going with friends from her Thespian group to collect food. It is called, “Trick or treat so kids can eat.” I know times are tough but if one person gives just one can then it goes for a good cause.

Sorry I got off the topic a bit. When my kids were younger I made their costumes out of things or clothes we already had around the house.

Have a great Thursday everybody.

By Get a Grip

October 23, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this

I have never spent alot of money on Halloween candy. Most kids (in the “valid” trick or treating age) don’t really care about the candy itself so much as the dressing up and going house to house for fun. So, it is a waste of money to me ANY year to spend hard earned dollars on something as silly as “quality” candy.

By CP

October 23, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this

I get to accompany Darth Vader, Tinkerbell, Cinderella, and a purple leopard for trick-or-treating this year. So far I haven’t had to cut back in the area of costumes. My mom loves her grandma role & buys the kids their outfits. Since the baby will have her first Halloween this year, my mom didn’t know what to get for her. Then one of Daddy’s coworkers just out of the blue got her the leopard outfit. So outfits haven’t been an issue this year.

I don’t think the candy giving will be an issue. At Publix this past week there were a good bit of BOGO candy. So I got the fun size candy bars. I’ll probably pick up some of the dum dums and other stuff too but I don’t really care about my candy-giver rep in the neighborhood. I’ve always given candy as I know I would have liked to be given as a kid. As far as mine go, they will say “thank you” for every piece whether they like it or not. I try to not let them go digging in their stash until the door-to-door is over with.

Another rule I have is that all candy is common property. After we get back home all the candy is poured out in a pile and then they can choose from that. They have 2 days of the year when I relax about sugar (Halloween & Easter) so they can have as much candy as they want on Halloween. The rest of the candy gets put away and doled out throughout the year.

By MA

October 23, 2008 8:33 AM | Link to this

As far as the giving of candy. We buy the cheap bags of mixed and give out quite a bit. As a tradition my father would always make kids do a trick before they got a treat, so, I started it when we moved into our house. Kids in our neighborhood have walked up to us and said, “Oh, this is the house that makes you do a trick.” and then they proceed to sing, somersault, flip, or whatever to get their treat. One year we had a child say he could make a basket in our hoop(we give from our garage). So, my husband gave out candy for each basket and more if they made it from a longer distance.

By Mr. Nice Guy

October 23, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this

We ordered our candy online a month ago; much cheaper. We’re also going to limit each child to receiving 3 pieces each of candy.

Sorry, but we’re encountering some hard economic times and the outlook doesn’t look good for the future.

By Jesse's Girl

October 23, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

Good Lord….I am really farting out on Halloween this year. We haven’t gotten our costumes yet. None of us have any clue as to what we even want to be! As for candy…I usually give a mixture of the good and “buddy” stuff. (we called anything off-brand “buddy” when i was growing up).

By CP

October 23, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this

@ Mr. Nice Guy:

I really hope things improve for you & your family soon. (I know it sounds lame but I do mean it.) I’ll be praying for you.

By Jesse's Girl

October 23, 2008 8:49 AM | Link to this

Same here Mr Nice Guy. I will definitely keep you and your’s in my prayers.

By GR

October 23, 2008 8:51 AM | Link to this

I bought candy on sale at Publix last week, had coupons too! In the past I have waited until Halloween to buy candy, alot of it is on sale then.

By pulitzer committee

October 23, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this

The Pulitzer committee is still enroute to the northern suburbs of Atlanta to present this years Pulitzer to this writer, but as you can imagine traveling during the pandemonium that took this country over after the writer of this blog figured out that The most dangerous thing that can happen while car surfing is falling off of a vehicle well, its a bit of a challenge. Airlines remain overbooked, there simply is not a single rent a car in the nation. (you cant surf without a car people and if you dont have one, ya gotta rent one). Anyway, the team and I, in keeping with the spirit of the revelation, surfed down last night from New York City. We are cold, we are extremey tired, standing on a trunk for 10 hours at 70 mph is exhausting. But, and I’ll try not to be emotional here, none of us are hurt. Not a single one of us, because of the discovery revealed in this blog yesterday, fell off of our respective cars/trucks. Prior to yesterday we may have been tempted to fall off while car surfing but we learned that The most dangerous thing that can happen while car surfing is falling off the vehicle So we didnt fall and it was really beneficial to our health. Anyway, were at the Cracker Barrel in Greensboro, N.C. And after our breakfast wre goning to buy CD’s of pop hits played by bluegrass musicians minus the vocals, then head over to the new trailways bus station accross the street. I know, I thought they were gone too, but they reopened yesterday, cut the walls and tops off of their old buses, threw away the seats and now have a fleet of open air, multi-surfer vehicles. We’re on the noon surf to Gainesville. From there,one of the ladies on the committee has arranged for us to surf into the suburbs of atlanta atop her brother in laws rented limo, how fitting - I’ll keep you guys like totally posted!

