“What grade is your child’s class?”
“Which child?”
“What grade is the class you are making treat bags for with this candy?”
“Oh. Actually, I’m making treat bags for my children.”
<- begin disapproving tone -> “Well … aren’t your children lucky.”

Our family has a lot of fun with Halloween. So much fun that I can see how being told you are too old to trick or treat is more than a little bit of a letdown. I find the teens with no costume and a pillowcase funny, but I have seen and heard the way they are treated by others. The years between trick or treating and going to parties where all the females have costumes that include the word “sexy” are less than fun. Parents hover excessively and lecture endlessly in efforts to avoid dangerous teen behaviors on Halloween. Teens don’t want to take their younger siblings trick or treating. Teens want candy.

To make the transition easier, I have a standing offer to my children. If you don’t trick or treat, you get a treat bag from mom. I always make sure that each child’s favorite candy is included in the treat bag. I know that by the time they are 21, adult relationships and parties will be more important than a bag of candy. Kisses ARE sweeter than sugar. Until then, I make treat bags and store clerks frown at me for giving my teens candy instead of making the teens beg for candy from strangers. I don’t mind that kind of disapproval. I’m pro happiness and fun. And Halloween.