With Halloween less than 2 weeks away, here are some random thoughts to help you prepare.

If you are hosting a Halloween party, your invitations should have already gone out.  This week, you need to finalize your menu and decoration plans.  If you plan any games or contests, organize them as well.  By this weekend, you'll want to have developed your schedule for cleaning, decorating, cooking, etc.

Decide when your will power will allow you to buy the treats you'll hand out.  I already have mine in a plastic storage container in my living room.  I am incredibly proud that I haven't opened anything yet(though the peanut butter cups are calling my name). 

Personally, I hand out candy for Halloween.  I don't think an occasional treat for kids is all that bad.  I am not responsible for kids eating junk the other 364 days of the year or for eating their entire Halloween stash in a single day.  If you have kids, do feel free to lock up the treat bags and portion the treats out over a period of several days.  However, if you don't want to hand out candy, there are other options: low sodium pretzels, sugar-free gum, granola bars, fruit roll-ups (though they aren't necessarily that much better than candy), Halloween pencils, sheets of stickers, press-on tattoos.

I also hand out glowsticks.  I buy them at Michael's craft stor, 15 for $1.  Kids love them and they do a little bit to make them more visible as they walk door to door.

If your kids are going trick or treating, you need to decide costumes this week.  As you make the final decision, please keep safety in mind:

• If you live in a cold weather area, make sure the costume allows for layers.  Halloween is far less fun when you spend the next week sick.
• Make sure costumes aren't too long.  If they are, you don't have to sew.  It's a Halloween costume, not a wedding gown.  Turn up the hem and use duct tape or double-sided tape to hold it in place.  It'll last one night and that's all that counts.
• Consider face paint rather than a mask.  Face paint allows for better peripheral vision. 
• All costumes are beautifully accessorized with reflective tape.  (Get it at a home imprvement store.)  Put it on the back and front and down both legs.
• Everyone in the trick-or-treat group should carry a flashlight.  The adult chaperones should carry extra batteries.  If I planned the world, there would be more sidewalks and streetlights.  Since I don't, we need to carry our own light to watch out for uneven pavement, branches, and other hazards.

Halloween may be scary, but it shouldn't be dangerous.