5 Ways To Rescue Your Snow Day

The kids were running around the house like a wild lion was chasing them. Their screams pierced every bit of quiet I had in the house, and popped every ounce of sanity I had like two hands and bubble wrap. At 10am, the house was a wreck, and the beautiful Scrabble art piece that my mother in law painstakingly put together (she put all of our names on there in Scrabble tiles, plus "faith", "family", "God" and "love". My favorite Christmas present ever!) needed to be repaired. In one of the kids' haste to see the snow falling, they stood on the couch and accidentally knocked it over (thankfully I was able to fix it. Phew!). I had two Mom-yelling outbursts that I had to apologize for, and my built in "distracter and redirector" was fried from overuse. This day, and this Momma needed rescuing. 

Ever been there? What do you do on a snow day when you don't know what to do? How do you transform cabin fever into can-do strategies? I don't know. **record scratch** Sorry, I have to admit right up front that I don't have this Mommy-ing thing all together. However, here are a few things that I tried today that helped, and hopefully, they'll help you too.

1-CHECK YOUR DASH.

How are you, Mom? No really, how are you? Are you dehydrated and malnourished? Are you sleep deprived? Do you need some fresh air? Think of all the questions you would ask your child if you were trying to figure out how you could help them, and ask them of yourself. Do you need a minute alone to pray, or catch a quick verse? Even if you can't do all these things, you can do ONE. Start there. 

2-CHANGE GEARS.

There is nothing more refreshing than doing the same old same old, then all of a sudden doing something completely different. For example, I started to feel super agitated, so I did something else. I asked Wes (my 11 year old) to come outside with me and help shovel the walkway and clean off the cars. The fresh air did us both good, we had a bonding experience, and the crazy cross winds that took our breath away helped him appreciate the importance of this tedious winter chore.

3- CALL A LIFE-LINE.

If you are inside with the kids all day, a touch from the "outside world" helps. That day, it came in the form of my dear husband sending me a text (which is my fave!) But maybe for you it might be a friend that you can skype for 10 minutes, a parent/family member to catch up with. It might just be social scratch to your itch that is the ticket.

4- CREATE MEMORIES.

I seriously just wanted time alone that day- just a chance to breathe. But I knew that this snow day doesn't happen every day, and that they won't stay little forever. So when the wrestling went too far and I wanted to teleport to a white sand resort, I called the kids up for a game of Apples to Apples Jr. Just putting my kids in a new context where the focus was the game and not on behaviors helped me to enjoy them- not in a forced smile with gritted teeth kind of way, but really enjoy them. For example, the green card I drew was "squishy". One of my kids submitted a red card with the word "football" on it. It was a nice nod to the whole "Deflategate" scandal, and it had me rolling. Laughter is good, Mom. VERY good.

5- CLEAR SOME SPACE AND CONJURE UP BEAUTY.

Although part of the internal chaos I had going on had something to do with the freight train of energetic children stampeding through our house, part of it had to do with the fact that everywhere I looked, things were in disarray. The table was cluttered. The sink full of dishes. The shoes haphazardly strewn about. But I noticed the candle in my kitchen and the candle on my table. I began to think how nice it would be to see the soft flickering light of the candles and the soothing scent wafting through the air. I decided that I'd go around and do a bit of straightening up (not spring cleaning mind you, but enough to bring some "AH" back), and that turning on the candles would be my reward. Wouldn't you know, when things looked better around the Martin house, and the candles were lit, Momma got some of her "AH" back. Is there a space you can clear so you don't feel claustrophobic? How about rearranging some things to spice things up? The world is your oyster, Momma! What beauty can you bring to your four walls? Even just improving a small corner will do a world of good. If what makes you smile is putting fake flowers in a vase to remind you of the hope of springtime, do that. :)

So there you have it, 5 things I tried that helped rescue my snow day. What about you? What helps rescue your snow day? Comment below the blog or the Tea With A Slice of Life facebook page and let's swap ideas! :)