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What Is the Average Age to Stop Trick-or-Treating? At what age should kids stop trick-or-treating? The answer is anything but straightforward. In a 2017 Today Parents survey of nearly 2,000 respondents, many people thought kids should stop going door-to-door around when they hit their teen or even tween years: at age 12 or 13. Almost three-quarters of respondents said that by age 17, trick-or-treaters should hang up their costumes and leave the holiday festivities to younger children....

That’s exactly what having resilience is: the ability to overcome adversity and carry on, despite it not being done beautifully or perfectly, says Colleen D. Cira, PsyD, founder and executive director of the Cira Center for Behavioral Health in Chicago. While most folks do get up again (although Cira says most don’t give themselves credit for doing so), true resilience takes it a step further. “Some people are able to learn, grow, feel, and reflect on the hard thing they just experienced and become wiser, stronger and more grounded as a result,” she says....

But before loading up the generator’s circuits during an electrical outage, learn how to install and operate it safely—trust us, when you’re in crisis mode after the power goes out, figuring things out on the fly could lead to dangerous mistakes or serious accidents, including carbon monoxide poisoning, burns, and electric shock. From what type of generator you need to who should install your generator, we chatted with professionals to help you make the right choices while staying safe....

How to Select the Best Balsamic Vinegar Another ingredient that is a red flag? Caramel coloring, which Bucciarelli calls “an unnecessary ingredient used to mask inferior quality ingredients.” Hallman explains that an Aceto Balsamico di Modena consisting of 78% red wine vinegar, 20% cooked grape must and 2% caramel coloring is “an example of a poor-quality vinegar that will be too acidic.” However, you can buy a well-made Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP for between $14-$25 per 250 ml bottle ($60-$80 per liter) that is perfect for everyday use, according to Bucciarelli....

In fact, people tend not to clean their coffee makers as often as they should—and that can lead to some major ick factor and some less-than-awesome tasting coffee. NSF International, a public health and safety organization, found that the coffee machine water reservoir is the fifth germiest place in most homes, with even more germs than a bathroom faucet. And mineral deposits and other buildup over time can slow down your coffee machine and lead to some less-than-optimal coffee....

Cooking dry beans is easy. But cooking dry beans to their full potential—meaning taking steps to maximize flavor and texture—can be tricky. Here, we share what wisdom gathered over many, many stovetop batches, tips that will give you better pots of beans. Use plenty of water. Most beans take a while to cook, anywhere from half an hour to two hours. As they do, the water level in the pot lowers, and not just a little....

If your allergies always act up at home, or you frequently wake up with nightmarish sinuses, your bedroom is probably to blame. It’s chock-full of the most common indoor allergens, from mold and dander to the collection of dust mites rallying on your bedsheets. Since these dust mites (actually, their excrement) love beds that provide warmth, humidity, and food (i.e., our dead skin cells), our supposed sanctuary is also theirs....

If you want your brows to look naturally fuller but not outrageously bushy, the fluffy brow is currently the most sought-after look in the brow world. An evolution of the boy brow, the fluffy brow still focuses on fullness, but with an emphasis on lift and structure. Think fluffy in the front, full at the arch, and tapering down to a neat point at the end. The problem is that unless you were naturally blessed by the brow gods, a thick brow takes a bit of work....

Use our expert-tested tricks and smart cleaning tips to get rid of even the most stubborn paint stains—from acrylic to emulsion varieties, oil- and water-based splatters, and wet and dry stains—as well as solutions for other common spots and smudges. Remove excess paint. Before starting on any kind of stain solution, get rid of as much excess paint (or other stain source) as you can. If the paint has dried, use a paper towel to wipe away the dried residue....

Financial Moves to Make Before a Recession Pay off high-interest debt. If you have credit card debt, personal loans, or other high-interest debt, the first task is to pay that off as quickly as possible. “Those need to be addressed immediately and prioritized over savings,” says Isabel Barrow, director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines. “The rates on these are usually higher than what you can make on your cash and the interest compounds....

Indeed, one of the biggest obstacles of social distancing has been figuring out how to safely feed ourselves and our families. Grocery delivery is a great option, but it isn’t a practical—accessible, affordable—option for us all. If you’ve been braving the supermarket, be sure to follow the CDC guidelines and recommended safety restrictions, and get in and out of there as quickly as you can. Means more time for Netflix too, you know?...

Want to upgrade your garden this year? Here’s everything you need to know about how to grow sunflowers, according to the experts. When to Plant Sunflowers According to Alice Raimondo, a horticulture consultant in the Horticulture Diagnostic Lab at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, soil temps should hit about 60 degrees Fahrenheit —usually a few weeks after your last frost date—before you plant sunflowers from seed. This timeline varies by climate; warmer regions reach this point before cooler areas....

Virtual Holiday Party Ideas

How to Prepare For a Power Outage If you live in an area where power outages are common, invest in an appliance thermometer that can let you know what the temperature is in your fridge at any time. A working refrigerator should be at 40 degrees or below, as bacteria can grow at any degree above this safe temp, called the “danger zone.” Any typically refrigerated food that’s been in the danger zone for a few hours risks being contaminated with a foodborne illness....

While you have the mattress pad off of the bed, give it a spin in the washing machine (check the care label to make sure it’s machine-washable). Bonus points for also vacuuming all of the dust bunnies lurking under your bed. RELATED: Why Do Dust Bunnies Happen? Try to stick to white sheets if you have them, because they can be bleached. Wash the sheets on the hottest water setting, using detergent with chlorine bleach....

Below are some science-backed techniques you can work into your everyday routine to help thicken your hair naturally. “A host of nutritional deficiencies can cause hair loss and hair breakage,” notes Dhaval G. Bhanusali, M.D., board-certified dermatologist and founder of Skin Medicinals. He adds you may want to seek input from a professional if the issue is ongoing. “Doctors and dermatologists look at things like iron levels, vitamin D, thyroid studies, and other medical data points to make sure we don’t miss any internal causes of thinning or weakening hair,” he says....

If yours have been looking more like the latter, there’s a simple reason why, and it’s a mistake we’ve seen time and again: You’re starting to scramble the eggs too soon and at too high of a heat. Don’t rush the process, remember? It’s the surest way to overcook them. This is why buffet-style scrambled eggs at hotels and conferences are often incredibly dry and tough—those poor eggs are sitting in that hot hotel pan cooking for hours on end....

An Acquired Taste Not everyone will love the messy bed look. It does have a certain relaxed, boho feel that may not fit into everyone’s preferred aesthetic—anyone attached to a crisp fold and carefully arranged pillows will likely want to stick to their bed-making ways. But anyone who struggles to remember to make the bed in the morning might appreciate a bed that is styled so it can be left as-is and still look fantastic....

You can often shave down that price a little bit by going to a cut-your-own tree farm, but it can still be a pricey endeavor. On the other hand, some Christmas movies may have you believe you can just go to a woodsy area and chop down a tree of your choosing for free (like when Buddy the Elf cut down a tree in Central Park) but, in real life, that’s definitely illegal....

That doesn’t mean you need to ditch your desk job, though. With the following tips, you can work on a computer while staying healthy and well. Here’s what good sitting posture looks like: According to the United States Department of Labor, it means keeping your body and spine in a neutral position. Your hands and forearms should be parallel to the floor, while your elbows should be at 90-degree angles, says Alyssa Kuhn, DPT, physical therapist and founder of Keep the Adventure Alive....