Thread: TOT-ing with your own kids

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Hi all,

I was wondering how those of you with young kids balanced taking them around TOT-ing with handing out candy and running your yard haunt.

I'm torn; I really want to take Cinderella (2.5 yo) and Yoda (6 months) around the neighborhood this year (because the older one knows what's going on now), but I also don't want to miss a second of the neighborhood kids enjoying my decorations. Another problem is that my wife would want to go TOT-ing with the kids too, leaving no one to man the house.

How do you guys handle it?

My wife takes em ToT. I stay home.

If I were forced to choose between running the haunt or taking the kids, I'ld take the kids and probably not do a haunt that year.

I'll sometimes go with my 8 year old, but he's not much of a TOTer.... He usually goes around to 15-20 houses (so that's a 30-minute walk max.), and runs back home to participate in the "haunt" and explain to small children not to be scared, that it's all fake! My BF stays home while we're gone and hands out the goddies! I like to go with him though just to see the look on people's face when they see me all dressed up!

[Sigh] I used to love going TOTing with my son, but now he doesnt do it anymore. He just runs around the neighborhood with other teenagers.
However, it does give me an opportunity to stay at my haunt and watch the other TOTs. [usually about 120 of them]
I do occasionally skip off and browse the neighborhood as well!

Solution?

The wife goes out for 30 minutes with the kids (or a block or two depening on how long it takes for the little ones to get tired), then comes back for a break.

Then the hubby goes out with the kids for 30 minutes (or a block or two, again depening how long it takes before they get tired) then comes back.

While the little ones are out with one of the parents, the other stays home to take care of the haunt.

Oh, and get a video recorder set up somewhere (hidden maybe?) so it can record the whole night. That way both parents (and kids) can ejoy seeing what happened later the next day/week while each was away.

my kids are older, a lil too old for TOTing, thats the main reason we started having a haunt,

Yes I don't know what to do either. My first child will be 6 1/2 months old by halloween, and I really want to take him TOTing but I don't want to miss my haunt either. Not sure what to do...

Well, here in my little town, we have 2 nights of TOTing. I post a sign up saying which day we will be having TOTers. The other night we take the kids.

My wife has taken to kids out since we started doing a haunt. My youngest (10) will venture out with a group of friends this year and she will stay and help with the tots. It has worked out well. My oldest two (16 and 21) usually make an effort to help out and they still get a kick out of it.

As my wife will be giving birth sometime in the next few weeks to our second child I'll actually be able to take our 1 1/2 yo out ToT this year. I'm not doing the yard haunt though as I don't want too much stress on my wife and the newborn. Last year, our daughter's first Halloween, we took turns taking her to a couple of nearby neighbors and then she part of the evening hanging out in the yard laughing at the props.