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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

6 months of shite weather

310 replies

SomeoneStolemySocks · 04/10/2020 17:03

No toddler groups............can't go to the park because the ground is always soaking wet/play equipment waterlogged. Can't afford softplay every week. One of my sons is nearly 2 and I have no idea what I'm going to do with him until the sun shows it's face again next year.

I'm feeling low about the onset of autumn/winter. Trying to entertain a very active little boy at home for 6 months of cold/dark and horrible autumn rain.

Anyone else in the same boat? Ideas?

I realize with hindsight how lucky I was to be able to take my first son to a local toddler group on a Tues morning. It only cost £1 entry, & he loved playing with different toys. Those groups were great, such a shame Covid has finished them off (near me anyway)

OP posts:

WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo · 04/10/2020 18:33

Autumn is the best season. It's up to you to make the most of it.

Yes, it has been wet and not much fun the last couple of days but that will pass. It's been lovely here today. Blue skies, sunshine and crunchy leaves to walk through.

Honestly it's up to us as parents to build resilience in our kids so dress for the weather you have and find a way to get out

cardibach · 04/10/2020 18:33

@letsgomaths

There's no bad weather, only bad clothing.

And we have had a pretty good summer, weather-wise. Even August was lovely.

The no bad weather thing is rubbish. I have great set/cold weather clothing. Going for a walk with the rain blowing horizontal into your face like tiny knives is just not fun. Drizzle, light rain - fine. Driving rain - nope.

AuntieLydia · 04/10/2020 18:33

We might still have some warm sunny weather, we've had Indian summers in October before.
And there could be sparkly sunny frosty days to look forwards to.
Rain for 3 days doesn't mean it'll carry on for 6 months.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 04/10/2020 18:34

Getting wet or being outdoors in cold weather has nothing to do with catching colds. You catch those from other people.

You need proper warm waterproof gear then kids couldnt care less even if it is driving rain!

YukoandHiro · 04/10/2020 18:35

I hear you. We live in a flat with no garden. I have a 3yo and am due to my second child next week. I'm dreading it. 3yo goes to nursery three days a week, but the only thing that kept me sane through my last maternity leave was getting out to groups and activities every day. Of course it was mostly for me - baby sensory isn't exactly essential - but I just can't imagine being stuck in for the next six months or more.
So depressing. Let's hope something changes.

Pinkshrimp · 04/10/2020 18:36

@EvilPea

Thermals, Wet jumpsuits and wellies. Your toddler will have the best time. Short bursts are fun, and plastic bags kept in the car to strip straight into. Stop off for the occasional hot chocolate.

They were our best days

Ours too. Flasks of soup and sandwiches on our picnic mid walk. Lots of jumping in puddles, making mud and stick pictures on the ground, our cheeks rosy & seeing our breath in the cold with rain dripping off our hoods-happy days.

coffeelover3 · 04/10/2020 18:36

I think what the OP is saying is that it's bloody lonely entertaining a toddler. The 'fun in the rain' comes when you're with another mum and her kids, or have a few kids with you, IMO. You have my sympathy OP, I used find it hard spending a lot of time with my dd and just me. It got easier as she got older and had friends over to play, and we did afternoons or mornings in other houses, or met a friend for a coffee (she was good at 'going for coffee' - not so much my ds!) but even when he was small I used to meet at soft play or library just to talk to some adults in the same situation. It is daunting :)

81Byerley · 04/10/2020 18:38

Wellies and wet weather gear are your friends. The best fun I ever had with two of my grandchildren was stamping in muddy puddles. We were all filthy but we and our clothes were easily washed.
I think the problem is that toddler groups, soft play , etc., have become the normal way of entertaining children. So it's hard for mums now that these things are being affected by Covid, My youngest child is 43 now. If this had happened when she was a baby, we wouldn't have been affected so much, as those things were not actually available for me to use. I feel for you though. I hope you get some ideas for ways to entertain your children.

Movinghouseatlast · 04/10/2020 18:38

It's not 6 months though. Remember last year? February was sunny, March and April were actually warm.

vanillandhoney · 04/10/2020 18:39

A lot of it is mindset related.

I walk all day in all weathers, and a good set of waterproofs and a pair of wellies means I never come home wet. I add a baseball cap under my hood if it's really bad and that keeps the rain off my face. Thin waterproof gloves for your hands if necessary.

