[Marie P]

Do kids go trick or treating in NZ ?

If my kids knock on peoples doors [with me lurking nearby ] will people have treats at the ready ?

We used to have a great time at home on Halloween with most of the neighbours entering into the spirit :D of things .

Marie x

[jess]

Hi Marie. I was wondering the same thing. There's this thread (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4667), and though it mostly seems to be about what people think of trick or treating, there's a little bit about how many kids take part in NZ. Since I'm from the US I have fond memories from the early seventies, and am buying candy in the hopes some neighborhood kids come by. (I didn't know until today that this was only a new thing in the UK and NZ.)

[Moorf]

I asked the kids that came in to the garage and they all said, without exception, that they weren't allowed to go trick treating, which is great as it saves me having to sit in the dark all evening :D

[katandbob]

I bought some sweets - just in case, but the boys said the only people visiting here would be axe murderers!

Jason gets to spend the first night in his newly decorated room - when I showed him it, he said wheres the iron bars I requested? :confused: :laugh

Kat

[olivia]

I asked the kids that came in to the garage and they all said, without exception, that they weren't allowed to go trick treating, which is great as it saves me having to sit in the dark all evening :D


I'm with Helen on this one. I can't stand Trick or Treaters and i always close the curtains early around Halloween and pretend i can't hear the doorbell. I wouldn't mind if it was just my neighbours kids that came round but we seem to get loads of kids i've never even seen before. (AND i haven't recovered from the s*ds who poured porridge over my car a few years back when i didn't have anything to give them. I didn't realise until the next morning what they had done and do you know how hard it is to get dried on porridge off your paintwork!)

Sorry rant over.

[Debbie P.]

It's not so bad if the parents get together and organise a group of children to just visit each others' houses (or houses of people they know will be OK about it), but I feel sorry for elderly or vulnerable people who may feel nervous about answering the door in the dark.

As for me, I always get it wrong - either I've got nothing and the neighbourhood kids come around, or I get bags of sweeties and spend the evening eating them myself!

[Myrkk]

I get stuff in for the kids but will only give sweets out on the night 'cause they started trick or treating on the 28th here. And I never give money which some seem to expect.

Thought they always had to do something to get the treats but it seems saying trick or treat is enough nowadays..... I can remember spending a week memorising Riki Tiki Tavi to recite for my treats when I was a whipper snapper in Scottieland.

[Diny]

I asked the kids that came in to the garage and they all said, without exception, that they weren't allowed to go trick treating, which is great as it saves me having to sit in the dark all evening :D


I'm with you 100%!! Never have and never will take part in Trick or Treating. I've never allowed my kids to take part either. I even go as far as putting a sign on the door telling them not to bother knocking.

Maybe if I was born and bred in the good ol' US of A my attitude would be different, but (for us) it's a newly introduced thing - and one that I just don't buy into.

But hey - I know there's lots of kids and parents out there who do enjoy the occasion and I genuinely wish you all an enjoyable evening ...... just include me out !!!

Diny

[montana]

Oh, I LOVE Halloween! We used to have so much fun as kids going around the neighbourhood and everyone oohing and aahing over our costumes - we had some good ones too - pumpkin, ghost, cowboy and cowgirls, cowboys and Indians, rabbits, raccoons, fairy princesses, you name it! :D

And now that I am grown up (sort of), I love seeing all the kids costumes now. I am stocked up on candy and we even carved pumpkins (had to improvise with butternut squash) last night. :laugh

[Bruckner]

I love coming up with costume ideas but sadly, I'm not that creative. Went to the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village many, many years ago and last year went a block association party on the UWS which was great fun. Some people put a lot of time and thought into their costumes and they're really amazing to see.

As far as trick or treating, my neighborhood gets a bit crazy (roving groups of kids with eggs) so there aren't many trick or treaters. I've had the same candy bags for eight years now. At the end of the night I'd pour all the candy into a plastic bag and put it out at work the next day. This year I'm not even going to bother buying anything.

Emily

[Carol]

I give the kids who knock at our door crystallised ginger to eat...


he he he he heh....:p


And no - I dont let my own kids go knocking on doors either.
There's enough to worry about without that as well!
:mad:

[Moorf]

hehehehe love it Carol! Maybe I'll start saving the yucky coffee creams for next year :D

[Ana&Steve]

I used to love trick-or-treating; it's not as safe as it used to be, though, so people take their kids to the mall and all the stores hand out candy. I still like it when people go nuts with the Halloween deco on their houses.
Ana

[Diny]

OK - just to prove what a miserable old bag I am. Have just pinned the sign to the front door - getting ready for the evenings onslaught. In case you can't read it, it says: 'no trick or treat - thank you'.

Bah humbug !!!!!!!

Diny
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v521/Diny12/TrickorTreat.jpg

[Moorf]

Much as I dislike the trick/treating I couldn't turn away Bob and Helen our neighbours kids :D - trouble is, I had no sweeties, so they earned themselves a lemon each :laugh which they actually seemed genuinely happy with!!! (hmm should I check what's in my postbox?!!)

And yes, that's a real scythe Bob has in his hands - these are the kids I referred to in one of my articles when they were chopping wood with a razor sharp axe - in jandals. They are brill kids (6 and 9)!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Moorf/IMG_1984Medium.jpg

[Marie P]

Well my three had a lovely time ,we went with some school friends around Wattle cove ,lots of people gave them treats ,I'm sure in a few years time Halloween will be huge around here .

