Betsy of Fluffy Windover's Diary talks about taking her toddler trick or treating in this week's Toddler Thursday:  

We took Edwin trick-or-treating for the first time this Halloween. We had prepared him well in advance, and he had been practicing for weeks (though sometimes when I would ask him what he’s going to say on Halloween, he would think for a second and then shout, “Happy birthday!”) By Halloween day, he was so excited, even though the concept was still fuzzy. He kept saying, “I wanna go Halloween! I wanna go dere!” as if it were some magical place where you get candy.

We set out with our neighbors, whose 5-year old is a seasoned trick-or treater. I think this was key to the success of the evening, since Edwin worships this kid and would follow him anywhere. We started him off with a couple pieces of candy in his bucket, just to get things going. At the first house we visited, he reached into his bucket, pulled out a Kit-Kat and said, “Here you go!” But after that, he got the idea that it was the other way around. He ran tirelessly from house to house. It was so much fun to watch.

I was worried about him being frightened of some of the scary decorations, but he was fine… until the last house we visited. At this point he was getting tired, so I was carrying him. The place was done up haunted-house style, and we should have steered clear. When we got up to the porch, there was a woman in a pretty scary witch costume handing out candy. Edwin totally freaked out when he saw her; he shrieked and buried his head in my shoulder crying. It was terrible, and I felt so guilty for not scoping the place out first.

But guess what he’s been talking about non-stop since then? “Scary lady, Mommy! I wanna see scary lady AGAIN!!!” I guess he is already learning to enjoy the thrill of being scared on Halloween.

How did your toddler do?