Stress Free Holidays Part 4
Final Preparations And Halloween Planning Tasks
This week our main priority is Halloween planning because the holiday is just a few days away!
However, we will also continue on with some additional Christmas planning and preparations, to keep things moving along for Christmas too.
Can you believe we are already into week 4 of this series? That means that there are only 9 weeks left until Christmas! Time is sure flying by.
I hope you are doing well with your preparations. I know this series is motivating me, and I have gotten more accomplished this year so far and have had some fun times with my kids already.
Special Note For 2024
One of the big holidays we're preparing for this year is almost here (it will actually be here on Thursday of this comimg week, so make sure to front-load these preparations to enjoy the actual day with your family.)
Then, if you want you can skip ahead to part of next week's challenge for the Halloween clean up, if you want to do that right after the holiday is over, or you can certainly wait a few days until the next challenge to clean up.
Halloween Planning For This Week: Last Minute Halloween Preparations
From our previous weeks of this series you have already gotten or made Halloween costumes for your kids, decorated your home, set a menu for Halloween night, and considered your Halloween traditions.
This week comes the really fun part -- preparing for and then actually celebrating this holiday.
Task 1: Buy Your Halloween Candy And Other Supplies For Your Meal - Buy your candy for the trick or treaters, if you haven't already, and while at the store make sure to pick up anything else you need for your Halloween meal.
I did not suggest this task earlier in the series, even though I generally like to get things done ahead of time, for the following reason -- I tend to eat the candy if I buy it early. So my philosophy on this one is to save it for the last minute and save a few calories too!
Don't have time to get to the store? Go ahead and order your Halloween candy here! (referral link)
Click Here To Purchase Halloween Candy
You can also get 20 easy Halloween treat ideas for trick or treaters here, including both food and non-food options, if you'd like more ideas.
Task 2: Carve Your Pumpkins - You may have already done this one too. I know several people on my block have, but I have found that when we do it too early the pumpkins start to look rotted and caved in by Halloween night (although you can follow these tips for preserving carved pumpkins to lessen this problem). That is why we like to save it until the week of Halloween at our house.
Resources on this site:
Task 3: Prepare For A Safe Halloween - Trick or treating, and dressing up in costumes, and all the other Halloween traditions can be a lot of fun for kids, but you need to be safe as you do it.
Take a few minutes and review these Halloween safety tips for kids yourself, and with your kids, and take any actions necessary to make their night safer, so everyone can have a great time.
Examples of things to do (but I urge you to read the whole article) include making sure you put some reflective tape on any kid's costume which is dark in color. In addition, you may want to get some glow sticks and fresh batteries for flash lights to make sure everyone can see well as they walk along the sidewalk as it gets dark, and that others can see your family too.
Task 4: Enjoy Halloween Night With Your Family - You've done all the Halloween planning, so now it's time to reap the rewards of those incremental steps. Enjoy your Halloween night with the ones you love. Make sure to take lots of pictures, and maybe pop in a family Halloween movie after trick or treating as a fun way to unwind.
Christmas Preparations For This Week: Begin Buying And Wrapping Gifts
I don't have too much that you need to do this week for Christmas planning, because this is actually the week of Halloween, so Halloween planning is the priority. However, I have a task you won't finish this week, but should at least start -- gift buying and wrapping.
Have you ever had a marathon wrapping session the night before Christmas, and stayed up way too late and been bleary eyed when the kids tore through all that paper just a few hours later? I know I have, and I didn't think it was much fun.
My solution -- wrap as you go. When you buy a present go ahead and wrap it up, fasten on a secure label, and mark the Christmas gift list you have created to remind yourself that you bought or made the present, it is wrapped, and where you stored it.
Resources on this site:
Also, if you are spacing out your purchases for budgeting reasons make sure to prioritize the ones that you will make, so you can go ahead and buy the supplies, and also the ones that need to be shipped. That way you have time to take those packages to the post office before the long lines begin to form, and so you can pay only regular shipping, not any extra rush charges too.
Tell Me In The Comments Below How You're Doing On This Week's Challenge! Plus Sneak Peek For Next Week
If you're participating in this challenge tell me how it's going for you below, so we can all celebrate our baby step successes together! After all, we should be cheering each other on in our quest for reducing holiday stress.
In addition, I thought some of you might want to know briefly what we'll be working on next week, so I'll tell you:
- Halloween clean up
- Thanksgiving meal planning, and grocery list
- Christmas letter and baking schedule
Previous Parts Of The Stress Free Holiday Series
If you missed the previous parts of this series, you can still jump in. There is always time to start.
Here are the previous challenges:
Related Pages You May Enjoy
Holidays And Celebrations With Your Family
Home Management Courses And Series
Go From Week 4: Halloween Planning To Home Page
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