By Numbers Guy

October 23, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this

Luckily, what he wants to be is easily done from stuff we already have. Of the many things we’re doing to cut budgets, the cash we could save on a one-off like halloween candy isn’t all that significant, so why be scrooge about it?

By Becky

October 23, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this

Mr.Nice Guy, as others said, I’ll keep you in my thoughts that things start looking up for you..

As for candy, we dont’ have any trick or treaters any more..When we did, we gave out the good stuff..

As for costumes, I am going out with a scarey convict & Tinkerbell..

Hope all have a great Halloween & most of all a very safe one..

By new mom

October 23, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this

We got a little cheerleading outfit for our 13 mth old for our favorite college team (I’m not saying which, I don’t want to see a nasty repeat of last week’s column) but it’s something she can wear on game day that’s cute as pie, and then on halloween will be cute w/ a bodysuit and tights underneath. I’m sure next year she’ll start letting us know what she wants to dress up as, but at least for now, it’s up to us!

We buy candy that’s on sale, and try not to buy crap (but also not such good stuff that we eat it ourselves!) I remember as a kid sorting through my loot, and boy that nasty stuff would linger around for months before it was finally thrown out. Guess I’m a candy snob! ;)

By parentof4

October 23, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this

I have slacked a little. We have not bought any costumes yet, and figure I will just have to spend a boatload to get costumes this year.

As for the candy issue. My oldest son’s birthday is in September and we have pinata’s every year. Well due to the bad economy, the GOOD candy (snickers, twix…) were a STEAL. So I bought enough for trick or treating in the subdivision and for the Church Trunk or treating. I think in the beginning they thought no one would buy any candy.

By new mom

October 23, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this

I forgot to mention—mr. nice guy, hope things start looking up for you too :) And if I could ask, where did you find your candy online that was much cheaper? I have never thought to look into that!

My husband has to be sweetly reminded to pay attention to how much candy he’s giving out when he does it…I started noticing how fast we were going through candy one year, he would just take a ‘handful’ for each kid. And his handfuls end up being 8-10 pieces! There were some happy kids on our street…

One other thing we always do for trick-or-treaters: We will wait till an entire group has received their candy, then make a point of giving the ones who actually said THANK YOU an extra piece. There are usually only a few of them out there, they should be rewarded for good manners! The other kids sometimes say something rude (showing off their bad manners) but we say we like to give extra to boys and girls who are polite. Someone might as well try to teach them…

By Becky

October 23, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

We don’t give out to the older kids..If we know that they are there helping out a little brother or sister, than we do give them candy, but if they are there as a group of teenagers, no way..

newmom, I like your suggestion about giving extra to the kids that say thank you..

By new mom

October 23, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this

Becky—thank you! ;) Can you imagine the nerve of some kids to actually get mad when they don’t get ‘extra’ candy? In a way I feel sorry for them, they weren’t taught any manners, appreciation, you name it. But maybe by not getting that extra piece of candy at our house, they might just thank someone else. Who knows.

We might give candy to the older kids, but only 1 piece. (when they are by themselves or in a group, not going to help little ones.) Sometimes we say ‘wow, are you in high school? you are taller then us!’ just to point out to them that even with a costume, it’s obvious they are too old to still be trick or treating.

We might take our little one out to a few neighbors’ houses, but not to collect candy (she’s too young for it!) Just to get into the spirit of it. Last year she was only a month old, and was miserable all night as the doorbell kept ringing. It was a very scary night indeed…

By FCM

October 23, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this

Will these tough economic times affect your street rep as a good candy giver? First I do not care about my street rep with regard to candy. Second, I will not be changing what I give out (good stuff).

