Winter Weather Survival Guide for Parents because Kids are Virtually Smoking

OMG! Anyone else feel like they’re playing some twisted version of The Game of LIFE this year? Like if someone reconfigured the entire game while on some crazy mind altering drug? You landed on the square, “Global Pandemic”, lockdown for 3 months. Collect stimulus checks each time you go around the board. Landed on, “Quarantine” (you were possibly in contact with an affected individual) can’t move for 2 weeks.  You are now working from home and children are schooling from home, pay the bank $200 so everyone in the family has a desk. The hardest part for us parents is, while we’re playing this warped, twisted version of The Game LIFE, childhood can’t stop, we can’t say, “hey, kids, we’re just gonna put childhood onhold and we’ll pick it up after all this craziness is over”. Us parents still need to provide the best childhood we can for our children, even during a pandemic, quarantine, remote learning, etc. And that means us parents have had to step up in ways we’ve never imagined we’d have to….we’ve become teachers, home IT assistants, gym partners, lab partners, etc. and we’ve ultimately become solely responsible for their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.  

Okay, so where was I going with this? Isn’t the title of this post Winter Survival Guide for Parents?  I’m getting there….so where was I, yes, we’re playing this twisted version of The Game Life and we’ve just entered the most challenging part of the board, Winter in the Midwest!!! For this section of the game, you need to make certain your children’s health is meeting the CDC minimum recommendations…Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each day, including daily aerobic – and activities that strengthen bones (like running or jumping) – 3 days each week, and that build muscles (like climbing or doing push-ups) – 3 days each week. (CDC).  Doesn’t sound too bad? Well, if you pair it with the fact that your children aren’t done with schooling until 4pm and the sun sets around 5pm, oh, and did I mention you’re tired from making all the other plates spin throughout the day? Yup, suddenly those 60 minutes a day really do become a struggle…(and I didn’t even add “Mom Guilt” to the mix…cause us mommas know that sitting is the new smoking, and by those standards our kids are virtually smoking packs a day as they sit in front of their chromebooks and laptops). So what’s a parent to do? We suck it up and get those smokers, I mean sitters, outside for some much needed fresh air and exercise!! 

Here’s the Winter Weather Survival Guide for Parents:

1. This is not the time to bring sexy back…layer up those pants and shirts, sweatshirts, the bigger bulkier you look the warmer you are going to stay. And that extra padding is appreciated when you go sledding with the kids, or accidentally forget to remove your leg from the sled string and get dragged down the hill…yup, that’s definitely not what JT was singing about! 
2. Playlist, you’re gonna need a playlist to get your bulky badass up that sled hill, and up it again, and again, or through those trails, or whatever else the kids wanna do…you’re gonna need your jams, trust me! 
3. Earbuds. These are legit the best things ever invented! They serve so many purposes…you can look like you are listening to something while eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, they basically give you permission to ignore everyone (children optional), oh, and you can listen to audio books, music, videos, etc. privately. Not interested in having that political conversation with that other parent on top of a sledding hill? Just pop in the earsbuds. Did your child just do something WAY embarrassing? Just pop in those earbuds and look the other way. I’m telling you, they’re awesome.  

• 4. Travel mug. If you’re gonna be out in the elements you might as well try to make it as enjoyable as you can…bring along that coffee, tea, hot cocoa, etc. 

Though the sun seems to set way too soon, some days it forgets to even rise, and the wind-chill can legit sting, you can totally win The Game of LIFE’S Winter in the Midwest section of the board if you follow the survival guide, lol!