For Local Blog
Punky has a new obsession: Halloween.
"Is it Halloween yet?" she asks me almost daily. She runs around constantly singing about ghosts and goblins and trick or treating and she loves the Halloween lights and jack-o-lanterns I've put throughout the house. Punky will be dressing as Snow White this year (a costume we conveniently already have on hand- oh, the mind games I played in order for her to come to the decision to be Snow White on her own!) and she loves talking to her teenage sisters about what their costumes will be.
That's right. Her 14 and 17-year-old sisters will be trick or treating, too, just like they have every year since they were three. And this brings me to the question I have for you:
How old is too old to trick or treat?
All three of my girls, ages 3, 14 and 17, will be trick or treating this year. I don't have a problem with it; I trick or treated until my senior year in high school and now live in an area with a neighborhood that seems to attract all the local teens to it on Halloween night (and they behave themselves, too, so there have been no complaints that I've heard). But I know that plenty of parents don't allow their kids to trick or treat once they reach the age of 12 or so. And a growing number of parents aren't letting their kids trick or treat at all.
Forgive me, but that seems downright cruel. Halloween is one of the all-time best holidays out their for kids, and one of my favorite childhood memories. I grew up going to church every Sunday, and while I knew that Halloween was far from being a religous holiday, it didn't exactly make me want to worship the devil, either. I think it's a bit extreme for parents to ban the celebration of Halloween, just as I think it's extreme to keep kids from reading about Harry Potter's adventures.
Still, I know there are plenty of parents out there who think it's wrong of me to let my older girls trick or treat, and who are downright rude to teenagers who show up at their door. I personally only have a problem with teens who trick or treat without costumes, but I always keep a special supply of nasty, year-old candy for any uncostumed trick or treaters who may show up. Frankly, I'd rather shut the door in their faces, but I'm afraid I might end up getting rolled (I believe some of you call it T.Ping in other parts of the country) if I go that far!
What do you think about trick or treating teens?
This post originally appeared on Parents.com.
