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Boo! Are You Too Scared To Get Organized?
By Kathy Jenkins, Professional Organizer, Come To
Order
For me Halloween has always marked the beginning of
the “big” holiday season. Once October hits I know I
had better start organizing for the numerous
celebrations that are to follow or I will be in big
trouble. After all, each holiday is no more than 30
days apart from Oct through January. Let’s see there
is…Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas,
Kwanza, and New Years Day. And for me I get to throw
in my birthday (Nov), my wedding anniversary (Dec -
10 years this year so you know I am planning
something) and my husband’s birthday (Jan). So I
decided this month to share with you some tips on
how to get organized for All Hallows Eve and perhaps
it will serve as good practice for organizing the
rest of the holidays to come.
Start Early!
It is so easy to look at a calendar and think “Oh, I
have 4 weeks before Halloween, I have plenty of
time”. The problem with that approach is that time
marches on faster than you think and before you know
it, it is the week before Halloween and you don’t
have costumes or candy. And it is at that point that
you find yourself trying to convince your 10 year
old to be Barney since that is the only costume left
on the store rack and that sugar-free Brachs candy
is the new “in candy”.
Start thinking about where you will get your
pumpkins – are you up for the hay ride and the hunt
through the pumpkin patch for just the right one or
do you prefer to get one from the grocery store.
Either way, resist the urge to carve too soon.
Depending on the weather conditions, an un-treated,
carved pumpkin can have a life span any were of from
a week to only a day. Fear not, there are a couple
of ways to slow down the deterioration of your
pumpkin. One is to coat the cut surfaces and inside
with petroleum jelly. A little messy, but it works.
It also helps to store them in the fridge at night.
Finally, there is Pumpkin dip, now available at most
grocery stores, but note that you have to dip them
every night.
If you are planning a party, then begin making your
lists now. Decide when it will be, where it will be,
who is coming, how they are being invited
(invitation, e-mail, phone call or in person), what
food will you serve or what you will ask your guests
to bring, and what will serve as entertainment. It
doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to
be written down so that you can easily track what
you have completed and what is left to do. Put a
start and end date on each list so that you are sure
to stay on schedule.
Decorate Light!
This advise actually comes from a client of mine and
I wholeheartedly agree. Decorating for Halloween has
become grossly excessive, much like all of our
holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great to
put up decorations to get into the spirit, but
remember that every thing you use to decorate not
only takes time to put out, but then you have to put
it away and store it come November 1st.
So as you stroll through the isles at Target,
getting tempted by the $250 motion detector
Frankenstein that will scare the begeezies out of
all of the neighborhood kids, be mindful of the fact
that you will have to keep him someplace in your
home come November.
Go Easy on the Candy!
Have an agreed upon plan for the candy before the
kids ever leave the house. This should include going
through the treats immediately upon return from
“tricking” the neighborhood and tossing away all the
things that nobody likes. For the things that are
left, have a place to store the candy and make a
commitment to keep it only a certain period of time
(1-2 months). While it may seem like a good
conservation move to recycle the candy come Easter,
I can tell you that it will not be appreciated.
Clean up Quickly!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the
holidays are not far apart this time of year, so
make a commitment to put away your Halloween things
by Nov 4th – that includes tossing the
pumpkins! After all you don’t want your Thanksgiving
guests to be greeted by Frankenstein with a rotting
pumpkin at his feet.
Happy Halloween!
© 2006, Kathy Jenkins, Come To Order
Kathy Jenkins is a Residential Professional
Organizer, Student Organizer, Certified Family
Manager Coach, Writer and Speaker based in Richmond,
Virginia. She is a member of NAPO, NSGCD and ABWA
and is dedicated to helping her clients simplify
their lives by reducing clutter, organizing their
homes and offices, and managing their time. Kathy
especially enjoys working with kids and their
families to help them learn good organizational
skills that will benefit them for a lifetime.
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