Did you know that our old house wasn’t in a neighborhood?
That is the reason that last year we didn’t trick-or-treat with Will near our house but instead crashed my mom’s friendly neighborhood for all things sugar.
So you can imagine how excited I am that this year we have our own neighbors. neighbors that help haul rocks out of the woods. neighbors that have jazillions of awesome toys for Will. neighbors that have dropped off bags of fresh organically grown produce at our door. yeah. I love my new neighborhood.
But seeing as how I am a paranoid kinda girl, I wanted to be sure that we were safe this year while trick-or-treating. Hence google. I saw a lot of information about how to keep yourself safe while out scoring the candy from tons of sites…but not a whole lot about keeping your house safe from tons of tricky home-invaders or from teenagers that want to prank those houses that don’t hand out full-sized candy bars wrapped in ten dollar bills.
So here are my tips:
- Put your exterior lights on if you are home. This signals that you-got-the-goods. Otherwise, have motion lights on.
- Don’t leave out valubles that tempt pranksters. This means those pumpkins at your mailbox that are begging to be smashed need to come in.
- Organize a halloween neighborhood candyfest…this means sitting outside to greet the trick-or-treaters (allowing you all to socialize between the kiddos and eliminating the need for strangers to be at your house).
- If you are not gonna be home, make sure you lock all the exterior doors. I am dreaming of Kwikset’s SmartCode keypad deadbolts (pocketless costumes wouldn’t be a problem because you don’t have to carry a key – leaving your hands free to carry the flashlight and the giant bag of candy!)
And now for the creative disclosure statement – I am a member of the Kwikset-sponsored SmartSquad and occasionally receive incentives to discuss issues related to home safety and security. I also personally love Kwikset and paid for their exterior doorhandles and deadbolts for our home way before Kwikset ever knew who I was 🙂
Growing up, we lived in a neighborhood and none of the houses were ever vandalized on Halloween. Everyone knew each other and was outside so we would notice if something funny was going on. Typically, all of the younger children would trick or trick after school (maybe about 4:00PM) and the older kids would go at night.
I am so looking forward to having trick or treaters this year. We just moved in to a huge neighborhood with lots of little ones!
Great safety tips Katie!
I know you moved further out to get dream house, so where was your old house if it wasn’t in a neighborhood? Yep, I’m nosy.
Enjoy the trick or treating!
I grew up in the middle of nowhere Indiana (literally… I couldn’t see another house from ours), so we had to go to town (Ooooo) to trick-or-treat and no one ever came to our house.
We’re so excited to live in a kid filled neighborhood and have trick-or-treaters this year!
Most neighborhoods around me just set a bucket of candy on the front stoop (because they are all out trick or treating). The first time I saw this I wondered how all the candy didn’t disappear in the first few kids, but everyone seems to be good about just taking one piece and moving on!
Have you said what Will is going to be for Halloween yet?? I’m dying to know what my favorite future baby model is going to be rockin’ as he gets his candy! 🙂
I would also check the National Sex Offender Registry to look for houses to steer clear of.
http://www.familywatchdog.us/
we love the smartcode keypads! they are definitely worth investing in. we had one on our front door, which was great because I always lock my keys in my jeep, and we had one on our master bathroom door to keep our kiddos out. our new house will be built by next winter and we plan on using them again. we loved that we could give the code to family and not have to worry about having to make keys or leaving a door unlocked so they could get in. we don’t trick-or-treat, but I hope you guys have a fun and safe time! 🙂
This is our first year in a neighborhood for Halloween. We are so excited to have trick-or-treaters and see all of their precious outfits!
Hope you’ll check out my giveaway from an awesome Etsy store that ends today! sincerelysaracate.blogspot.com
Sincerely,
Sara Cate
I dream of someday sitting outside handing out candy to trick or treaters. But here in the frozen north we are lucky if we don’t already have snow! We have to buy our kids costumes 2 sizes bigger than they actually wear so we can fit winter coats underneath them! can’t wait to see what you all are going to be.
Great tips as always KB!
Good tips! (Can I also just say that I thought this was a really creative way to use your sponsership? Kwikset should be proud!
I have no kiddos yet, but I have always loved this holiday. (When I was little, my Dad and I were champs at trick-or-treating–when I was 5 we even went out in a blizzard! We just went around the block, but everyone gave handfuls–probably the most candy I ever scored!) Usually we don’t get too many trick or treaters, but I have an optimistic feeling that we may get a bunch this year. So excited! (Although by Halloween, we might not have any candy left. My husband bought it at the beginning of October–Twix bars will not last that long!)
I think I must lead a sheltered life. Or things are just REALLY different in Wisconsin. We would never have to do any of those things for trick or treat (or any day, really). Worse case scenario is some mean kid taking more than one piece of candy from the serve-yourself candy bucket on the porch.
Haha…nope not yet…I was thinking maybe Mr. T 🙂
xo – kb
pretty front door. 🙂