Will you replace the Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey bars with Smarties and no-name lollipops? This is the same question as before. I like Dum Dums but buy them after Halloween. I buy the chocolates for the big (5-12) kids and goldfish/teddy grahams for the little tikes.

Seriously, will you be adjusting your candy buying to fit your budget? I haven’t had to buy more than $20 in years. I may cut back how much I buy, but not what I buy. When it’s gone that is it period.

Will you hand out fewer pieces per child and not let older ones who didn’t dress up partake? Anyone wanting candy should be in costume and between walking (12 - 18 mos?) and 12 years old. Teens have no business doing anything more than escorting younger siblings. Really little ones need not show up either…they are so not eating the eating they get.

Do you think the kids care what kind of candy they get or are they just happy to get candy? Depends on the age. Little guys are just happy to be part of the experience. The older ones get picky. If mine complain while we are out they get a warning, if it happens again we go home. They are required to say Thank You and keep their mouths shut as to how they feel about what they got…until we get home where the bargining and trades can occur.

What about costumes? Children should be in costume to get candy.

Are you going for the homemade instead of the store bought? Homemade? Who has time? Sure they can use my old outfits if they want to create a costume (gyspy, prom girl, etc) or look in the pile of ‘dress up’ they have—-the witches costume from 3 years ago is a favorite play outfit at our house.

How do you convince the kids you can make a Hannah Montana outfit of the dresses you used to wear clubbing before you had kids? Be a parent…say no Susie we are not buying that, here are things you can use to make one, have at it. Saying no to a child is not bad parenting. In this instance it is actually a good lesson is fiscal responsiblity, if more of yesteryear kids had learned it we would not be in the economic situation we are now.

If he had said pirate I could have worked with that, but Pikachu not much hope. BIG SMILE. Well there are several schools of thought on this. OK, buy Pikachu but tell Hannah to use your closet. Tell Pikachu you understand but that won’t work for this year—sorry—and then suggest 3 that you better can afford/already have etc. Offer to let Pikachu earn part of the costume….sure it’s still your $ but Pikachu will appreciate the transaction more.

How do you convince them to pick costumes in your budget? Again be a parent. Gee Billy I understand that costume is really cool, however the price is a bit high. We can see if there is one less expensive or you could choose Hulk, Pirate, __. Yes, there may be tears, fusses, etc….But when the kids are young is a great time to learn they cannot have everything they want just by asking.

By new mom

October 23, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

You know, when I was growing up, I NEVER had a store-bought halloween costume. My parents told me that store-bought costumes were for people who were lazy or not creative…My mom didn’t sew everyting, one year I think she sewed a witch’s cape, but usually my costumes were creations of things we had at home, with maybe a couple of well-chosen accessories. One year I was a cat—you only needed to buy some ears and a tail, then wear a black turtleneck & pants, and paint your face. Other free costumes (other then face paint): a hobo, a mime..I can’t remember all of them. I was often challenged to come up with something from my closet and dress up box, and those costumes were unique! Do kids even do this anymore??

I have saved a bunch of my old party dresses, wigs, etc. for our daughter’s future dress up box, so hopefully she will have some things to get creative with!

Hey, you also don’t need to know how to sew…I saw some cute robot outfits online the other day, a mom made them from cardboard boxes and wrapped them with aluminum foil. You just have to look around the house and be creative!! And ask your kids to get creative too, you never know what they will come up with. :)

By Alecia

October 23, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this

The neighborhood kids get goodie bags filled with Snickers, Milky Ways, and little toys. The kids from outside our neighborhood that show up in a car get 1 cheapo lollipop. We live in a small community(65 homes) and it is easy to tell which kids belong. These parents that spend Halloween night driving from neighborhood to neighborhood so that their kids can get more candy need to get a grip. Instead of spending $10 in gas, please buy a $3.00 bag of candy. Costumes-Last year I bought my daughter’s costume 1 size too big last yr and another one after Halloween. We try to load up on after Halloween sales for her dress up stuff or next yr.

By Kathy

October 23, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this

I always get the huge bag of candy for $8 at Sam’s. We don’t always have tons of kids come by, so the mega bag usually does the trick for us. As for costumes, Little E wants to be a witch so her Gram made her a fancy witch tutu/skirt. We found a black witch hat for $2 at Joann’s and she will wear black tights, a black shirt and black shoes (all things that we bought for her to wear throughout the winter). The fabric was 1/2 price at Joann’s. She will be able to play dress up with the tutu/skirt after Halloween is over. We have gotten her costumes at a consignment sale in the past, but this year we did not find anything good.

