When is your child too old to trick-or-treat? This is a surprisingly controversial question but I think I’ve found the answer.
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At ages 12 and 9, my kids still love trick-or-treating and we have gone around our neighborhood for years. They’re getting older, though (no surprise there) and I started to wonder when it might be time to do something else.
I’m happy with my decision, but I’d love to know what you think.
Too old to trick-or-treat?
I think there is much more to the answer than a simple age number.
When is your child too old for Halloween and playing? When is your child too old for fun? For holidays? For magic?
We are so quick to say that kids are growing up too fast and share stories of our own childhood experiences. Yet I think it is easy to rush past childhood on the way to extracurricular activities, school achievements, and childhood milestones.
My sixth-grader’s middle school sends a monthly list of college scholarship applications!
I’m guilty of it myself.
I’ve spent plenty of time thinking about all the things I could do when my kids get older. I’m quick to brag that my daughter is taking advanced classes. I’m also sad that she spends more time doing homework than playing in the backyard.
Tweens and teens
For some reason, the parents who I noticed put an age on “too old” picked about 12 or 13.
Middle school is kind of an awkward phase anyway. Let’s not make it any harder. When kids are between childhood and young adulthood, they are struggling to balance both as much as parents are.
Cue the Britney Spears. *I’m not a girl…and not yet a woman…*
Sorry.
I think for Halloween and trick-or-treating and almost everything else, the simple answer is this:
Your child is too old to trick-or-treat when they decide it.
Embrace trick-or-treating while you can. If your child wants to dress up and ring doorbells and sweetly ask for candy, do it!
Pretty soon, they’re probably going to think dressing up is dumb. They will prefer to go to parties or sleepovers and watch scary movies. Without you. There are plenty of not-so-great things for older kids to be doing on Halloween.
One day the kids will be older and they won’t be kids anymore.
In fact, let’s make each holiday a celebration of childhood and teach our children to pass that magic onto their own.
After all, isn’t that really the point?
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
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