Gear up for the Holiday Season!

It may only be October, but that doesn’t mean it's too early to start getting ready for one of the busiest seasons of the year! 

Make sure you are organized this year and eliminate some of your holiday planning stress by getting as much as you can completed and decided before November. Too often, people leave all their running around, planning, shopping, and hosting to the last minute, and the holidays become a stressful and chaotic time that people don’t enjoy. To avoid that, there are a few key activities you can complete this month to make your life more organized and less stressful in the months ahead: 

Make your gift list 

You will probably already know ahead of time who you need to buy or make gifts for. So why not get a head start on your shopping and avoid the busy malls and delayed shipping? Start formulating a list of everyone you need to buy for, including family, friends, co-workers and neighbours. Contributing to a gift to charity or a gift exchange? Include those on the list as well. 

Instead of giving “things,” consider giving experiences or items that appeal to their interests without adding clutter to their lives. For examples, a gift certificate to their favourite spa for a massage, or a homemade seasoning mix.  Think about what would make them smile, instead of leaving your gifting to the last minute. Don’t be the person that buys chocolates for someone who is on a diet! 

Plan your hosting needs 

Hosting a meal (or multiple meals) takes a lot of advance planning and preparation. Start thinking about who will be hosting family and friends this year. If you are the one hosting, now is a good time to decide on what you will serve. Are you hosting a sit-down meal or buffet? Will your guests need to bring anything, and if so, what? 

You’ll also need to think beyond the food to the items and space you have. Will everyone fit at one gathering, or do you need to host separate parties? What about tables and chairs, place settings and serving dishes? If this is going to be an issue, consider hosting separate events, like one just for family, and one for friends. They don’t have to be the exact same either – one could be a potluck, the other could just be a cocktail party. Regardless of what you decide to do, it’s important to start planning early.

Prepare your wardrobe

Whether you’re hosting or attending parties and gatherings over the holidays, chances are you want to look your best. Now that you have some time, start shopping for any new wardrobe items you need. For example, if you need an outfit for the company holiday party, start by going through your current items to see if anything will work. If you need to get something new, start looking online and in store now so you find something you actually like, instead of settling on something because you left your outfit to the last minute.

Don’t forget about your accessories and shoes – make sure everything is cleaned and fixed up now before you get busy with other holiday activities. If anything needs major fixing or cleaning, take them into a repair shop now before the holiday rush.

Get everyone on board

Holiday planning is a team effort, not an individual task. Start connecting with your family and friends to share the responsibilities of the holiday season. It can be stressful to try and accomplish everything on your own, so don’t be afraid to pass on some of the tasks to others. The holidays are supposed to be enjoyed by everyone!

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!

Looking Ahead

It may seem hard to plan for the future when so much remains uncertain right now but thinking about what goals and plans you want to achieve for the next year or two ahead is definitely possible. Thinking about what you want to accomplish can help you remain optimistic and keep you focused on moving forward. Making firm plans may not be possible while so much remains up in the air, but there is nothing stopping you from imagining what you want to do once it is safe to do so again.

Whether it is getting together with friends or travelling to a place you have never been to before or taking part in an experience you have always meant to do, there is no limit to what you can start dreaming and imagining about. And while you have time, why not do what research and planning you can now? Consider looking online or reading about what it is you want to do or finding programs on television that can get you to start thinking and imagining what might be possible hopefully not too long into the future.

If there has been anything that you have always wanted to do but never had the time to do it before, start thinking about what you could do to make it a reality. While it may be some time yet before travel and some experiences are possible, there are things you can do now like reviewing travel vouchers you may have accumulated from cancelled trips or getting in shape through at-home exercises to do a marathon you’ve always wanted to do.

This doesn’t have to be something you do alone either. Challenge friends or family members to take these steps towards future goals and dreams along with you. Over your next video chat or group call don’t be afraid to talk about activities you are most looking forward to doing again and what can be done now. Have you and a friend always wanted to take a cooking class? While you wait to take one together in person, why not look for virtual classes you can take at the same time? Or, if you and girlfriends have always wanted to do a wine tour, why not take some time now to read up on the best places to visit, what you should do, and everything else you need to know beforehand?

Even though it may seem like the big goals and plans you had for the year ahead might not be possible, try to focus not on what you can’t do, but what you can do. It may be small tasks or activities like researching a country you’ve always meant to travel to or testing out recipes to one day serve to family and friends, these activities can keep you moving forward and looking ahead to what you have always wanted to do.