Full sized bars for halloween

[sheepstache]

On another forum posters mentioned how they would be giving out full sized chocolate bars for halloween, it seems to be some sort of status symbol?

I'm Aussie so am a bit confused. Considering the candy stashes people are posting after halloween it seems a full sized bar wouldn't be so valuable and possibly even annoying if your bucket fills up so quick and your night is cut short. As a parent I think I'd be side eyeing the big candy bars, I dislike people giving my kids sweets. I dunno, just curious how this all works and what sort of stuff is given out. Also, what a mustachian halloween like?

Uh-huh, "Australia." Nice try, Zorblax.

Zorblax? I'm not sure why you'd think I'd lie about being Australian, not much point to that but meh.

"Hey, fellow humans! Let us discuss human Halloween rituals in a perfectly normal way. If anything I say sounds strange, it is certainly because I am Australian and not an alien species gathering evidence about human culture so we may eventually infiltrate this world and feast on your warm nutritious bodily fluids. Man, too much candy at Halloween, it's a real problem for us humans, am I right?"

[Silverwood]

Handing out full sized candy is more for me because I remember how awesome it was getting those as a kid. 

This year I'm handing out crayons with mini candy bars. Bags of chips for the older kids. We also used to get can drinks as kids but I don't drink pop so don't give those out.

If I had a helper I'd probably do hot chocolate or coffee for the parents. I go big  for Halloween every other year. I get over 100 kids! Halloween is the best. So excited it's on a Sat this year.

[couponvan]

I give out full size candy bars and full size fruit by the foot roll ups.  Why both?  Fruit by the foot is allergy friendly, and whatever crazy new candy bar has just come out is usually cheaper than the minis bags after coupons. I stock up on fruit roll ups when school starts when they are free/money making after coupons.  I think I MADE a little over $20 after tax for the Halloween stash this year - 160 fruit roll ups (20 boxes) and 72 candy bars (6 bars per order on a Buy 2 get one free/BOGO run combined with catalina deal).  We usually average 150 TOTs.  I'll hand out 2 and 3 full size bars at a time to the middle/high schoolers later in the evening to get rid of everything.

I like being "that" house....and making money doing it.

:-)

[Josiecat]

I don't see it as a status symbol at all.  It makes the kids so very happy and that's all that matters.

Yes, when we were kids we knew which houses gave out the 'good stuff'. 

[ikonomore]

I hand out full size candy bars every year.  Rite Aid always them on sale the week before Halloween.
I also put up my 150" outdoor screen and project "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".
The kids and adults all love it.

A 6 year old came to my house one year and said to her little friend "they give out big candy bars and play Charlie Brown.  It's a tradition."

[whydavid]

My mom always gave out the full size bars because she thought the kids in the neighborhood would be less likely to egg/toilet paper/otherwise vandalize her house if they got something good from her ("bored teenagers looking for trouble" was the number one source of crime in my neighborhood).  I don't know that her reasoning was correct, but she did manage to avoid having her house vandalized on Halloween night for the 25 years she lived there, so maybe there was something to it.  I really just think she liked the reactions she got from the kids. 

[mustachepungoeshere]

I love Halloween, but I have some broken 'I don't like chocolate' kid.  She goes trick or treating with her friends and they are usually done after about 20 mins so she barely gets anything.  ugh.  I want chocolate...go bring me back some chocolate.  And yes, I buy bags of candy and pass it out and could eat that, but it's not the same as digging through a bag with 100 varieties of different candies.

damn broken kid.

I see your broken child and raise you my younger older sister (next one up from me), who actually PREFERRED crap like Mary Janes and Bit-O-Honeys over chocolate.  At least when I got that stuff it never went to waste!

Alas, you have touched upon a peeve of mine, which I see quite frequently--using your kids as your personal candy pusher.  I don't care how adorable that baby bumblebee or toddler Tinker Bell is, I'm not giving it anything other than compliments and admiration.  NO REESES FOR YOU!

/Candy Nazi

Australian here. Until I read this blog - http://pancakesandfrenchfries.com/2009/11/halloween-not-my-favorite/ - a couple of years ago I had never considered that parents would expect goodies for infants. Or that people would expect something for not dressing up.

[Silverwood]

Lol I agree with the woman who wrote that. I don't give to anyone not dressed up. Those wearing just a mask get a single tiny chocolate bar.

[Frankies Girl]

Australian here. Until I read this blog - http://pancakesandfrenchfries.com/2009/11/halloween-not-my-favorite/ - a couple of years ago I had never considered that parents would expect goodies for infants. Or that people would expect something for not dressing up.

Sigh. I really, really don't get the nasty holier-than-thou attitudes of the TOT police.

