inclement weather

It is that time of year again where I live! Bad weather destroying plans and upending schedules. My kids absolutely cannot handle change! With weather being so unpredictable, change happens quickly. At first they are happy, dreaming of playing in the snow for hours. When we do get snow, they go outside for a handful of minutes and then they are so over it. Even with all the snow gear we have gotten them, they just do not like snow that much in the end.

Where we live, it is not usually snow in our forecast. The ice is what typically shuts everything down. The girls are excited about the idea of not having school, but then they realize they do not get to see their friends. Then they are annoyed. We also tend to have a lot of false alarms with closures for weather warnings that never amount to anything hazardous.

Weather closures can cause a lot of stress at my household. We try to maintain our usual expectations at home and continue our standard operating procedures. The girls still need to finish their daily tasks and when all the work is done then we break out the games or movies. The consistency allows them to process their unhappy feelings which then leaves them to be in better moods when we do fun activities to make up for the chaos.

We have had a lot of providers try to tell us to do the fun things first, but I have found the girls do better processing their feelings and feeling secure in routine if we stick to our usual schedule of events. With school out of the way and events canceled, we are able to fit in fun activities after the chores are done. Having fun at the end of the day also helps with an easy bedtime and a good night’s sleep for everyone.

This cold spell is supposed to hang around for four days. Wish us luck!