By Sugar

October 23, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this

I never buy candy, because we are never home on Halloween. It’s my favorite “holiday” and I’m out with the kids and the doggie (she will be dressed this year too in the cutest little pumpkin costume).

Now, if you want to talk about carving pumpkins, then I’m your gal. I LOVE to carve, and we have a carving party in my driveway about two days before Halloween. Tons of Fun.

Does anyone roast pumpkin seeds besides me?

By MomsRule

October 23, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this

Alecia, “1 cheapo lollipop” for those arriving by car…that’s just mean.

I will be taking my children to a friends neighborhood this year. We have always stayed within our own neighborhood but a lot of people don’t participate any longer. And, we don’t have a ton of children that live in our neighborhood so there aren’t a lot of trick or treaters. That is probably the same reason that fewer and fewer houses participate.

But, that’s ok, my boys will accept your cheapo lollipop with a smile and polite thank you. :-)

By motherjanegoose

October 23, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this

I am in North Dakota now but wanted to chime in. Halloween will be business as usual for us.

My daughter always has a cook out and sleep over. I buy my candy at Costoc in the BIG bag. We have so many kids come to our neighborhood, many I do not know.

Here is one thing I cannot stand: parents who drive their cars down our street…with their lights on and watch their children from inside their car. If you are too lazy to walk down our streets of 8 houses on each side…please go to another neighborhood…it is dangerous. The children cannot see with the headlights on and the streets are too crowded.
Just my 2 cents worth!

By nurse&mother

October 23, 2008 1:41 PM | Link to this

We don’t live in a neighborhood, so no trick or treaters. If I did AND if I was at home, I would give out chocolate candy. Some neat ideas that are an alternative to candy are toothbrushes, stickers, play-doh etc. One idea for candy is giving out Little Debbies. They are actually relatively inexpensive and are individually wrapped. My best friend lives in the same neighborhood as an heir to the Little Debbie (McKee foods) business.

I have missed blogging regularly the last couple of weeks due to preparation of two parties this weekend. Really hate that I missed the flu shot blog.

While I definitely agree with vaccines for my children, I do not think that the flu should be mandatory as there are several strains out there. NOW on to the subject of mandatory flu shots for health care workers. Absolutely not. WHile I agree with a little gently coersion, it should not be mandatory for workers. First of all, one can pick up the flu bug from any grocery store cart or door handle. Secondly, I don’t trust the government to accurately look out for my best interest. Thirdly, there are so many strains out there. If there were only one strain (that never mutated) than yes, I would tend to agree that it should be something that should be mandatory.

By Tamika

October 23, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

Hi all— I will be buying tons of Halloween Candy for the Celebration on the ELECTION of PRESIDENT OBAMA!!

The greatest day in American History is 12 days away!!

OBAMA CANDY!!

By nurse&mother

October 23, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this

@ Numbers Guy- Your post on the flu vaccines cracked me up (regarding idiots and gov’t intervention).

Sorry to stray off topic. Y’all have a great weekend. HOpe to be back regularly next week.

By Tamika

October 23, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this

You all are invited fpor Candy at my Obama Celebration party!!

By Tamika, if, per chance...

October 23, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

… he loses can we still come for the NObama Celebration party?

By Tamika

October 23, 2008 2:13 PM | Link to this

Umm Sure— But it is all but Impossible now for Obama to lose!!! Its going to be the Biggest Electoral Landslide since Ronald Reagan.

The Fat lady is Singing and Eating her Halloween candy!!

President OBAMA DAY in 12 Days!!!!!!

By Tamika

October 23, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this

And now I am hearing Oprah Winfrey is going to get a cabinet position!!! I am so excited!! Halloween Candy for everyone this year.

By Tamika's sister

October 23, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this

My kids can’t wait to get to Auntie Tamika’s house this year. They are dressed as John McCain and Sarah Palin.

They are gonna scare the crap out of her!!!!

By DB

October 24, 2008 7:04 AM | Link to this

Heck, no! It’s not like we eat pounds of Reese’s Cups and Snickers bars all the time. Just as with any gift: “Give something that you’d like to get” :-) Plus, there are usually leftovers — so it might as well be something that I like, too!