It was weird not carrying torches in the dark ,but nice not to be cold as I loitered .

Marie x

[jess]

I must be Diny's evil twin, because we did the opposite and put up a Happy Halloween sign in front to see if we could get any trick or treaters walking up the drive. Had two little girls come up together dressed as witches - probably about 7 years old - very excited. Their mom waited at the bottom while they climbed. They came around 7pm. No one after that. Now I have to eat the rest of the kit kat bars! :roll (Well, actually :D)

[marcia]

For the first time this year I've let ours go trick or treating - they always grumble that its not fair that I give stuff out to the kids that come here but won't let them go - reason I don't 'normally' let them go - in my eyes its begging and a custom that has been introduced to once again pressurize parents into spending more money on costumes and treats!!

But i do have a bag of sweets for those that come cos I don't want any nasty tricks like eggy windows etc!! We relented and let the boys go around to a few neighbours this year - part as a way to say bye to people and also because we have been sooooo busy they haven't really had many treats as such - so its been a bit of a strange night this year!

I have told the boys though - theres no trick or treating in NZ!!! :D

[gil]

I'm with the bah humbug brigade on this. We don't let ours go trick or treating and I've given the odd sweet out tonight to small children of very close neighbours, but have told most of them we've run out...:D It's not a Welsh tradition at all and I agree it's intrusive. Also, being a churchgoer, it's not something I feel I should celebrate...

Gil

[Trigirl]

tonight on my way home from the station i saw a group of 20+ kids harrassing our local shopkeeper and another group of 15 or so 8-10 yr olds on their own f'ing and blinding and talking about "doing over" the next estate (where i live) carrying massive bags of stuff that could well have been sweets but could equally have been eggs and flour.

so i've popped in back home to meet someone that was due to come round at 8.30 cos she wanted our hoover before we left but then i'm going straight back out. i'd bought sweets on the way home but frankly having seen them out there tonight i just can't be doing with it.

[Lupin]

Our two dressed up and we went to my Father's house where they yelled "surprise....trickle treat" :laugh and we stayed for pumpkin pie etc. I wouldn't want them trick or treating people we don't know and aren't expecting us...but that's probably just because it's not something we did as children so I feel uncomfortable about it. We had a few round my Dad's house and my two handed out sweets to them but none since we've been home and I've started on the bowl of chocolate by the front door :laugh

[jen]

I love Halloween - I always went trick-or-treating as a kid & now I'm one of those who stocks up on little candy bars (I TRY to get at the kinds I won't break into and eat myself!). I have a pumpkin on the porch and lanterns with candles ready to light when it gets dark. We get a parade of kids by the house - I especially like the very little ones who come up to the door and get stage fright so you hear mom or dad in the bushes prompting them to say trick or treat and thank you :laugh On my morning dog walk I got a kick out of all the displays in front of the houses - from tasteful fall gourds and leaves to full-on gruesome graveyards - and I like seeing random people walking or biking by in costume or sporting horns etc.!

I had no idea if Halloween (at least as I've known it in the US for all my 37 years) was celebrated in NZ - it sounds like it's becoming that way but being resented by many as an 'imported' custom? Rats. Oh well, I really enjoy the "fall harvest" aspect & it'd seem strange to have it another time of year, so maybe I won't miss it. Or I can overcompensate by bringing all my Halloween decorations and be known as the crazy pumpkin lady of the neighborhood (Or whatever's available - somebody upthread mentioned improvising with butternut squash?!)

Jen (wearing pumpkin-shaped earrings today)

[Hannah]

We've had this debate at work today - loads of people moaning about how it's an 'American thing' and 'we never did that in our day'. I'm 36 and went trick or treating as a kid (we never had any money so I went out on all these kinds of things, carol singing, penny for the guy, car washing, bog cleaning etc.). I know it's an American thing but so is McDonalds, 'Friends', "The Simpsons" and Tom Cruise and i don't see many people avoiding them out of principle. I think Halloween is no big deal, so long as those knocking respect the 'go away, no thank you' that comes from some houses.
I bought a bag of Snickers bars today to enter into the spirit of things and no-one knocked on my door. Now i have to eat a whole pack of snickers while hubby is at the pub. And halloween is meant to be a bad thing????!!!!!!!!!!

[Ana&Steve]

I hope it doesn't get as commercial in NZ as it has become here. Once Hallmark gets their hands on it, it's so much harder to enjoy a holiday. Also there was the big scare in the 80's, someone reported a razor blade in an apple and all of a sudden we had to get all our candy X-rayed and we couldn't accept anything unwrapped or homemade. :( Still, Halloween holds the 2nd happiest memories for me, the 1st being Christmas, of course!! :D
Ana

[Bruckner]

We took the kids to the 69th Street Halloween Block Party but it wasn't as good as last year. The most imaginative costume there was a kid dressed as an iPod. Very well done too and I love homemade costumes the best. There were plenty of Dora the Explorers, Spidermans and pirates even a litte Scarlett O'Hara. I saw the Pope on the subway, Jesus walking up Broadway and a penguin drinking a beer at Lincoln Center. And a young man dressed as an angel, complete with big white feathered wings, gave the kids tiny Curious George dolls as a treat while we were waiting for the train.

Great weather, no eggs or tussles, it was a good night here. Our last New York City Halloween. I'm actually a bit sad.

Emily