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Mum and Dad

33 steps to surviving a snow day at home with kids

by

Sabrina Garibian

posted in Parenting

Since December 22nd my children have only been in school one day, and not even all my kids went to school that day. I haven’t had a kid-free hour in weeks!

In the summer I soak it up, spending every day outside swimming, playing in the grass, and visiting local hot spots. But over this winter break we’ve been stuck inside with nothing better to do than sit on our bums.

In case you’re wondering what a winter day is truly like at home with three kids, here it is in all its glory.

33 steps to surviving a snow day at home with kids

1. Wake up at 6:15 a.m. to a robocall from the school district canceling school. This means that all of your children will be home, again.

2. Decide today is going to be productive and quickly shower and make your bed before the children wake up. This will be your greatest accomplishment of the day.

3. Head downstairs to find all three children made their own breakfasts. This means there are about a million Cheerios all over the family room floor, and there’s a milk puddle next to the kitchen counter.

4. Hear “can we watch a show?”

5. Set up some markers and paper before quickly emptying the dishwasher. Turn around to find marker caps everywhere and little bits of paper lovingly ripped up by your 2-year-old.

6. Clean up the paper while the three gremlins play in the basement.

7. Repeat step 4.

8. Enjoy two solid hours of no fighting or yelling while the kids play in the basement. Do all the laundry, prep dinner for the night, and check Facebook for snow updates about a million times despite being able to look out the window.

9. Realize that you just had two solid hours of no fighting or yelling so something must be wrong. Head down to the basement to investigate.

10. Find this. This is basically every piece of furniture and toy jammed onto the basement trampoline.

trampoline toy bomb

11. Sit on the steps and direct the kids to clean up and put away every single thing. Listen to four complaints for every one building block put away.

12. Repeat step 4.

13. Everyone’s already hungry even though it’s only 9 a.m. Head to the kitchen and prepare big bowls of cantaloupe that no one eats.

14. Clean up the snack.

15. Repeat step 4.

16. The snow has stopped so the kids are ready to go out and play. Pull out all the snow gear.

17. Spend 30 minutes getting everyone dressed in enough layers for this Arctic cold.

18. Send the kids outside with strict instructions to stay within view of the kitchen window. Watch them have so much fun throwing snowballs, eating snow, and building a snowman.

19. FIVE minutes later hear the door open and all three kids barrel in. Sigh at the bomb of snow gear that has vomited all over the entryway.

20. Repeat step 4. Again.

21. Throw all the snow gear in the dryer. Make hot chocolate with marshmallows for everyone.

snow day hot chocolate

22. Mop the floors after three hot chocolate spills in a row.

23. Laugh because there’s nothing else to do but laugh on a day like this.

24. Repeat step 4 and consider giving in. Hold strong.

25. Make lunch because everyone’s hungry again. Realize the dishwasher is already full from the multiple snack times and drinks of the morning.

26. Run the dishwasher.

27. Make all the kids clean up from lunch because you’re just done for the day.

28. Clean up the water all over the kitchen floor thanks to an overenthusiastic dish washer.

29. Hear the question “Can we watch a show?” for the millionth time and finally give in.

30. Put the baby down for the nap and listen to annoying cartoons while your older kids zone out in front of the TV.

31. Spend a few minutes sitting on your bed and looking through your phone, contemplating what to do for the rest of the afternoon.

32. Head downstairs to find a trail of crushed fishies from the kitchen to the family room.

33. Give up and call it a day.

I rock at summer time and maybe one day, one day a long time from now, I’ll figure out how to keep my kids entertained at home on a winter day without incurring a million messes.

How do you spend your snow days at home?

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