My kids are too old to trick-or-treat, but they love answering the door for the little ones. I don’t discriminate — if someone makes it up my hill, they get candy, I don’t care how old they are. I did have one funny incident a couple of years ago. Doorbell rang, I opened the door, and the kid was too lazy to even say “trick or treat” — he just stood there and held out his bag. (Yes, he was old enough, and no, he wasn’t deaf — I knew him.) I stared at him, and he stared at me. Finally, I smiled and said, “Well, thanks for stopping by,” and started to close the door. He finally muttered a half-hearted, “trick-or-treat” and got ONE piece of candy.

I used to love to make costumes — one year, my son was a marvelous dragon, and he still has the stuffed head in the closet!

By Pulitzer guy

October 24, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this

ok, ok you made your point. You cant write without google/cut/paste, after reading the halloween piece I see that. Go back to google/cut/paste, please! it’s much funnier when you do that.

By nurse&mother

October 24, 2008 8:24 AM | Link to this

Meant to say that when I went trick or treating a few years back in my best friend’s neighborhood (with my oldest of course). My daughter received a little Debbie from one house. My friend informed me that the lady was the daughter (or another relative) of the founder of Little Debbies snack cakes.

By JD

October 24, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this

We bought an adorable bunny costume for our 6MO - she’s just dressing up to help us hand out candy and for pictures. Our neighborhood is huge, and we get all of the yucky things folks have mentioned - teens not dressed up, rude kids, carloads of lazy people from other neighborhoods, etc. But we also have some houses that really decorate, a hay ride and pizza party for the kids at the pool house. This year we bought the ‘good stuff’, but I had coupons, and as others have mentioned, Publix went crazy with the BOGO. Like newmom, I’m going to be watching my husband (Mr. Give-‘em-a-handful), but if we run out, we run out :o) I’m a one piece per kid gal - we get a LOT of kids, so I don’t feel bad. There are 300 houses in our neighborhood, they can get enough candy for a diabetic coma if they work at it.

By deidre_NC

October 24, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this

mr. nice guy best of luck to you. we wont have anything going on for halloween. its really not my favorite holiday so its ok. my youngest 16 yo will probably go to a party and wear some of my clothes and jewelry to look gypsyish..my son and his ex will take their daughter trick or treating-its a tradition with them. i just had to write a pretty big check for my daughters graduation stuff-like 1 hour ago!! that was christmas. as some of yall know i was laid off for several months-then found a job at a major discount retailer with a huge pay cut over my last job-more than unemployment tho-not a lot. im worried about my job after the holidays. im sure at the very least hours will be cut drastically. i am so dreading it. still looking for a new job…

as kids we always made our costumes. my older daughter always went all out with stuff but now shes out of work (in atlanta area) so it will be make your own this year im sure. i think thats more fun anyway. where i love (very rural) no kids come here anyway so i dotn have to buy candy. i will get my little granddaughter to share hers :)…but all the holidays starting with halloween will be extremely economical this year. im sure many others will be too. not a bad thing imo. way too much emphasis hasa been put on the monetary aspect of it all for eyars. i have never gone that route. so itll be ok.

good luck to all who are having hard times..prayers are with you all.

By JennyD

October 24, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this

I love Halloween! I buy full-size candy at BJ’s and I start buying it about 2 months ahead of time so it’s not a big hunk of money at once. We get about 150 trick-or-treaters.

We go all out with the haunted house decorations - fog machines, strobe lights and all - and our subdivision is really into it. One family does a big hayride for all the trick or treaters using their landscaping business’ trailer, and we have a haunted house in our clubhouse with proceeds going to charity. It’s so much fun every year!

So no, the economy has not affected my candy buying…not this year anyway. We’ll see what happens next year. My child is only 15mo old so the costume thing is not an issue yet.

By ccs

October 24, 2008 2:35 PM | Link to this

I did not buy quite as much candy this year. We had a lot of trick or treaters last year. If the candy runs out, I’ll just turn the lights off. I buy the candy that I liked to get when I was a kid. I buy a mix of chocolate, fruit candy (Skittles, Starburst), and lollipops.

By I'm a Troll Get off my Bridge!!!!

October 24, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this

I just send all the kids to lakerat’s house…..that beeotch is scaring people 365 days a year…..so Halloween is perfect for her to convey how much better she is than everybody else.