I didn't vote 'cuz we do a little candy with a trinket or something in the bag with it..Less candy, and the xtras are from the dollar store ~ just stuff kids enjoy for a short time & throw away..OK..Mom throws it away ~ same diff....

i usually buy fun size of snickers, kitkat, reeses, milky way, ect ... and for each bag of the good stuff i also get a bag of the misc. stuff like tootsie rolls assorted (my favorite is vanilla), suckers, twizzlers, Smarties (another of my favorite), ect ... that way i can give out several pieces ... kids are happy, yard is left alone, and i didn't go broke doing it ....

I used to get dressed up in a costume, but since the best part of my costume died in 2006 (my dog, TinyMonsters used to be my Demon Dog, or the Hound From Hell) I just dont have as much fun as I used to.

Plus, after that first MRI that I had in August of 2006, I'm claustrophobic. I really dont like wearing my masks any more.

We usually give out the small Snickers, Kit Kats, Baby Ruths, Twix, Reeses, and Tootsie Rolls. (There are some kids down the street that are allergic to peanuts, and their parents said the kids can have Tootsie Rolls, but not the other chocolate)

When we lived at our other house, I used to keep a small stash of the giant Snicker bars for several kids and their parents. One was a little girl that I scared the first year I started dressing in my demon costume. I sat out in the front yard with a dummy I made, and didnt move when people started walking up to the door.

One year, this 4 year old girl was walking up, and when I moved, she screamed and jumped for her dad. (her dad was a guy who would come thru my drive thru at the McD's I worked at) When I took the mask off to show that I wasnt scary, he told her I was the girl who made her Happy Meals every friday. She was like "Oh...it's just Erin!" I gave her about half the bowl of candy that I had. The next year I started buying her and her dad the Snickers bars. That second year, I was doing the same thing, scaring people, and she ran up to me, saying "I'm not scared this time!"...until she saw TinyMonsters. (they became friends)

Tiny was the best part of my costume, because we used to get kids from Boys Town trick or treating in my neighborhood. In large gangs of kids. (Boys Town is about 3 miles from my old house) One year, I had about 40 boys show up at my door. The ones in back were pushing the ones in front into my house. I was home alone (dog was with my parents) and I had a hard time getting the kids to leave. (they tried to steal my rubber rat!) I closed up shop after they left.

The next year, I added Tiny to my costume. I'd let his hair grow out so that he looked bigger than he really was, and he'd answer the door with me. Had another gang of Boys Towners come to the door, and not one of them pushed into the house like the last year, and my rubber rat was safe. (Tiny just wanted to meet and kiss everyone...he was a drool monster)

I really miss having Tiny around. Now I have to make my parents stay with me, even tho we're in a different neighborhood now and dont get the hordes of high schoolers like we used to.

We used to get all the kids from North Omaha ("bad" side of town) in our old neighborhood. Their parents would drive them into West Omaha because it's probably safer to T~or~T here. I'd give those kids the big Snickers bars AND a handful of the smaller chocolaty goodness. Those kids never seemed scared of Tiny...they were impressed, but not scared. Tiny got all sorts of ear scratches from those kids. (these kids behaved so well too. Said thank you, and were so polite...the other kids were just rude)

It's just no fun to wear a costume on Halloween without the MonsterDoggy as an accessory. I really miss him.

Now I buy more candy than we need, we hand out candy till 7pm, and then the lights go off, the door closes, and we go out for dinner...and then come home for handfuls of leftover candy for dessert.

This is our first year for Halloween in this house. There are lots of kids in this neighborhood so I'm going to buy lots of candy....and if I have some left over oh, well....can't let good food go to waste now can we??!!

I think I'll sit out front and hand the candy out this year. Our doorbell practically plays an entire song when someone rings it and it scares the cats to death.

Matt's police car will be parked in front of the house so I think that'll be a deterrent to anyone planning to "decorate" any yards!! We live in the circle on a dead end so all the houses (well, 4 of them) should be protected!

I'm excited!!

We give candy We usually get around 300 kids, defintitely a busy street

HAlloween is my wedding anniversary. We are always OUT on that day. It wasnt intentional, nor was it really investigated as the halloween weekend. We wanted to get married in June. Everyone was pig piling in saying that someone else was graduating, someone else was getting married, someone else was getting confirmed, and too many people were upset by OUR choice of when to get married. I got REALLY fed up up during a huge family dinner, and went to the wall calendar. It was Sept at the time. I ripped open the Calendar and found an available weekend. The last one in October! great! so, I announced our wedding moved up to Oct 31 st high noon, either be there, or dont, but we are not going to be able to please everyone. We would love for you to attend, but understand if you cant. Then I stomped off. So, the roses were still in bloom, and it was a wonderful outdoor wedding.

Even so, we live WAY out in the boonies, on a dead end road, full of houses that are empty from Oct 1 to April 1. No one comes out here. Even if we were home, no one would come, and I would hand out granola. Probably get my house egged.

Remember the scare of razor blades in apples? having your candy xrayed? candy apples were always a great treat, and then it was scary to eat one! home made pop corn balls?! woo those were great!

Giving out candy is usually easy but that idea about the play doh is a good one.....

I'm a bit surprised that such a large % voted for "I turn my light off and pretend I'm not home". I'm curious if that because there was no other choice, like "I don't get trick or treaters where I live" . . . or are those people who turn their light out even though they live in residential areas?

I LOVED Halloween when I was a kid. It was the only time of the year that I felt "rich" because I had something to put in my lunch box the next day. My mom was schizophrenic (dad passed away), so we very seldom saw a meal or food in our house. Candy was heaven.

I have always made sure to have someone at home to give out treats, even if it meant my kids had to go with a friend or neighbor so that I was there when the kids came knocking. Normally my kids help me make up bags of various treats, and I usually include something odd that they won't likely get somewhere else. Sometimes that's a Koolaide juicebox (they always get thirsty while they are running around), or a frozen over-sized freezie.

Gum, suckers, caramels, plus whatever weird new thing (trend) is what I usually give out. This year they have gum on a roll, in Halloween size, so that's the "main" treat in the bag.

Cherie

One of my older neighbors always did this also and I always wondered why because she was very friendly. Like someone pointed out it would be expensive to someone on a fixed income so maybe that was it.

I always loved Halloween for the costumes but also because we never got candy as a kid unless it was a special treat or Easter.

I was one who voted to turn my light out, and I hate to do it, because it was always one of my favorite times. I used to make up little bags of goodies. We have lots of little kids in our neighborhood.

Since I live alone, now and in a scooter, I choose not to do beggars night, anymore, but it kills me. I thought of just putting a bowl of candy out on the porch, but figured some big kids would take it all..

Have a nice beggars night all..