It’s nearing the end of March and spring is finally in sight where I live in Northern Utah. I’m uncertain exactly how I made it through another long winter with two kids who get busier and busier by the week, but a few things that stick out to me on how I survived the many months cooped up inside are listed below!
Holidays
Duh. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years of course take up a whole lot of time and attention for every one of all ages. But winter is the perfect time to make other holidays a big deal too! It breaks up long stretches of time that would otherwise be filled with mundane daily happenings. Presidents' Day, MLK Day, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. might as well have a party of sorts to break up those long and cold months! I’m very fortunate to also have 3 out of 4 of us celebrate birthdays in the winter as well!
Vacation
I feel like January and February come around and people in the neighborhood start temporarily migrating to warmer weather! This year we did the same and took a much-needed vacation to Disneyland. And let me tell you, those winter blues didn’t have nearly as strong of a hold on me when I came home from sunshine as they did before I left!
Outings
I’ll be honest; I’m not huge into outings with my kiddos during the day, because I’m not quite brave enough at this point to do it on my own! But there are some rare occasions where I would surprise my little ones with a trip to the library or a play place inside a fast food restaurant during lunch, or something else outside of my house. Though those were far and few between. I was more consistent on evenings and weekends when my husband was home and we could tackle an outing together! Strolling around the mall to let them get their wiggles out was popular. Or grabbing take-out every once in a while to give us a chance to leave the house occasionally, even if it was only for 15 minutes!
Fun Activities
Play dough is the MVP of winter. As are
coloring books,
crafts,
books,
toy rotations, and new movies or TV shows to try out!
Set Schedule
My kids are the quintessential example of children who thrive off of consistent schedules. My three-year-old knows exactly what is expected of him while his baby sister naps or mom is exercising. My one-year-old understands her cues for when it’s about time to sleep and does well playing on her own when I need her to because of her set schedule. Yes it gets old, but I think the fact that most every day is very similar to the last, helps my kids stay structured in all the best ways.
Play Dates
I can’t be the only one who thinks that play dates make the world go ‘round, can I? I need my social, my kids need their social, and it’s a fun way to add adventure to the day. Not to mention, frequent play dates keeps them fresh on expectations of social behavior around other kids. My one year old isn’t quite into playing with friends yet, but I can tell she likes the “co-existence” playtime nearly as much as my three year old likes his more standard playtime with his buddies.
If you’re like me and the snow and cold keep you inside for months at a time, I hope some of these ideas were helpful to you! Or, if anything, you know you’re not alone in being desperate for warmer weather, Vitamin D, and playtime outside!
