Do: go trick-or-treating! Why would you pass up a chance to get free candy? Who cares if your friends think it’s lame? If they go trick-or-treating with you, then you guys can trade unwanted candy after all the houses are out of stock. One pack of Hot Tamales for two fun-sized twizzlers, sooo worth it.

Don’t: leave a bowl of candy outside your door on Halloween night because you are too lazy to answer the door to screaming children. It does not end well. There are too many people who have fallen for this trap and have lost a perfectly good bowl.

Do: carve your pumpkin only a few days before Halloween, otherwise it will rot! Each year, children of all ages suffer from the same problem: a rotting jack-o-lantern that took hours to create. Whether it is just a simple geometric face or a complex silhouette, don’t take the risk.

Don’t: let your parents go all out for Halloween and have a better costume than you. Somebody might recognize the crazy-costumed person at your front door and realize they he or she is one of your parents. But if you’re not worried about being outshined, having spirited parents may not be a bad thing.

Do: decorate your house! Even though it will attract a lot of boisterous kids, it will impress your neighbors and assert your dominance as first-class decorators. Also, it’s really fun to deck out your front yard with friends when you guys are looking for something creative to do.

Don’t: procrastinate on your homework during the week of Halloween. Halloween is on a Thursday night this year, so try to get as much homework as you can done beforehand so you will have less to do on Thursday. Otherwise, you are going to have a big load on your hands as soon as you come home from trick-or-treating.

Don’t: eat all of your candy within the first week. Halloween is one of the many causes of sickness among children (shocker!) because of the pressing need to eat monumental amounts of candy. Symptoms include: stomach aches, bouncing off the walls, guiltiness, bouncing off the walls, strange looks from family members, and did I forget to mention bouncing off the walls?