It's cold - really cold. It's STILL SNOWY. Events are postponed for snow, and then the snow date needs a snow date. I don't think we've had a week without cancellations since mid January.
With all this mess on the ground, with the extensive chill in the air, with all the general yuck, we've been home more than usual. We're not doing our usual outings to the gym and library. It's hard to justify driving the snow to go to the mall play area. So we've been home more than usual. We've been home a lot.
At first, it wasn't too bad. We pulled out the sensory table. We did some Kiwi Crates (and the new Koala Crate for Reagan!).
As February turned into March with no real sign of spring to come, I invested in two new movies - Barbie in Princess Power and Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast (I recommend both). Reagan's birthday brought some fresh new toys into the house, including an awesome pop up pirate ship.
But the children just won't leave me alone.
I swear, they've been following my every move more than usual. I get them set up. They start playing happily. I move into the kitchen to do some cleanup and BOOM. They are underfoot. I set them up with a movie. They are watching intently. I move upstairs to try and finish Reagan's room redecoration and BOOM. They are upstairs with me. I pull out the paints. A sticker book I stashed away from Christmas. A previously unopened set of play doh tools. They start playing, I sneak away and BAM. Found you!!!
It's like an endless game of hide and seek that I am LOSING at regularly.
It's not that I don't like playing with the girls. I do. They are at a really fun stage for imaginative play, they understand how to play games now, and I know they won't want to include me forever. However, they have been with me all the time the past six weeks. All. The. Time. I don't necessarily need a weekend away, I just need ten stinking minutes to hang Reagan's new curtains without someone underfoot. I need to mop the endless slush of the kitchen floor without assistance. I want to read one of the magazines that are beginning to stack up again.
So now I'm getting creative with my hiding places. Here are some of my new favorites.
THE CAR!
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| Welcome to my mobile office. |
Yup. I gather up some trash or recycling, walk out to the garage...and stay there for a few minutes. I sit in the front seat, "looking for something" and read my magazine. Sure, if you're out there for too long, it'll get chilly. If you try to play the radio, you need to watch the battery. But for a few minutes of peace? Perfect.
This is also a fantastic solution for all you stay at home moms who need to make a quick phone call. I always head into my "home office" when it's time to make a doctor's appointment or schedule a furnace cleaning.
THE CRAP CORNER!
Please tell me that I'm not the only one with a crap corner in the house. You know, a place where you store things "temporarily" that don't seem to have a home. Our crap corner is where I stash stuff for consignment, donation, gifts, stuff that needs to go to the attic, pictures that need hanging, toys that need batteries (that I'm secretly hoping they forget about and they can move into the consignment pile)...you know, stuff that just doesn't FIT. Our crap corner is in our master bedroom, where we keep the ironing board. It's a wreck. Right now it's particularly messy since all the baby stuff I moved out of Reagan's room (sob!) is there. You can barely move in and out, so obviously, no one really goes into the crap corner....except me. The blessing of our crap corner is that you can't see it when you peek into our bedroom. You actually have to come in and look. I can sit there and put curtains on curtain rods and they won't find me.
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| There is a PLAN for all this stuff. Which makes this ok, right? |
THE DINING ROOM!
This one may not last since I am literally hiding in plain sight and we store the sensory stuff and the art supplies here (doesn't everyone have an art table next to their china cabinet?) But for some reason, they don't seem to look for me there. If I want a warmer place than the car to sit and pay some bills, this is the spot.
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| This room was gated for a solid three years. I think they honestly forgot that it's part of the house. |
If these three spots hold out, we all just might make it until spring.
