My thoughts on "older" trick or treaters

With tomorrow being Halloween I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook the past few days related to the holiday. Whether it be photos of the kids in their costumes--which I personally absolutely love--or just stories of their antics in choosing costumes or getting dressed, people love sharing. One of the things I see floating around every year is this:

"For those passing out candy this year on Halloween 🎃, when a teenager comes to your door, please give them candy without saying "aren't you too old to be doing this"?... at least they're not out drinking & driving, vandalizing, doing drugs, etc. I would much rather they knock on my door for candy. Also, please don't refuse a child candy if they aren't dressed up. Some families can't afford it or maybe dressing up is uncomfortable if not unbearable to some. One last thing, size does not always determine the mental age or special needs of a child. In your eyes you may see a "teenager" or "an adult" but their mental state may possibly be that of a younger child.

I copied this from a friend because I felt the need to share. Copy and paste if you would like to share."

This strikes a chord with me every time I see it. I find it extremely sad that some adults feel the need to make a child feel guilty or ashamed for simply trying to squeeze in another year or two of an all too fleeting childhood. And when I see posts like this one I am always reminded of the one year my boys went trick or treating around our small town. They were in their early teens and they wanted to dress up and I encouraged them! 

Along our route we stopped in at one of the local churches that was having Halloween activities. In order to get candy you had to go into one of the classrooms with the lights off where there was candy spread out on the floor. You had so many seconds to get as much candy as you could and what you got you could keep. I didn't go into the room with them for obvious reasons and didn't really think anything about it. But, later that night, we were at a haunted house hosted by another local church. There's always a campfire at this event and lots of local people. Well, there around the fire was one of the ladies from the previous church and while we were certainly acquaintances we weren't friends. We definitely knew who one another was though. So, she sees my boys and then APOLOGIZES to me because when my boys went into the darkened classroom for candy they (those in charge) had moved all the candy to the edges of the room making it almost impossible for them to find any. Why, you ask? Because they thought they were too old to be trick or treating and she didn't realize who they were. But, it shouldn't have mattered WHO they were...they were in a CHURCH where they should have been treated with love and tolerance, unconditionally. 

To this day my heart breaks every time I think about this. My kids didn't know...I'm sure they assumed it was the same for every child who entered that room. This was a CHURCH...a lady that I thought to be a "good christian lady" and as unjust as it may seem, I lost all respect for that lady that night. I have never looked at her the same and I believe I never will. This is a small town and I do see her out and about occassionally and I remember that night every single time.

Please, it's just candy and we ALL like candy...so, if an older CHILD comes to your door trick or treating...smile, give them candy and wish them a Happy Halloween! Let them hang onto this childhood tradition just a little bit longer :)