Yeah...it is okay to take year plus a little trick-or-treating. I just wouldn't. It's not a bad thing to do, I just wouldn't. It is pretty stressful for them. The outfit, the outside, the sleep disruption, the candy, the noise, the everything...I've never seen the benefit. Two is kind of my lowest-end cut-off. I said tonight someone "By the time I was old enough stop trick-or-treating myself, I had a house full of kids so I took them every year) and that's true! I've gone...nearly every year for 26 years. But I'd leave the baby at home.

It just makes me realize that next year Halloween will be no different, or the one after that. Or any other special occasion or holiday. I hope she doesn’t get to a point where she becomes excited for plans that are made only to have them cancelled.

This simply isn't true! Just because she's not old enough this year year doesn't mean they won't be thrilled to have her at two, three or five. She'll MAKE friends. She'll have friends. She might have some combination of your friends and other people's kids, but just because she's 13 mo. doesn't mean she'll NEVER have this. She's just too young now. She won't understand what's happening, the only real reason to do it is the cute pictures, and she'll HATE IT because she's not old enough to really get the whole candy thing. She can't even eat candy. In a year? She'll be in a totally different place and welcomed in a different way. I think you're in a hurry that she isn't in.

I think this is your first Halloween, you were stoked, you realized your kid wasn't ready for it, and it is crushing you. That's okay. That's not a bad response. But you have to still hold out that next year (and so many, many years after) you're going to be doing the Halloween thing. She WILL get excited for this stuff. You just have to give her time. I was a lonely kid. Do you plan on only introducing her to adult bar patrons? That's what caused my loneliness. I only knew how to talk to adults. Even THEN I made friends my own age, slowly but surely. And I ended up being one of the most popular kids at my college. Lonely isn't forever. You haven't even given her a CHANCE TO MAKE FRIENDS YET. She's too young! Friends at this age are basically "we like to chew on the same edges of the furniture" friends. They can't even talk yet. Stop forecasting her future, stop pretending like her not getting a major cold while begging for candy outdoors is going to stunt her social future, and let her be who she is. She's a baby. She's not ready for this yet. Next year will be a different story. Right now, her interests include chewing on things, your boobs, napping a lot, and giggling. Kit-Kats are pretty far down the list. Don't doom her because you're afraid. It is your job to be afraid. It is her job to amaze you.