Trip or treat

Costumes? Check. Jack-o-lantern? Check. Candy? Check. Proof of residency?
Huh?
Surely you’ve noticed that trick-or-treating has changed. Kids don’t just throw on their costumes and run up and down the block with their friends anymore.
I’ve noticed a tendency for trick-or-treaters to migrate. They don’t always stay near home but go where they can get the most candy for the least effort.
If you live in a neighborhood with ¼-acre yards or less, such as Forrest Crossing or Fieldstone Farms, you may only recognize half of your trick-or-treaters as neighbors. These areas are prime targets for migrating trick-or-treaters because all Mama has to do is keep the van idling on a corner in your neighborhood while the kids hit house after house.
One reason so many treat-seekers migrate to denser neighborhoods is that, with one-acre yards like in Brenthaven, River Oaks or Redwing Farms, trick-or-treating is just exhausting. Often, there are no sidewalks, so you just tromp through the grass. By the time a 6-year-old has dragged a dinosaur tail through four or five of these yards, he’s ready to be done.
A lack of sidewalks and fewer streetlights in older neighborhoods usually means no curbs or storm drains either, hence the yearly spike in ankle injuries from tripping over culverts or stepping in ditches.
The payoff when crossing bigger yards had better be worth it. Kids who had to walk an acre only to find that no one’s home invented the retaliatory flaming bag of poo. If you won’t be home, be sure to display the universal Halloween symbol for “not home,” which is to turn off anything in the house that emits light, including the microwave clock.
Most homeowners love seeing adorable princesses and tiny action figures on the porch. But there are always a few kids who are too old to trick or treat and old enough to know it. One Halloween I opened the door around 9:30 to see three towering boys wearing wigs and holding pillowcases. I wasn’t sure if I should give them the Snickers or my silver.
If you just don’t want to deal with the door-to-door process, there are alternatives. Children can trick or treat merchants at the mall, which to me should only be a last-minute rainout plan. Kids also can do what’s known as a “trunk or treat,” where a church or other community group gathers in the facility parking lot and lets kids go from car to car seeking treats out of car trunks.
Just keep an eye on your jumper cables.