Halloween celebrations have definitely changed since we were all a lot younger. My parents used to send me and my siblings out into the neighborhood, pillowcases in tow, and let us run a muck for hours, filling our pillowcases with as much candy as possible. Now, there are harvest fall fests and truck-or-treats at every church in town, plus our downtown holds its own trick-or-treating event during the day.
There are so many Halloween-esque events leading up to the actual night of Halloween that we’re usually burnt out. We’ll take a stroll around the block with our daughter, as she grabs some candy, meet up with some neighbors for a beverage, and then call it a night.
One user on Threads noticed that he hadn’t had any trick-or-treaters at his door in literally years. Now, he’s asking parents to chime in: do people even let their kids go trick-or-treating anymore?
“Parents, do you let your kids trick or treat? We haven’t seen or had trick or treaters in years. I know this trunk or treating trend is going around. Seems one of my favorite childhood traditions is no more,” user @carsonsweezy wrote.
After his post gained traction, several Threads parents responded to the OP’s question. Several folks assured the OP that trick-or-treating was still very much a thing.
“We love going trick or treating still! I’m back living in the neighborhood I grew up in and excited to take my girls around. It’s not as many kids as when I was little but there’s still more than our old neighborhood,” one user said.
Another wrote, “We sure do! Around our home, some people even set up haunted houses in their yards and garages for the trick or treaters. Others dress up and walk around the streets in their scary costumes. It makes the whole night really fun!”
“We still go trick or treating. I *honestly* think that some neighborhoods are just WAY more popular than others. Some get like 300+ kids. I get 2-4. 😅 We go to the trunk or treats too because it’s nice to see everyone town in one place. We have a neighborhood trunk or treat and a town one, but neither is ever on Halloween. I didn’t realize this before I had kids but it’s so important to go to the town things,” another user noted.
However, other parents gave their reasonings for pulling back on the traditional concept of trick-or-treating.
“We quit trick or treating when covid arrived. Now we stay home, carve pumpkins, watch halloween movies, and we eat from the boxes of halloween candy we buy for ourselves. No one gets covid and everyone gets candy,” one user noted.
One mom wrote, “We much prefer trunk-or-treat events. They’re more fun, more kids in one space, not to mention generally more inclusive and physically accessible than going house to house”
One conundrum that I run into as a parent of a little who wants to trick or treat is that both myself and my husband want to go around the neighborhood with her, so because of that, we don’t leave our porch light on until we get home. We also learned our lesson about putting out a giant bucket of candy with a “please take two” sign because…kids!
Seems like, in a post-COVID world, things have changed when it comes to trick-or-treating. Some people opt for simpler options like trunk-or-treats, but it seems like the old tradition still rings true for some — you just have to find the right neighborhood.
