Kids from poorer neighborhoods keep coming to trick-or-treat in mine. Do I have to give them candy?

[calimary]

55. I do, too. Halloween used to be big business in this neighborhood. TONS of kids

and they were my kids' ages too, so everybody knew everybody. It was GREAT fun. LOVED seeing the costumes. Some parent or nanny or somebody standing back, at the sidewalk, was usually someone we knew or recognized from around the neighborhood. Much of the time, that parent standing back on the sidewalk would be me - escorting my kids and the next-door-neighbors' kids and a couple of friends or so. We'd go all over the neighborhood! But then, as always, those little kids turn into big kids and they outgrow Halloween OR they go off to college or there's some big date-night or party somewhere and - well, they're just not around anymore. And yes, it is a little depressing! We used to have to start rationing candy - one piece per - because there were so many kids and we were always in danger of running out of candy regardless how much we'd bought in preparation for all the trick-or-treaters. Now, we always have candy left over in the bowl after the night is over. And the night is over much earlier these days than it was. Used to be they'd start coming shortly before dusk and continue all the way up to the last stragglers at 10pm or so - and those were often teenagers in the neighborhood. And that was cool, too! THEIR costumes were usually the best of all!

I miss it. Definitely! It was GREAT. But everybody around here is decorating, and there are a few new families who've moved in - with little kids who are certainly of trick-or-treating age, so I'm anticipating doing a little bit more business this Halloween for a change. A nice change. It's been a little lonely out there in the past few years!