Just to remind everyone - Trick or Treat is NOT a request or cutesy saying. It is a subtle demand. Either give them a treat or you might get a trick played on you. That's the basis of Halloween as far as the history of trick-or-treating in the United States (who started this whole phenomenon). Because what is Halloween without a bit of menace?  :D

You can decide if you do or do not want to supply candy - just turn off the porch light and pretend you're not home and hope the little goblins don't egg your house. Or you can stop being a stick in the mud jerkface, imposing your personal judgements and making people feel bad about asking for a few pennies' worth of candy on a night where TOT'ers can be wild and crazy kids (no matter how old they might be on the outside).

Don't we all get judged enough in real life? Is it really worth it to act smug or superior to that poor teenaged kid with no costume that really, really just wanted to run around at night and collect candy and remember for a little while what it feels like to be a happy kid again? Or that parent that was so happy their little one is here and looks adorable in their little costume they had to hit a few houses to commemorate their first Halloween?

I give candy to all comers - little kids that are too afraid to come up the driveway get curbside service, babies asleep in strollers pushed by proud parents, adults, or teens in no costumes. If they say the magic words, they get candy and a "Happy Halloween!" at my house. Because I care about creating nice memories for all, and making my neighbors feel like maybe just for a few minutes, the old-fashioned close-knit neighborhood that cared about each other still exists for at least that one night.

/soapbox

[chouchouu]

On another forum posters mentioned how they would be giving out full sized chocolate bars for halloween, it seems to be some sort of status symbol?

I'm Aussie so am a bit confused. Considering the candy stashes people are posting after halloween it seems a full sized bar wouldn't be so valuable and possibly even annoying if your bucket fills up so quick and your night is cut short. As a parent I think I'd be side eyeing the big candy bars, I dislike people giving my kids sweets. I dunno, just curious how this all works and what sort of stuff is given out. Also, what a mustachian halloween like?

Uh-huh, "Australia." Nice try, Zorblax.

Zorblax? I'm not sure why you'd think I'd lie about being Australian, not much point to that but meh.

"Hey, fellow humans! Let us discuss human Halloween rituals in a perfectly normal way. If anything I say sounds strange, it is certainly because I am Australian and not an alien species gathering evidence about human culture so we may eventually infiltrate this world and feast on your warm nutritious bodily fluids. Man, too much candy at Halloween, it's a real problem for us humans, am I right?"

Silly duo-ped, zorblax don't feast on humans they utilise them for carbon monoxide farming to create zorblax friendly colonies!

[elaine amj]

Little plastic pumpkin? Those things are huge! I can't imagine a pillowcase of candy, that's quite something. There are some neighbourhoods in Sydney where trick or treating is done, a friend invited me but I'm not letting my daughters collect anymore than the pumpkin can hold. So glad they won't have any friends who can let them know to collect more...

When I first moved to Canada, I couldn't get my head wrapped around Halloween. I was in college and a bunch of friends took me out to go "can-o-weening" (basically go around and collect canned food donations since we were too old to trick or treat). It was my first time ever and it just blew my mind. I mean, I'd seen it on TV and stuff, but really didn't think it was REAL somehow. People would spend so much money giving out free stuff to strangers? I just couldn't compute it.

Fast forward to when I had my own kids. They LOVE trick or treating and we have been taking them since about 3yrs old. To them the thrill is collecting as much as possible (they honestly wouldn't care if they weren't allowed to eat a single piece). I enjoy visiting with the neighbors on my street and the general fun atmosphere of going house to house. We usually come home with a backpack full (they empty their pumpkins into a backpack DH carries). No, we don't allow them to eat all that candy (when they were very little, they only got to eat 2-3 pieces from the entire haul). We usually let them pick out a few of the ones they like and the rest gets sent to be shared with classmates the next day/to be used as future birthday party favors/to be given away in some way.

They are now 13 and 14 and still want to go TOTing (dressed up, of course). I told them this is likely their last year - and only because my DS is about the size of a 9/10 yr old. I'm kinda sad our TOTing days are coming to an end. We could have stopped escorting them a long time ago, but we really do enjoy it as a family activity.

Oh and a full size bar is like getting a $20 bill when you are going around collecting $1 bills. Guaranteed to put a smile on any kid's face! :) :) :)

[clarkfan1979]

I did this last year because snickers bars were on sale at Costco for 9.99/48 piece box. I bought two boxes.

[MrsPete]

I'm visiting family in their new house in a wealthy gated community. We asked about Halloween candy and joked about how people here probably hand out full bars. My mom replied that a neighbor spent $700 last year!

I wonder if she meant $700 on candy ... or $700 on Halloween total. 

Oh, yes, $700 on Halloween is still outrageous, but if you had three kids and bought really great costumes for each at $100, which some people actually do ... then a few decorations for the house ... and food for a party, including alcohol ... a typical spendy-pants consumer could wrack up $500-600 before actually buying candy. 

Alternately, some people love to "up" their numbers to make themselves look good.  Clearly, that method backfires on us, but people still do it.