It doesn't have to be expensive either. My £20 Regatta overtrousers are fantastic and have never failed me yet, and my wellies were £6 from ASDA. You could ask on your local Facebook groups for puddle suits for the kids. Puddle jumping, pooh sticks, building "shelters" up in the woods, digging for worms, looking for bugs - all free and great fun for kids.

Yes, you get muddy but that's what washing machines are for!

gluteustothemaximus · 04/10/2020 18:40

Some people hate the rain. In the same way some people hate the heatwaves. Equally some love the heat, and love the rain (as you can see by this thread).

If you hate the cold wet damp weather, it isn't about mindset, any more than hating the heatwaves are.

cardibach · 04/10/2020 18:40

It’s often much longer than that though. Often doesn’t get warm until late May. And all the crisp day/rosy cheek/jump in puddles brigade are romanticising the reality of a British winter.

vanillandhoney · 04/10/2020 18:41

Going for a walk with the rain blowing horizontal into your face like tiny knives is just not fun.

You just need to adjust where you go. I walk dogs and go up to the woods when the weather is shocking. You get lots of shelter and a break from the wind as well. Baseball caps under peaked hoods help to keep the rain off your face as well.

Hokeywokey · 04/10/2020 18:42

@Michaelbaubles

Parks in the rain are SHIT. Waterproofs or not. All the equipment is wet, they can’t go down the slides, you can’t sit on a bench, you can’t put stuff down anywhere and it just feels so punitive and crap. Horrible as soft okay is, at least it’s dry, warm, and you can sit down and get coffee and food, not spend all your time jollying a toddler along while the wind drives rain into your face. They might well enjoy it, for about five minutes, but that’s after 20 minutes bundling then into layers they don’t want to wear, trudging along head-down to get there, and then trudging back and stripping everyone and then having damp clothes all over the house for ages.

I don’t know who all these people are whose children just adore going out in the rain because when it rains here the streets, parks and woods are deserted and everyone’s inside letting their kids watch telly like normal people.

Our local park is deserted when it's raining. I've never seen hordes of toddlers and jolly mums splashing in puddles.

silverbubbles · 04/10/2020 18:44

You need to find some joy in the autumnal / winter weather and you have been given lots of ideas. If you are just waiting for the summer sun then you are onto a loser.

Hokeywokey · 04/10/2020 18:44

How on earth can you have a picnic in the pouring rain?

ChrisPrattsFace · 04/10/2020 18:45

We’ve been out hiking in the rain with our 13m old.
No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Wrap up warm and make your own entertainment.

gluteustothemaximus · 04/10/2020 18:45

Our local park is deserted when it's raining. I've never seen hordes of toddlers and jolly mums splashing in puddles.

Clearly we're all missing out on the puddle jumping fun.

Intelinside57 · 04/10/2020 18:47

Where do you live Op?

Macncheeseballs · 04/10/2020 18:47

I love autumn winter with kids, on my own or not

PlonkItDownNOW · 04/10/2020 18:50

I have the opposite. Absolutely love it when winter rocks around. Feel significantly depressed when it warms up.

Michaelbaubles · 04/10/2020 18:50

@Hokeywokey How on earth can you have a picnic in the pouring rain?

I can just picture everyone grimly ploughing through wet sandwiches and trying to stop their crisps blowing away while enviously eyeing up people in nice warm cafes! A picnic in the rain sounds seriously crap. I’m not a whinger and we do go out in all weathers but, I’ll be perfectly honest, some of those times fucking suck and we’re all much happier when we get home.

jessstan1 · 04/10/2020 18:50

Well, we had boiling hot weather for ages, it's only just turned wet for the last three days. I don't know where you got the 'six months shiite weather', summer was glorious, so was a lot of September. Apparently it is going to be sunny some days next week too.

I quite like rain but it has been a bit heavy for a couple of days.

It's October, what do you expect? Btw, you do not get colds from rain and it isn't particularly cold.

weepingwillow22 · 04/10/2020 18:51

I want to know what you do with a pre walker in the rain. My 11 month old is crawling and cruising and does not like buggy walks but is not quite ready for wellies and puddle jumping.

PickAChew · 04/10/2020 18:52

@nosswith

The bit I don't like about winter is early darkness. Clocks would be on BST all year around if it was my choice.

Then up north it wouldn't be light until almost 10am and still dark before 5, in December.

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