when will you let your kids..

kimberley wrote: trick or treat alone??


there was a group of boys that couldn't have been more than 10yrs old who were trick or treating the same path we were. no parents. they nearly knocked Jade over like 5 times trying to come up and down everyone's porch and i didn't hear too many thank yous from them. they also pushed in front of her to get to the door first and one even took her hand off the side rail at one house, as she was coming down the stairs so he could push his way up.

Jacob just turned nine and i honestly don't see me letting him go alone for a long time. this is a big city afterall and it just isn't safe! there were so many cars parked on the side of the road last night it totally creeped me out!

MommyToAshley replied: I am not sure what age. But, probably by the time I would let her go alone, she will be too old and not want to go.

PrairieMom replied:
I agree.

Boys r us replied: Never!

I figure they'll not really want to go anymore after 11 or 12, so I will not be allowing them to go alone at that age. There is just too many bad things that happen on halloween! Plus, it's a family event and I plan to keep it that way.

I figure after they are 11 or 12 they'll do what myself and my brothers did, go to Halloween parties.

My2Beauties replied: I can't believe that, Desiree will be 10 in 2 weeks and there is no way she is going alone at this age, her cousin is 12 and her mom was with her. I can't ever remember being alone on Halloween, I think the last year I trick or treated I was maybe 13 and my mom was still with me, then after that I didn't want to trick or treat anymore, let me tell you, at 14 or 15 I still would have had mom with me. Hanna will never go out on Halloween alone until she stops trick-or-treating, IMHO, because too many weirdos and creepy people come out on that night! No sirree bob, I'll be right behind her!

booey2 replied: I totally agree, they will never do it alone as long as they want to go out DH or myself will follow behind them.

coasterqueen replied:
same here!

TANNER'S MOM replied: I saw that too.. or Parents that just drove up and let the kids get out of the car and go to the door.

For us the phone part of Halloween is being a family and doing it together. Justin is 11 and Tiffany is 12.. I won't let them go alone.

And Brittany is 15 and I won't let her. To much can happen just knocking on doors.

Now Tanner did come home giving me safety rules they talked about at school. He said Mom.. if someone says Tanner you have the best costume.. come inside to show my wife.. I say I am sorry so.. NO.. and turn and run.. I thought that was Great.. and it was good of the school though!

Kaitlin'smom replied: I agree its a family thing altho I do remeber going out with a group of friends and no parents when I was around 12 but some of the group was older, alot has changed and probably buy the time I feel she is old enough she wont want to anymore.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: i won't.

kimberley replied: glad it's not just me. my mom took me out for as long as i trick or treated. (about 12yo). i don't feel so overprotective now lol.

another beef i have.. why wont people put their dogs away for 2 hours?! jade refused candy at 2 houses because she was scared of the big dog at their feet . one was a pitbull unmuzzled!

the boys school did well with safety rules too. sad thing was watching the news this morning hearing of all the kids who were robbed of their candy by teens.

Kaitlin'smom replied:
I saw some older neighborhood kids running around and one Kinda gave me the creeps they way he looked at Kait and I, if her would have tried anything he so would have gotten it, plus I know where he lives.

the other thing I saw was parents driving around kids in a van they would stop let them out and then get back in, I am sorry but that is just lazy, I bet they were from another county.... stocking up on candy

punkeemunkee'smom replied: I agree with everyone Tay would not be allowed to go walk around at night by herself at 10 or 11(or 16 if I have any say! ) so it will not be any different at Halloween! (Especially atHalloween!)

Debra replied:


I don't think I'll ever let them trick or treat alone.

mckayleesmom replied: Never...Too much bad in the world....They will be lucky to go to college without sharing a dorm room with me.... . If their independence becomes a trick or treating issue, I will allow them to go in a group..with me dragging a couple houses behind them...but if that is not satisfying enough for them...then then can't go.

mom21kid2dogs replied:
Our dogs LOVE trick or treat. They both wear costumes and "help". They have never been a nusiance to anyone~actually~quite the contrary! Usually kids don't want to move away to let others trick or treat because they are always preoccupied with the dogs. They are leashed and well trained, though. If they behaved otherwise they would be in the house! I would assume if a child is fearful of dogs the parent would just step up and get the candy for them.

I've always felt adults who dress up as scary carachters or jump out at kids are much more of a nusiance than any dog I've ever seen. JMO and experience though!!

