Halloween Banned for Hot Rod? [Opinion]

Thinkstock[/caption]I am one for the holidays and so is my family. We celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween, Labor Day, etc. because it's the way we were raised and we love it.

Halloween is over, I get that, but I had something happen this past weekend that really upset me.

I won't name names, but I found out the hard way that my subdivision doesn't allow trick-or-treating. What? That's right. No handing out candy and no kids going door-to-door dressed up in costume.

We had friends over that wanted to trick-or-treat with us. As we set out, we first went to a neighbor's house who has been one of the most kindest people we've met. He is elderly and has been beyond kind to my family and me. We rang his doorbell and he answered. My kids said the normal "Happy Halloween" and "Trick-or-Treat. He obliged but informed us that the HOA had set rules about trick-or-treating. He was just letting us know and I am not upset with him at all and I want that to be clear.

I have the paperwork. How did I miss this? We went home, I pulled out the paperwork and did some reading. Sure enough, it was true. Basically it said that I live in a private subdivision where soliciting of any kind is prohibited. This includes trick-or-treating. Wow.

To compensate, we loaded up all the kids and found a nice subdivision down the road where there were lots of kids roaming. The kids did well and had a very happy Halloween.

I, on the other hand am very frustrated with this. If you don't want kids ringing your doorbell asking for candy, then turn your porch light off. It's been that way as long as I can remember. Don't take it away from everyone because you don't like it.

After all, I thought we lived in a free country. I don't bother people on purpose, but there are better ways to get through this holiday without making everyone pay just because this HOA wants to be a jerk.

I just want my kids to have the same, harmless, fun experiences that I had as a child. Is that too much to ask? I really thought this was America, you know, land of the free? No wonder about 98 percent of my neighbors didn't put up one decoration for this.

Have you dealt with this, too? This is an absolute first for me and I am not happy about it.