If you’ve been reading my blog or following me on social media, I’m sure you’ve come to the conclusion by now that I absolutely love cold weather. I’m always preferred to bundle up in warm cozy layers rather than lay out in the sun in a t-shirt and shorts. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some warm weather and cold beers on a beautiful pool deck, and I jump at the chance to wear a new pair of espadrilles…but when I feel that first cold wind of the year hit my face or detect the smell of fermenting apples on the ground…I know it’s here: Fall. Winter. Snow.
Here’s the downside: cold weather in the Pacific Northwest usually means lots of rain. Lots of rain means staying indoors. Staying indoors means my three year old, 17 month old and myself are cramped together in a two story 1,100 sf house and they are starting to drive me crazy.
So, a few days ago, even though we knew we only had about 45 minutes of daylight left (because it’s dark by 5:00pm) Gabe and I bundled our kids up and took them to a park on the water a few minutes away to run around and just get out of the house. We walked along the docks first and then headed to the play structure. I didn’t take any photos on the play structure because Eddie wanted me to push her on the swing and Sam kept trying to die by falling off the top of the structure, so Gabe and I were too busy keeping them happy/alive to take any photos. There were quite a few parents and little ones playing at the park as well. They obviously had the same idea that we did: a few minutes of outdoor time is better than nothing. It was too short of an outing, and we were pretty cold and hungry by the time we left, but it was worth it.
This will be our first winter in the house with two toddlers and I decided that I need to make more of an effort to get the kids out in the afternoons, even if that means dinner is a little later than usual or baths have to be skipped. I often find myself so concerned with keeping to our schedule that I fail to notice when a timeout from the schedule is most needed. Or, even more importantly, when it’s time to change the schedule to better accommodate the needs of the kids or myself. So, in a nutshell, that is my goal during this cold and rainy season. If it’s not raining, then we are playing outside, even if it’s just for a half hour. Or else Mama might go crazy.