That's when my husband and I go through their candy.
Last night, we had something extra to fight over besides the solitary king-sized Snickers bar.
At one house in our neighborhood, our kids were greeted at the door by a man holding a large wicker basket filled with special treasures.
"Trick-or-Treat!" they yelled.
The man smiled and dropped into each of their plastic pumpkins a ratty stuffed animal. Camber got a teddy bear wearing a red shirt with the words "Merry Christmas" printed across the front; Kellen got a duck with matted fur that quacked when you squeezed its stomach.
Cortlen said "Trick-or-Treat" twice and was rewarded with two gifts: a white bear wearing a purple sweater and a stuffed sheep circa 1970.
"I can't believe that just happened," I told my husband after the man closed the door.
"Someone cleaned out their basement this weekend," my husband replied.
"This is totally awesome!!!!" yelled Cortlen, holding up the white bear.
I wrinkled my nose.
Today, while my kids were at school, the bear and his friends mysteriously disappeared.
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Oh my gosh I'm totally freaking out just reading this! I don't know what I would've done but I do know I would've made them mysteriously disappear from our house too! Wow, now I'm going to have nightmares of strangers giving my kids nasty stuffed animals! Ew, ew, ew!!! My husband would've totally freaked out because he's an even bigger germ freak than I am!
They are on a stuffed animal farm, where they will be able to run around and be happy. I will back you up on this. :)
omword. hat is super creepy. they probably had cameras. lol kidding. way to go ma!
That is gross, yet strangely funny at the same time. Don't get me wrong, the would have disappeared at our house too, STAT. Yet, putting the nasty, germy weird factor aside...you have to wonder what that guy was thinking. Was he deadpan serious? Or did he have completely twisted sense of humor. People are strange. Maybe next year he should just turn out the porch lights and hide.
I'm all for mysteriously disappearing soft toys that have been goodness knows where.
My sister's son got a thawed Flavo-Ice pop in his bag. You know, the push up kind that come in a box of 100 at Costco? What if it had busted open? People are nuts!
Awww....and all I got to do was fight off an old man trying to give my 3-year-old a "You're Going to Hell" pamphlet....
Boo to that man and the lady across from me. She gave out broke down apples.
I was the one who passed out the candy this year- I'll take getting stuffed animals over the teenager who came to my door for treats WHILE SMOKING A CIGARETTE! Also, if your child cannot walk, they do not get candy. Yeah, we get it's for the parents, as they cannot eat it. Not cool, buy your own or mooch off your other kids. And, if your kid can drive, no trick or treating. Don't make us waste expensive candy- we prefer to give it to kids, not babies and teens!!
Good for you. I hate stuffed animals. Especially ones with stranger's cooties.
This does remind of the time I came home from college and my parents were handing out cough drops and last years candy canes.
(They had forgotten.)
Well, it's better than what I thought you were going to say he put in their bags. I was prepared to be horrified, not just mildly disturbed.
We have a parade in town each summer, and the local thrift store feels this would be a good time to get rid of all their old stuffed donations. Instead of throwing candy, they throw small nasty stuffed animals. I always make sure my children are distracted and looking the other direction when the thrift store people pass by!
My favorite Halloween "horror" story: A friend was home alone during trick-or-treat - her roommate was working that night. She had forgotten all about it. When the doorbell rang, she grabbed the candy dish that was always on a table near the front door and handed out what was inside. After several strange looks (and about a half an hour) she realized she was handing out cough drops...
EWWWWWW
Okay, but that guy is SO smart! How much you wanna bet his kids were out trick or treating while he was doing this? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Ok! I am the lone dissenter who actually thinks it is kind of cute. Am going to go with "he forgot and wanted to give out something", rather then big creeper. Call me, Pollyanna. (Still would have tossed them, to be clear).
That is too creepy. We had one person in our hood growing up who gave out stale breadsticks. .
He was giving out the TRICK not the TREAT
Besides the obvious "cooty" factor, I would be worried about a little camera hidden inside. (Yes. I have watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds.)
What a great idea, next year I'm going to clean my closet out of skirts and jackets that no longer fit and give out. It will save me a trip to Good Will.
Oh yuck, yuck, yuck. You totally should have put the bears in that guy's mailbox-- payback's a bitch:-)!
I had a girl teen come wearing lingerie and a boy teen wearing even LESS lingerie.
I never would have thought of hidden cameras! That is super creepy! But...it really could have been a harmless non-candy inexpensive way to particate in Halloween. Like my grandma, every year she sends old stuffed toys for my kids that she bought for $0.25 at her church's Christmas bazaar. Bizarre indeed....
oh my! Yes...I would have pitched the stuffed animals too.
we had an older man (who is usually drinking on his front porch) giving out dog food to the teens he thought were too old to trick & treat. Geez...I wonder why he didnt just take his 6 pack inside and turn out his lights.
I'm sure he will be yet another topic of discussion of the neighborhood HOA gossip.
My husband used to deliver Lender's Bagels and Kettle Chips. One year a store over ordered and we were stuck with 24 cases of chips and 4 cases of bagels. So, at our ward trunk or treat party we passed out full size bags of chips and bagels. The kids who complained got nothing! Their parents made them come back and apologize...and then ask if we had other flavors!
This makes me a little sad. I feel like maybe he couldn't afford to buy bags of candy but still wanted to participate. He thought the kids would enjoy the stuffed animals ~ and they did!
:-/
Good for him for doing what he could!
I would have thrown them in the washer. Stuffed animals can be cleaned.
Soooo, when you're passing your neighbor this coming weekend and he smiles, "I hope y'all enjoy the Mickey D's coupon and $5.00 bill I stuffed into each animal...", what will you say?
(You know I'm kidding, right?)
Cheers,
Mitch
sigh.... this was such a hard thing to read, I had a similar situation recently and had no clue what to do.
We have a mentally challenged woman in our church, sweet as pie and smart, but just "not right". She gave my son a little stuffed dog for his birthday, and he opened it in church - I almost gagged. It was covered in cat hair and urine and big sticky brown spots all over it.
My first reaction was to smack it out of his hands :( like I'd seen a spider or something on it. I was lucky, she didn't see me, but several others did and the judging began. However, I showed them and they got it.
But, she'd have asked him about it often for the rest of her life - so I couldn't just pitch it immediately. He soaked all night in a vinegar bath, then a light bleaching, then 2 or 3 rounds in the washer. He's not a snuggling stuffy - but he's on a shelf with all his birthday ribbons wrapped around him, something we can all live with here.
How sad - was it an OLD man? It reminds me of this sweet elderly woman who gave us used potholders and dishtowels for our wedding present because she was house-bound and couldn't go out to get us a gift, and was on such a low-income she probably couldn't afford one anyway. The kicker was they were even dirty (food particles stuck on the pot holder). Sweet gal - of course we threw them away, but the gesture was so sweet.
On another note, however, it is equally creepy as sweet and I, too, would have sent them to "teddy bear heaven"!
My first thought was "oh, that sweet, sad little old man who wanted to give them something fun instead of the normal tooth decaying candy." I think we're too cynical. Plus a good wash in hot water and 20 minutes in the dryer will kill both cooties and mini cameras. I'm just saying.
He probably thought he was being sweet to your children, had nothing to do with the stuffed animals in the house, and decided to give them to someone who would enjoy them. Kind of gross, but a nice gesture.
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