No Tricks Only Treats! Stress-free Halloween preparations

With Halloween only a couple weeks away, make sure you have everything you need ready to go for trick or treating this year. While the occasion may look a bit different this year, you and your family can still have fun collecting chocolates and candy or distributing it to others by making sure you have the following ready:

For the trick-or-treaters:

Make sure all costumes are clean, in good shape, and ready to be worn. Though this seems unnecessary, sometimes costumes can get ripped or in disrepair after school activities or wearing around the house. Make sure any adjustments needed are made now, and costumes are safely stowed away until the big day. As with any Halloween in Calgary, there is always the potential for bad weather - make preparations now for what to do if winter coats, gloves, mitts and toques are needed. Will the costume be able to be worn outside a coat, or is there another way you can show it off while staying warm?

Face paint, make-up and elaborate hair dos can be a key part of a costume. It’s important to not only make sure you have all the materials you need to get them done, but that you know what you’re doing before the day of. Test out any supplies ahead of time to make sure nothing is dried out or low on supply. Doing a trial run of the face paint or hair style is also a good idea so you know how much time is needed before trick or treating and the work goes smoothly on the day.

Masks will also be an important safety precaution and accessory this year. To make them part of the costume, try to coordinate by finding colours and material that coordinate with the costume. Get creative and try putting together your own mask if you can’t find one online and customize it for the occasion! Other important materials to have on hand when you’re going house to house is hand sanitizer and wipes. Be mindful that you keep your distance from others, and disinfect in the event other surfaces are touched.

There are many different tools children can use to collect their candy - from pails, to reusable bags and the classic pillowcase. Whatever method is being used this year make sure that everything for candy collection. Check and bags and pillowcases for rips and tears (no one wants any candy leaking out!) and make sure there are a couple extras on hand to take along in case any start to get too heavy. Check straps on pails to make sure none are bended out of shape or broken off, and replace or make repairs if necessary.

For those handing out candy:

Handing out candy may seem like a no-brainer, but there is still preparation involved to make sure you’re ready to give out treats to trick or treaters once the first visitors arrive. First, make sure you have all the candy and treats you need. Whether it is chocolate, assorted candies, chips or whatever other kind of treat, try to think carefully about how much you need. While it never hurts to have extra, you probably don’t want to be stuck with a lot of leftovers after the end of the night. Try to consider the age and demographic of your neighbourhood - are there a lot of young families, or are most of the residents older? If you can think back to last year, try to recall how much you purchased and if you had enough and adjust accordingly. It always helps to keep track each year of how many visitors you get to help plan for the year ahead.

If you have decorations up, make sure that everything is in place in the days leading up and that nothing needs to be replaced or repaired. No one wants a burned out light or fallen-over ghost! Even though the goal is to make your decorations spooky, make sure that they don’t take away from the safety of others. Make sure your yard is still well-lit and there are no major obstacles in the way for visitors.

This year, it is also important that those handing out candy take precaution to protect against COVID-19. Make sure your face mask is ready to go and easy to put on and off when trick or treaters arrive. You can also have fun and customize a Halloween-themed mask to surprise guests! Have hand sanitizer on hand, and make sure any potential surfaces are disinfected beforehand just in case (like doorknobs, doorbells, and handrails). The province has a list of tips and guidelines on having a safe Halloween, including innovative ways that people can safely hand out candy while also maintaining the appropriate physical distancing and limiting the surface areas being touched. Visit alberta.ca/halloween for more.

However you may be celebrating Halloween this year, make sure you have everything you need for a stress-free and ghoulish event!

Has your family looked at you sideways when you enthusiastically brought up the idea of getting organized?

Imagine being able to find everything once and for all.

Has your family looked at you sideways when you enthusiastically brought up the idea of getting organized? To them it might sound like another cleaning expedition. Have you tried to show them the Marie Kondo fold, or the vertical fold as Calm Order has always called it? Maybe you think your family will laugh or roll their eyes at your attempt to organize, but Allbright doesn't think so. "I find introducing new organizing systems is most often met with a sense of relief because the family often feels over-burdened by their stuff. The want help" says Karen. "But you want the family to USE the organizing system so it needs to reflect how they move through their day naturally."

