Saturday, January 28, 2017

Hibernation Season

Ok, who are my other winter grumps? Those of us who like the look of the pretty snow, but who hate the cold, and the sloppiness, and all the extra gear and just want to curl up under some warm covers and hope for a thaw?

And yet have no plans whatsoever to leave New England. Warm places tend to have more bugs. I don't do bugs either. I know. I'm fun.

I really, really hate being cold. Every year, I hope we're in for a mild winter, and every year, after a slow start, we end up getting hammered with at least a few snow storms and cold snaps. Reagan was born at the tail end of a really mild winter, and yet still managed to be born on a freezing day complete with ice storm.

I never feel totally warm, everything is all dirty and slushy and gross....I mean, seriously, mopping my entry in the winter just feels pointless. That sludge gets tracked back in, over and over again. And instead of just keeping track of shoes and backpacks, we need to keep track of snow boots and rain boots and carseat safe coats and actual snow coats and the mittens/earmuffs/scarves/hats that are always misplaced when you need them.

Seriously, I just want to get all warm and snuggly, crank the heat and worry about the oil bill later, and sip coffee and soup, sleeping until spring. Hibernation sounds just about right.

This is impractical for many reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that we have to leave our house and go places.

So I search for hacks to make things easier. Ugh. Fine.

I'm totally spoiled with my garage, but there are plenty of times I'm away from home and need to defrost my windshield before I can start driving. Defrosting car windows feels downright cruel to a cold hater, and I used to be the worst at it - I'd scrape only as much as I needed to. I found this spray to keep in the car - it doesn't freeze and it works like a charm, and it's made such a huge difference.

We've actually gotten pretty good at managing all the winter gear (assuming everyone cooperates with the system, which is a pretty big assumption). Each girl has a big LL Bean tote bag with her name on it. All the snow gear goes in that. So when Reagan brings snow gear to preschool, we just grab that bag and know that it has her snow pants, heavy coat, snow boots, and waterproof mittens. On our coat rack are the heavy duty fleeces (good for the car and running most errands where we're in and out), and a small tote bag where they store their regular mittens and scarves. When we get home, everything goes in the right spot.

As for staying warm...well...layers, blankets, and waiting for spring!
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