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I buy into the idea that beggars can't be choosers. When a kid is getting a boatload of candy for free, they don't need to love every piece. Half the fun of trick or treating when I was a kid was running home to exchange candy with everyone else.

I vote for handing a few pieces out to each kid. Not everyone is going to like every kind of candy they get, but that happens no matter what. If you just leave a bowl full out many problems could occur, including running out very quickly or having a kid standing there for 10 minutes picking out what he/she wants.

Is it not okay for older kids to trick or treat? That's news to me.

In any case, I just dole out 2-3 pieces of fun-sized candy from my bowl. I figure if they don't like what I give them, they could always trade it with their friends the next day.

The main Halloween etiquette that I'm concerned with is whether it is rude to have a set time for trick or treaters to come. My stuffy building lists all the apartments that will allow trick or treaters and the time that they will be "open". I find this terribly grating because it takes the fun out of Halloween. In my hallway I would see mothers anxiously referring to sheets of paper to determine whether they can ring a doorbell or not.

My sister and I always put our candy together, sorted it by type, traded for what we did/didn't like and gave our mom the candy neither of us liked (Butterfingers, Tootsie Rolls).

A friend of mine told me she starts with giving out 3 pieces of candy at the beginning of the night, goes to 2 pieces and then finally 1 piece at end of night. She doesn't actually run out of candy b/c she has her own stash set aside but won't hand anything from the "private stash" to the kids.

I've heard about adults that accompanied their kids and expected candy - that's a little odd.

Oh God, JenM, my mom was even worse. She used to confiscate all my loot, then eat it throughout the year. My sister and I weren't allowed to eat candy at all...except Mounds bars and other "all-natural" treats. Heh. (For the record I do like Mounds bars, though I'm a bit tired of them now.)

Also, this post made me realize that there is not one child in my apartment building (that I know of). How sad.

Depending on how the night is going I usually give out 2 pieces. But where I live now we haven't had trick or treaters, so I buy the bag and then sadly we have to eat it ourselves!!

Individually wrapped candies, two per child unless (a) the costume is really cute or (b) we have too much candy left and it's getting late.

I don't expect trick-or-treaters this year, though, as our building tends to have the non-child-friendly units.

I live in a kid-saturated Halloween hot spot. I can't wait for it!

how old is too old to trick or treat? My brothers are 15 and 19 and they still go out. I didn't stop trick or treating until I was 16/17. I am 24 now and my sisters are 21, and although we don't go out for candy, we dress up every year. We are love Halloween and my brothers make their own elaborate costumes. To me, trick or treating is more about a trade. I get to see your cool costume, you get 3 fun size pieces of candy. Age really doesn't matter. Never has a full grown adult come up for candy, but i don't mind giving them loot if they have a little baby in a costume.

As for the kids who are just begging for candy and have put no effort into a costume, we give them one piece of candy and tell them to put more effort into it next year. For those damn kids who come several times, after the 2nd time of asking for candy, we refuse. We're the cool house on the block, so we get droves of kids every year - nice to all of them so we've never been egged or anything.

How old was everyone when they stopped trick or treating?

I give 2-3 pieces unless I know the kids, then the sky's the limit.

Kids "get" Halloween. They understand that crotchedy old Mrs. X never turns her lights on. They know the bachelor will give them full-size Hershey bars. The earthy-crunchies on the corner will give homemade gluten-free treats that the kids will toss. And they know I will dress up in a witch costume and give them each 2 mini-Milky Ways and effusively admire their costumes.

But---how dare you malign the MOUNDS bar??? My favorite! 2nd fave? Almond Joy! (well, my all-time fave is British Cadbury Fruit & Nut, but let's face it, we ain't giving those out at H'ween)

jems, got to disagree on setting time limits. We have a toddler. I do NOT want to hear the doorbell at 11 p.m. This being NYC, that's entirely possible. So yes, the sign in the elevator will say "until 8 p.m." I'll open the door until 9. After that, go away.

My favorite house was the one that gave out quarters. Some houses would give candy to the tots and jello shots to the parents.

My friends in the suburbs would take their kids out trick or treating and carry empty wineglasses. The kids got candy, the parents got their glasses refilled. A year or two after this started they were almost getting into fistfights about who got to take the kids out and who had to stay home and hand out candy.

Our buzzer is broken, so unfortunately we won't get trick or treaters this year, but when it's fixed next year I'll buy plastic cups and offer drinks to parents. Kids get a 2-3 pieces of candy; more if the traffic is low, less if there are a lot of them that year. And at our house, the older you are (parents accompanying toddlers aside), the crappier your haul.

Maybe I'm a softie, but I hand out candy to everyone who comes to my door, no matter how old they are or how much effort they put into the costume. It's just a few pennies worth of candy, and it's only one night a year.

Actually, because I often go out on Halloween night, it's only one night every few years. Maybe that's why I'm so giving.