Calm Order was moving an executive and his partner to their new home in Calgary. They were moving from their family home of 25-years and in the interest of time, did not plan to purge or pre-sort their belongings until moving into their new place. They brought everything with them. When Calm Order conducted a pre-move inventory of their belongings, they quickly saw a challenge with the volume of clothes compared to the closet and drawer space in the new home.

One of the partners was an avid runner and kept every race t-shirt he had earned over his lifetime. And, after 40+ years, that is a lot of t-shirts! He was adamant he would wear his race t-shirts regularly so did not want any placed in storage or out of daily reach. As Professional Organizers helping the partners move into their new home, it meant acknowledging his appreciation for the t-shirts. The Calm Order team needed to develop an organizing system considering the closet and drawer space available. HIs partner called him a collector, we consider him an achiever. A collector does not make regular use of their treasures, they display or store them. And that requires a completely different organizing solution.

The runner laughed out loud as we vertically folded and colour sorted all of his t-shirts and put them away in his drawers. "How am I going to keep that up?" he sighed. The vertical fold organizing approach increases storage capacity significantly and more importantly, makes it much easier to see (and of course wear) each individual shirt. After seeing the drawers completed, he was on board and eager to keep the organizing system in place. A Calm Order organizer showed him how to do the vertical fold, and to help him maintain the organizing system, installed fabric drawer dividers.

Calm Order views organizing as a puzzle to be solved. Karen gently cautions clients not to be too hard on themselves. "There is an organizing solution that can respond to and support almost any behavior. Flat-out laziness excluded of course", Allbright adds with a smile. "It is important to take a step back and try to understand why an organizing system isn't working. If you are starting fresh with a move or just because the time is right, before implementing a new organizing system, ask yourself how you and your family are going to live in the space. Look closely at each member's daily routine and implement an organizing system to support it. That is the key to maintaining organization and minimizing battles within the family."

Moving is the Best Time to Introduce Organizing Systems

Moving into a new home is the best time to introduce organizing systems. "I absolutely love working with clients at this exciting yet stressful time in their lives,” Allbright admits. "When you move, you have the opportunity to start fresh, with organizing systems designed and implemented based on how the family wants to live NOW. When you move, you are bringing most of your belongings but you don't have to bring your Junk Drawer." What Allbright means is you have an opportunity to set up your home from day one in a purposeful manner, that makes the junk drawer (and other typical dropping zones) obsolete. The key is to set up organization systems before you move in, ultimately giving every item a resting place or home that matches the way your people move through their daily routine.

Calm Order was hired to do a complete Moving Service for a family of five. This family was running on all cylinders. Mom owned and managed a marketing company, dad is a professional with travel demands, they have two daughters in elementary school and a son just starting junior high. Seriously busy! To keep the family operating effectively, mom mastered online shopping. Every season demanded new clothing, sporting equipment, dance shoes, technology, and so on. When Calm Order met this family, the mom "confessed" to Karen (Allbright), "I am a hoarder." She described her shopping behavior and how it resulted in over-stuffed closets and dressers, a mudroom overflowing with equipment, shoes and clothing; and a garage they could no longer park their cars in.

After examining the households’ way of life and conducting an inventory of their belongings Karen respectfully told her new client, "you are not a hoarder, you are a shopper." The items purchased were most definitely needed. Calm Order implemented an organizing system that helped the family bring in new items, move out outgrown items, and effectively transition between seasons “There is a very big difference in behavior when old items are willingly and purposefully purged. Hoarders can't get rid of things"", reminded Allbright. "There is an effective organizing system for "shoppers."

An interesting UCLA study identified that a new child in a household increased average possessions by 30% in the preschool years alone. 'At least 30%, maybe even more!", exclaims Allbright. "You need an organizing system that is flexible and effective at managing family growth and change."