Trick or Treat

Trick-or-treating, also known as Guising, is an activity for children on Halloween in which they proceed from house to house, asking for treats such as candy with the question, "Trick or treat?" Trick-or-treating is done in costume and is one of the main traditions of Halloween. It has become socially required if one lives in a neighborhood with children to purchase candy in preparation for trick-or-treaters.

The activity is popular in the United States and Canada, and due to culture, importation in recent years has started to occur (though with considerably less enthusiasm than in the USA and Canada) in Australia and parts of Europe.

Here in the Philippines, a number of posh villages and companies are now participating in such traditions. Last Saturday, more than 60 kids registered for the village sponsored Trick-or-Treat festivities where my parent�s reside.

Almost all the kids are dressed to their absolute best. One thing that happened last Saturday that we did not like was the arrival of the kids earlier than their scheduled visit. They were scheduled to arrive between 5pm to 6pm and yet at 430pm, all kids rang the doorbell and shouted to the top of their lungs, �Trick or Treat!�

We rushed to our main gate and brought with us our candy treats (eight different kinds of candies and chocolates). Helen handed out one treat per kid and yet there were so many hands! We asked them to fall in line properly and yet they did not, whew! Even Reyboy cannot take pictures properly. Mom was not able to see all the kids in costumes and I had a hard time checking out who�s who.

At any rate, we enjoyed the treat giving, almost 65 candy treats were distributed and we even gave treats for the people who organized the activity.

The day before was Mom�s 52nd birthday and instead of cooking tons of food she opted to buy the goodies for the kids. She had fun. I had fun. And for sure, all the kids had fun.

I just wish that all kids brushed their teeth before going to bed� lucky for the family dentist if they did not.