[Wilson Hall]

http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbk5bb95WX1qaldqoo1_500.png

[DaMa]

I also used to be a kid, and I never took a container trick-or-treating that was in any danger of filling up. I think the equation was trying to maximize weight and quality of candy per total distance walked. Everyone tried to finagle an invitation to the neighborhoods which were wealthy enough not to skimp on candy, but not so wealthy that the houses were too far apart. Big bars were always a winner. (I remember a friend of mine lived in a weird neighborhood with no kids, and his next-door neighbor would buy one of those huge 8-oz bars for him every year because he was the only trick-or-treater that would come.)

My brother and I used to stop back at our own house halfway through and swap out the gross candy for good stuff that our parents were giving away, so my parents would give that stuff away in turn. In exchange for this service we were charged a tax of all Mounds and Almond Joy bars that we received :-)

I thought you were my son posting this until I saw the tax.  My kids paid in Reese's!

[dude]

Australian here. Until I read this blog - http://pancakesandfrenchfries.com/2009/11/halloween-not-my-favorite/ - a couple of years ago I had never considered that parents would expect goodies for infants. Or that people would expect something for not dressing up.

Sigh. I really, really don't get the nasty holier-than-thou attitudes of the TOT police.

Just to remind everyone - Trick or Treat is NOT a request or cutesy saying. It is a subtle demand. Either give them a treat or you might get a trick played on you. That's the basis of Halloween as far as the history of trick-or-treating in the United States (who started this whole phenomenon). Because what is Halloween without a bit of menace?  :D

You can decide if you do or do not want to supply candy - just turn off the porch light and pretend you're not home and hope the little goblins don't egg your house. Or you can stop being a stick in the mud jerkface, imposing your personal judgements and making people feel bad about asking for a few pennies' worth of candy on a night where TOT'ers can be wild and crazy kids (no matter how old they might be on the outside).

Don't we all get judged enough in real life? Is it really worth it to act smug or superior to that poor teenaged kid with no costume that really, really just wanted to run around at night and collect candy and remember for a little while what it feels like to be a happy kid again? Or that parent that was so happy their little one is here and looks adorable in their little costume they had to hit a few houses to commemorate their first Halloween?

I give candy to all comers - little kids that are too afraid to come up the driveway get curbside service, babies asleep in strollers pushed by proud parents, adults, or teens in no costumes. If they say the magic words, they get candy and a "Happy Halloween!" at my house. Because I care about creating nice memories for all, and making my neighbors feel like maybe just for a few minutes, the old-fashioned close-knit neighborhood that cared about each other still exists for at least that one night.

/soapbox

amen, FG!

[GuitarStv]

I have never ever seen a full sized candy bar given out in my entire time trick or treating as a kid.  Only heard tales of them . . . whispered on the playground.

[Dollar Slice]

I thought you were my son posting this until I saw the tax.  My kids paid in Reese's!

Haha. We never would have agreed to a Reese's tax! We lived in Massachusetts, that kind of unfair taxation is the sort of thing we start revolutionary wars over ;-)

Actually, my parents always gave away Reese's (among others) so there was never a shortage. Thank goodness.

[partgypsy]

On another forum posters mentioned how they would be giving out full sized chocolate bars for halloween, it seems to be some sort of status symbol?

I'm Aussie so am a bit confused. Considering the candy stashes people are posting after halloween it seems a full sized bar wouldn't be so valuable and possibly even annoying if your bucket fills up so quick and your night is cut short. As a parent I think I'd be side eyeing the big candy bars, I dislike people giving my kids sweets. I dunno, just curious how this all works and what sort of stuff is given out. Also, what a mustachian halloween like?

Uh-huh, "Australia." Nice try, Zorblax.

Zorblax? I'm not sure why you'd think I'd lie about being Australian, not much point to that but meh.

"Hey, fellow humans! Let us discuss human Halloween rituals in a perfectly normal way. If anything I say sounds strange, it is certainly because I am Australian and not an alien species gathering evidence about human culture so we may eventually infiltrate this world and feast on your warm nutritious bodily fluids. Man, too much candy at Halloween, it's a real problem for us humans, am I right?"

lol!

[dude]

One of my favorite Halloween stories ever:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2014/10/dear_prudence_on_halloween_poor_kids_come_to_trick_or_treat_in_my_neighborhood.html

[MandalayVA]

One of my favorite Halloween stories ever:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2014/10/dear_prudence_on_halloween_poor_kids_come_to_trick_or_treat_in_my_neighborhood.html

There's a lot of people like that person in my neighborhood on Halloween.  They'll keep their lights on for the little yuppie spawn (who ALWAYS are the first to come while it's still light outside), then go dark and lock the door when the project kids show up.

[arebelspy]

As someone who used to be a kid, I am pro full-size bars.

+1

http://www.ifunny.com/pictures/im-not-wearing-costume-im-here/

Hahaha, awesome.