Moms Council Q&A: Dealing with Snow Days, Feb. 9

You may have noticed this week we've launched a lot of family-friendly content, with our , our  and (with more to come later this afternoon!)

Our cornerstone for all this family content is our Moms Council, made up of three Weston moms who are here for you, to answer questions you have about anything parenting-related.

If you have any questions you'd like our panel to answer, please send them tomeghan.kelly@patch.com. Questions can be about anything kid or parent related and all your information, including your name and your children's names, will be kept strictly confidential.

, and read their answers to this week's question:

How do you deal with snow days? 

Lisa: 

We've had more snow days this year than I can ever remember - and my oldest daughter is in fifth grade, so it's been many years.  When I hear that there is going to be a snow storm, I try to make sure I have some inside projects for the kids to do. So I'll make sure I have a cake or cookie mix on hand, so we can bake some treats.  Or I'll make sure I have a supply of Perler beads - this activity seems to totally entrance them and they will make figurines out of the beads for hours. Sometimes they will want to color too or play bananagrams.  We just got a Bingo game for the holidays, and that's another fun game for all of us to play.  

the last snow day, we watched, "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," which was fun for all of us to watch. The kids will also go outside, play in the snow (with our dog too) and make a snowman or a fort.  If the roads aren't too bad and the driving is safe, I'll try to coordinate a play date with a friend who lives close.

In terms of my work or other commitments, I will usually wait until the kids are fully involved with an activity or game, and then I will do what I need to do - get onto the computer, make phone calls, etc.  But generally, a snow day is the kind of day when our fast-paced crazy lives slow down a bit, and we are able to take time out to enjoy being together.

Erin: 

Dealing with the kids stuck indoors is certainly the biggest problem we face in our home, as my daughters are 2 and 4 and not always game to venture outside for any extended period of time. Additionally, the snow drifts in our yard are much taller than they are!

The biggest challenge that a snow day where we are stuck indoors presents is unstructured time, and lots of it. What I try to do is create a schedule for the day; albeit a loose one.  I’ll take stock of how hard it’s snowing, whether or not we can get outside for any length of time, what supplies we might have on hand for either a craft or a baking project (or both!) and if we are being completely honest, how much television time I’m willing to allow that day.

Here’s a general idea of how I might structure a snow day - we’ll take our time coming downstairs in the morning. We’ll have breakfast and plan the day together - what the girls don’t know is that I already have a plan in place - but giving them the sense that they are creating the schedule is key to their cooperation and actually sticking to it! My kids are at their cooperative best early in the day so after breakfast, I’ll let them have some unstructured time, playing in their bedroom or playroom together. When that devolves - as it always does! - we’ll come together and do an activity. That usually takes us to lunch time, and after lunch we are usually ready for something active.

I try to get us out for some play in the snow, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. The putting on and taking off of all the snow gear sometimes takes longer than the actual time spent outside! After that, I’ll let the girls relax with a movie and then in the late afternoon, we’ll do a baking project in the kitchen.  Really, the key is having a plan and keeping things moving all day long!

For the time being, I am fortunate to be a stay at home mom.  I do work part-time, teaching dance fitness classes but I teach in the early mornings before my girls are up for the day and in the evenings after my girls go to bed. And in the case of a snow day, my classes are generally canceled as well, so work-wise I’m lucky that snow days don’t present too much of a problem.  

Heather:

Living in New England, you come to expect your winters to be snowy and cold, so it seems somehow wrong to complain about them. After all, we all chose to live here. However, this winter has pushed even me, the girl who loves a great storm, the more snow the better, over the edge. With this winter, we have already had 5 snow days or early dismissals and we have barely dented February.  I am not sure about you, but my kids and I have had plenty of quality together time this winter.  So the question is, how do we keep the kids entertained during these impromptu “vacation days” from school and keep ourselves sane and on schedule?

In our house, we have one daughter in middle school who entertains herself just fine so for her, snow days are typically full of reading, finishing up homework assignments and chatting with her other homebound friends on the computer. My younger two are more of a challenge. My youngest daughter is perfectly content to play with her Barbie Dolls or Polly Pockets in her room for long stretches of time, at least until her older brother comes in with his Nerf machine gun to attack her Justin Beiber poster. So my dream of my children playing quietly in their rooms, as I go about my day doesn’t last very long! The minute the battle ensues between the kids I know it’s time for me to step in and come up with a game plan for the day. The first couple of snow days we were creative, making cookies, playing “school”, playing board games and making tents with the sofa cushions.

I will shamefully admit that I let my kids get “plugged in” during the last two snow days. We watched a movie, and made and ate cookies, but when I needed to get some work done – because I work from home, there are no “snow days” for me – I let them play on their Nintendo DSi game consoles for hours!  

Now we are emphasizing make believe games and using their imagination. My husband has been reading the Harry Potter Books to my son and we have watched each movie as they finish the book, so the kids have taken to playing Harry Potter using chopsticks as wands. It has been amazing to hear them role play as they race around the house.  (And yes, their running around with sharp pointy objects has been my new source of anxiety.) And the best part of it has been that I can get some work done, without the guilt that I am relying on the “electronic” babysitter.

So, when the next snow day arrives, and we know it will, my goal is to find a balance of activities so that the kids are entertained, and not sitting on the sofa with their electronics or the TV much of the time. Hopefully, we can play an imaginative game, read a book, build another sofa fort, and balance (I hesitate to use the word reward) that activity with some “earned” electronic time.   Wish me luck!!