We’re having oddly warm days around here in Maryland. It’s making me all itchy for spring, yet in the back of my mind I have my guard up. “It’s not over yet, Meghan. More is coming. Don’t put your winter gear away – as much as you desperately want to, because it will only be that much more depressing when you have to pull it all back out for one more cold streak!”

But I do feel like I survived. Like winter wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. Last year, I really struggled, you guys. Last year, I had a young baby who had ear/nose issues – so everywhere I went people thought he had this life-threatening, highly-contagious disease and I felt like I couldn’t go anywhere with him (when really all he had was a runny nose). I couldn’t go outside for long periods of time because he positively hated his fluffy winter body-suit (don’t blame him) and, because he was, you know, a BABY. I didn’t see many friends – I have this image of me sitting on my couch, desperately gazing out my window and wishing for any ray of hope that this would soon be all over. I told Adam last summer, that if this winter was as bad as last winter, we would be moving. Moving far, far away to a land where only the sun shines and winter is a made-up word found in fairy-tales. I was dead serious – and Adam knew it.

Even as summer began to fade into fall last October, I was steeling myself. I had on a shield, and I was ready to take winter on. I would not fall victim to depression and loneliness this year!! Instead, I went into combat mode! I fought a good fight this year, and here were my tactics!

Stay busy. I naturally lean towards a busy lifestyle, so the slowing down-ness that tends to come with winter is a huge factor in my uneasiness. Planning my styled shoot was such an unforeseen blessing! I kept thinking it had been a mistake to plan it the week before Christmas, but having so much to do during the months leading up to it, kept my mind off of the impending doom of winter coming around the corner! It also showed me that beauty can still be found, even in December! I was surrounded by creatives and perfect details, and the exhilaration of it all kept me on a high for a few weeks!

Find indoor fun. My own house didn’t count. I tried to make myself get out of the house as much as possible, and save “in-home” days for truly crappy weather or when it was impossible to travel. So we found lots of indoor fun, like going to other friends’ houses (and trying to make new friends and not being afraid to invite ourselves over for play dates!). Being a part of weekly group activities (Music Makers and Axton’s co-op preschool) helped a lot because I had things I was committed to, and couldn’t just back out of it if I didn’t feel like going that day. We also did lots of library and Storyville trips, indoor gyms and Chick-fil-A play houses!

Travel. And I’m not just talking about New Zealand, either. Way before I knew I was going to NZ, I made sure to book a lot of time with my family in Idaho during winter. We knew we would be going there for Christmas, and so I was already planning on spending about a month with my mom. I had a lot of people ask me why in the world I came to IDAHO in the winter, but for me it wasn’t about escaping to a warmer climate, it was about spending my time with people I love. I knew being in a different environment and seeing family and old friends I haven’t seen in a long time, would help make winter go by faster.

(side note: For the past month or so, the letter t has not been working on my laptop…I have been using copy/paste to get every single letter t you see on this post and many previous posts. Just now, I had to Google “mother teresa” so that I could copy and paste the capital “t” that came up! Haha. You will notice that that is the only capital t on my blog for some time now. I have started to get quite creative in the way I start my sentences so as to avoid capital t’s. Oh, the sacrifices I make for this blog!! 🙂 )

Aside from getting on a plane and traveling far differences, I’ve also been trying to make time for short trips, too. I recently took an hour long road trip to North Maryland with Emily, just to do some local exploring and this leads me to the next thing I did…

Go outside anyway! I stayed busy, I planned play dates and kept up with friends, I traveled – but most importantly, I went outside anyway. Going to Iceland in September, when it was just starting to get cold, windy, and rainy, taught me that I can, actually, not just survive cold temperatures, but still be happy in them. I was SO excited to just be in Iceland that I barely noticed the cold. Not only that, but I came prepared! I severely over dressed and was glad I did. I recently read in a Maryland hiking book that “there is no such thing as poor weather, only poor clothing choices.” And while I don’t exactly believe that 100% I do get the point and it did make me rethink the way I approached the subject of winter and allowed a slight mind shift in my attitude.

So, I made a rule that we had to go outside every day. It took about a half hour to get everyone round up and dressed, so it was a great time-killer 🙂 Even if we were only outside for 15 minutes, everyone came back with a better attitude. Stepping outside for a few minutes often made me forget I was annoyed with the kids, or at least allowed me time to come back to the situation with more patience.
When Emily and I took the kids to Kilgore Falls, it was a rather warm day, but the trail was soo so icy in some parts. And yet, that’s what made the adventure that much more memorable! Squeezing the four kids into my car, Emily and I chatting for two hours in the front seats, throwing snacks to the very back for the older kids, and then slipping our way down the trail to the waterfall – it didn’t matter what the temperature was, we still had fun!

I’m so happy that this winter has gone SO much better than last year. If I’m being completely honest with myself (and you) I really think the largest factor in me being infinitely happier this year is that I no longer have a young baby! Post-partum hormones/depression last way longer than 6 weeks, no matter what they tell you. I know my depression was from a combination of not sleeping much, having a tough young baby, and my hormones still raging out of control. I think the next time we have a kiddo I am going to try to deliver during a different time of year (both my boys are summer babies) just so that awkward middle age (4-9 months) doesn’t fall into the winter months again.

Does anyone else have good tips for surviving winter with kids? I’d love to hear them!! Here’s to spring being just around the corner!!