How Many Days Until Halloween? 22 Days Left on Oct. 9

There is still enough time to order anything. Halloween is 22 days away, on Saturday, October 31, with fifteen weekdays, seven weekend days and three Saturdays in between.

Twenty-two days is enough time to order anything, which makes this the right week for the part of the holiday that is easy to postpone and difficult to repair late.

The numbers behind the teal pumpkin

About one in thirteen children has a food allergy, according to FARE, the food allergy research and advocacy group. In a class of twenty-six that is roughly two children, and on a night whose entire interaction is handing something unlabeled to an unknown child, the arithmetic is worth taking seriously.

FARE started the Teal Pumpkin Project in 2014. A teal pumpkin on the porch signals that the house offers non-food treats alongside candy, so a child with an allergy can take part in the evening instead of handing most of a bag back. The non-food option does not need to be expensive. Glow sticks, pencils, stickers, temporary tattoos and small toys cost about what a fun-size bar costs.

A painted pumpkin works as well as a bought one, and a printed sign does the same job. The pumpkin is only a signal.

Separation matters more than selection

The real risk is not the individual treat but cross-contact. A bowl of loose candy with peanut butter cups mixed in is a problem for a child with a peanut allergy even when that child takes a lollipop from the same bowl. Two containers solves it, and keeping food items in factory wrappers solves the rest.

If anything homemade is going out, label it with ingredients rather than describing it at the door. That courtesy takes two minutes and removes the one question a parent cannot answer quickly.

The conversation that takes thirty seconds

Asking a neighbor is faster than researching anything. Most households on a block know which families have an allergy and which treats have worked, and one question in a group chat reaches everyone at once.

A short note in the neighborhood thread does something the pumpkin cannot. It tells families which houses have non-food options, so a route can be planned around them instead of discovered by walking.

The last detail is the bowl on the step, for households that will be out. Non-food items survive an evening outdoors and a light rain. Chocolate does not, which is worth remembering before filling a bowl that nobody will be watching.