What can I do to keep myself sane this winter?

[#Littledog]

Originally Posted by adam76

We have kids that last winter were 1 and 4. There are stretches where everyone goes a little stir crazy but they absolutely loved all the snow we got last year. We were outside as much as we could and put quite a bit of miles on the sleds. One thing that really helped our sanity, especially for me and my wife, was swimming at the YMCA. Something about putting a suit on and taking a dip really helped with the state of mind. Also regarding your original post's comment about shoveling vs snow blower... whenever possible we tried to make shoveling a family affair. We got small shovels for the little ones and they really enjoyed getting out and shoveling. We'd all get some exercise and then come in for hot chocolate and popcorn.

I think it's really tough to keep the kids entertained at this age. They are old enough where they start bouncing off the walls and yet too young for a number of things and many of the things you can do cost money. For us, the tough part of the winter is not the cold snowy Dec-Jan stretch, it's more late Feb / March when it gets sloppy and ugly outside. It's usually March when we start doing things that cost money like museums and such.

That's so cute! My daughter was 2 last year and it seemed like no matter how much I bundled her she would just stand outside and cry. I tease her and my husband (he wants to cry when it's cold, too!) that it must be a Gemini thing-both were born in the summer I just bought her some Cuddly Duds so that will hopefully help! She's pretty petite so I think she does get cold easily.