How To Win When Halloween Is On A Weeknight

From now until 2019, Halloween will fall on a weeknight, aka a school night, aka, the worst possible night of the year for kids to be up late and eating candy. Oh and don’t forget that if you live in Canada, like me, there’s a very good possibility that it could also be 20 below zero and snowing on Halloween night. What fun! Don’t get me wrong, despite ALL that, I do love Halloween and all it’s scary fun and creativity and treats but even seasoned parents need a little help so here’s how to win when Halloween is on a weeknight. 

1. Plan the night before – Have the kids lay out their costumes, make-up, candy bags. Check weather reports to see what kind of adjustments will need to be made to account for rain or (gah) snow.
2. Meal plan –  The slow cooker is your friend on the best of nights and on a weeknight that includes excited kids, costumes and chaos, pick something that a) your kids like to eat and b) is simple and fast. Leave the slow cooker on ‘keep warm’ when you go trick-or-treating so if the kids are hungry when they get home, they can eat some more; if they’re not too full from candy that is. 
3. Make a route – Decide what streets or neighbourhoods you’ll take the kids on as a family so everyone is aware of the expected route and stick to it, that way no one can whine, “just one more block”. When the route is covered, everyone heads home.
4. Save their faves for last – Our kids always have certain neighbours they LOVE to see on Halloween and they’re usually the house right next door or the ones we share a back fence with. Save the favourite houses for the end of your route so they can end on a high note and be close to home. “Let’s go see Mr. and Mrs. Jones and then we’re all done!”
5. Wind down with Netflix- Give the kids something to look forward to when they get home from trick-or-treating. Netflix has loads of great Halloween shows streaming right now. Get all the kids changed into PJ’s before they do the big candy dump on the living room floor. Turn on a show (and the fireplace) and let them chill out and unwind from all the running and excitement.
6. Lights out – Once you’ve got the kids in the house for the night and everyone is relaxing in front of the TV watching Netflix, sorting and trading candy, make sure the lights in the front of the house both inside and out, are turned off. The less distraction from kids outside knocking on your door, the better off you’ll be settling your kids down.
7. Collect your taxes – The kids are in bed, the house is dark and the candy bags are unattended. Reward yourself with a few of your favourite treats, they’ll never know. Put your feet up, put on the next episode of Stranger Things and rejoice that Halloween is done for another year.

I love Halloween as much as my kids and while I don’t always get them in bed ‘on time’ on Halloween night, we do make sure we set expectations and time limitations, especially for our littler kids. A little negotiation, flexibility and planning goes a long way to having a fun night for everyone.

Happy Halloween y’all!