Does Trick-or-Treating Have An Age Limit?

While I understand that there are many Christians who do not celebrate Halloween (and I understand the reasoning behind it), we do go trick-or-treating with our children. I won't go into a debate about the actual holiday in itself...but this post is directed more towards those who do participate in trick-or-treating.

I remember well the excitement that Halloween would bring for my older brother and I. By the time we were 7 and 9 we were trick-or-treating in our neighborhood alone, not wanting our younger siblings to slow us down. We knew the best houses to hit and often got such a stash that our pillowcases were almost half filled. Our costumes weren't the most important part. Growing up with not a whole lot of money we often just threw together a costume at the last moment with a little face paint and odd clothing. It was the candy that we were excited about!

Looking back I also remember odd trick-or-treating experiences. One man had us come into his house while he went into a back room to bring us out a nickle a piece. I'm not sure if he wasn't prepared for trick-or-treaters (he did have his porch light on after all) or what. We were warned about not going into someone's house and I only went in because my older brother did. I remember asking my brother after we left why he went in when we weren't supposed to and he said "Didn't you see that old guy? I could have beaten him up!". Or the strange lady who had us stand still so she could take a photo of us...we didn't even know her so I wonder now what she did with those photos of the children. This was 20 years ago, no way would I let my 7 year old go trick-or-treating with a 9 year old now - with all the creepy people out there.

To get to the main point of this post: I remember when I was 11 and my brother was 13. All week before Halloween we planned our route and talked about our goals for Halloween. As it so happens, my mother gave birth to our younger brother a few days before Halloween (actually, as I write this it is my brother's birthday...so Happy 17th Birthday, Matt!). She ended up having a c-section and my Grandma came to stay to watch us kids for a few days. I recall very distinctly that on Halloween evening about an hour before trick-or-treat time my Grandma realized that my brother was intending to go along with and very matter-of-fact said "You are too old to go trick-or-treating". I remember seeing my brother's face change a bit but he didn't let on that he was disappointed. I knew, from all the talk previously, that he was just excited to go trick-or-treating as I was but he didn't debate it and instead went to his room before we left.

I hear of several people who won't give out candy to teenagers as they feel they are too old to be going around "begging" for candy. I remember the last year I went trick-or-treating was when I was 13 and I was stiffed at a couple doors myself, which was the deciding factor that it would indeed be the last year I went.

I personally feel that if it is a night for innocent fun and a teenager feels like dressing up with their friends or family and going out that it is perfectly fine. Last year we even had two ladies (who were in their 40's) come to our door. They were laughing and having fun and to me that is all that mattered...I threw a large handful of candy into each of their bags.

Can one ever really be too old for trick-or-treating? Why rush growing up if you don't have to?!

Your thoughts?