The ineffable strangeness of grown-ups.

[mrissa]

We got 20 trick-or-treaters last night, all polite and in costume, which is about what we expect here. (The stairs, they are daunting.) But what we got a record number of was 2-year-olds unclear on the concept. There were at least five of them who were fairly sure that they were supposed to come inside and had to be fetched back by their fathers.

And it was pretty clear from their confusion that this holiday was not making itself understood, but their ideas were: Look, Dad. There is this smiling lady with candy. She has a warm, well-lit house. She has a doggy. And you want me to turn around and go back down all those steps in the cold and dark? What kind of a deal is this? Who made this up? I know how this works, Dad: how this works is I go inside where there is a smiling lady and a doggy and candy. That is my kind of holiday at 2. Sheesh. Big people are so weird.

Comments

[carbonel]

I had a number of two-year-olds, but none of them tried to come inside. This may have been due to the absence of doggies. Stairs much less daunting, too.

But they were awfully cute.

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

We had one of those! She came late enough that the dog and I had emerged from the bedroom (he's generally good with kids, but he gets Very! Excited! about the doorbell and brand-new visitors, so we played stop-howling-about-the-door-and-I-will-give-you-treats far, far away from small costumed people for the busier part of the night). Her parents were all the way down the driveway calling instructions, and we had to turn her around and send her back that way, excitedly calling "I saw the doggy!" Clearly a high point. :)

We had maybe half as many trick-or-treaters as last year. I guess a lot of them went to school or other events on Friday or Saturday and didn't bother trick-or-treating on Halloween proper.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

Our children did that.:) Nico wasn't entirely into the concept for the first block and a half, then for the last half block he kept trying to stay on people's porches or a couple he thought he'd just go in. Ellie was pretty clear on look cute, take/grab candy, say boo/thank you/blow kiss, leave. I felt it was a good two blocks of cute.:)

[athenais.livejournal.com]

We had one of those! He liked our cats. He didn't take any candy, he just picked up handfuls and dropped them back in. Dad had to rescue him when he started for Fred. So funny.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Taking things out of containers and putting them back in again is Real Good Fun when you are that age, so I'm not surprised that "let's keep this candy" did not compute.

[sraun]

I had one that was unclear on the concept of 'hold up your bucket, so they can put something in it.' None wanted to come in - we had furiously barking doggies.

[zwol.livejournal.com]

We have an incredibly awkward door arrangement: the exterior door of our building opens inward, onto a little vestibule which is just barely big enough for two apartment doors, one on each side, and a staircase at the far end. Our apartment door is on the hinge side of the exterior door. Therefore, when the exterior door is open, it is in front of our apartment door. But there isn't enough room to close the exterior door if you're standing in the vestibule; you have to climb a step or two up the staircase. When the vestibule is packed full of kids, some of whom are trying to get to our door and some of whom are getting candy from the people opposite us, hilarity tends to ensue.

Also we ran out of candy in half an hour because we wildly underestimated the number of trick-or-treaters who would show up. Our previous neighborhood had almost no kids; this one has many.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I love the one (well, she might have been 3) who came with a bunch of bigger kids, whom I had to keep from grabbing everything I had left. After they were gone, she was still standing there. "I want DAT one," she complained, pointing to the shiny little Reese's cup. No Starbursts for her.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

When I lived with a 2-year-old, she was also unclear on the concept of Halloween. She was fine with knocking on the neighbors' doors, but she couldn't remember her lines. (She kept saying, "Peek-a-boo!" which does seem somewhat applicable.) At the time, her wooden train tracks filled a low table in the living room, where most households put a coffee table. Small children held in parents' arms could see it from the doorway...those were the ones who wanted to come in and not leave.

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

Every time my son's 3 year old half-brother is brought along for pick up he storms my front door. Apparently my house is fascinating. At that age curiosity trumps social graces. :)

[naomikritzer]

I had one of those! Which surprised me because the cats had been shut into the basement. When the kid didn't follow mom, twice, and instead started forward through the door, he was grabbed by his mom around the waist and carried off as the mom said something like, "WHY do you KEEP DOING THAT?"