Trick or treat has an age limit of 12 in our town. I might let Olivia go with a group at 12 but not likely before then.

kimberley replied: sorry wasn't trying to offend pet owners but we JUST passed a law here that pits have to be muzzled and leashed at all times or will be destroyed. i truly dont care how gentle they think the dog is.. it is still an unpredictable animal and can see a small child as prey. i did get the candy for her from other houses with pets.

we have one house here that does the scary thing. but they dont do it to the really little kids. actually, the boys saw all the tricks coming and weren't scared. my ex on the other hand nearly needed new undies with one man who jumped up at him

sunshine girls replied: I won't let my girls go trick or treating alone, ever. It's to risky, especially in a big city like LA. There has to be perverts who just drive around to look at the kids, that scares me. I saw a few scary looking guys slow down and look at the older kids (10ish), in a weird kind of way. They could've just been looking, but I got a weird feeling.

Unfortunatly Gwen can't understand the concept of a stranger, no matter how many times we explain it to her. We've told her not to go with people she doesn't know, don't get in there car etc. But it doesn't get through to her, and I know if someone was nice to her and asked her to go for a ride with them she would. It's a scary world, and having a child who knows no stranger is scarier.

jcc64 replied: Well, as usual, I'm in the minority here. My oldest is 13, and I had no trouble at all letting him go out without me, but then again, we don't trick or treat door to door here in our town. I live in the mountains, and there are no streetlights or sidewalks, the houses are very far apart, driveways long, and the roads are dark and winding. For that reason, all the kids trick or treat in town at the stores. The streets are closed to traffic for 3 hours, and it's a really big community event. Adults dress up, there are bands, a costume parade and contest, etc. It's a cherished holiday here- creativity and eccentricity are an intrinsic part of our town character.
In this context, I have no fears about something horrible happening to my child. The whole trick or treating area is probably less than a half mile, and everyone knows everyone. I have plenty of extra eyes on my kids that night. Obviously, I still walk hand in hand with Corey (she's 3), but I honestly think my boys are safer on this particular night than any other in our town.

My2Beauties replied:
Well in that case and at 13, especially a boy( I know I sound awful but I still think it's worse for girls, predators and such) that sounds fine, I would let my child go with a group in that instance. But door to door is different and I wouldn't let her do it at 13 door to door neither.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Probably never! By the time he is old enough to go alone, he won't want to go out anyway. Probably rather go to a party or something.

gr33n3y3z replied: Erin is 16 and went with a friend also 16 alone but they know not to go into houses.

Katie is 12 and we took her out last night

Someone asked katie to go in the house last night and she told them she isnt alound to go in and they said Oh ok lol

DansMom replied: I'm not sure yet. My nephew went with his best friend around the neighborhood---they are 7 years old. I tend to be on the overprotective side, even though we have a safe neighborhood, and will probably always want to know that an adult is going along to supervise. I remember trick-or-treating alone when I was younger than 10, in a small town in Maine, and while there were no dangerous homeowners or anything like that, I did have the bad experience of teenagers pulling up in a car and throwing a bucket of water at me (I was dressed like a witch).

MomToJade&Jordan replied: I don't think I would ever let the trick or treat alone. Plus I usually dress up myself. I didn't do that last night, too tired, but I took Jade out for about 40 minutes with Jordan bundled up in my arms. I would be too worried if they were out there all by themselves.

JAYMESMOM replied: Maybe when they are like 14 or 15 but I doubt they will be trick r treating at that age. LOL.

There are too many psychos in this world. I did lock the dog in the backyard because he is to big for little ones.

He is a lab/rot mix over 100lbs. If the dog is calm and docile then I don't have a problem with them being out but when they won't calm down that is aggravating.

I don't mind the scary houses as long as they don't do it around the real little ones.

Jayme however wasnt scared of our neighbors house and they jumped out and used a speaker to talk to the kids and scare them.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied:
There is actually a law in your city saying that the dogs can live there but must be muzzled in their own homes? That sounds like abuse.
As for letting the kids go out alone I doubt I will. I'm not real comfortable with the whole halloween thing anyway so I don't know how long it will be before they get to go to more than just our immediate neighbors houses.

kimberley replied:
not just any dog... pitbulls. there was a rampant problem of children being mauled and even killed because of these dogs. i don't know the exact numbers but they were alarming for one city. we do have a leash law for all dogs in public tho.

moped replied:
They are acutally working on that here in Calgary too Kimberly, there have been WAY too many attacks and people getting killed. I am not a pet owner but I am a protective mother and I think that law is perfectly acceptable....................they are unpredictable, I must not go on!

Anyways, I will never let Jack go out alone because he isn't getting out of his bubble anytime soon - J/K!!!!!

MyLuvBugs replied: Not until they are 16 at least. But even then I'm thinking about putting GPS devices on them. lol

six_kids_at_28 replied: When they are 13. They will have to go w/ friends though

MM'sMama replied: ALONE?!?! NEVER!! lol

My3LilMonkeys replied: I was allowed to go w/out adults (in a group) at 13. In our small neighborhood I will probably allow the same for my girls but it will depend on how the neighborhood is when they are that old.

I personally went TOTing until I was 17 - my friends and I went out together.