Winter with little kids is just a bit shit..

[blernam]

..or is it just me?
Following the shitness of lock down and the past summer where we used up every winter activity as all it did was bloody rain I'm finding winter a bit hard tbh.
We do get outside whenever possible but I hate wind and rain and we have done every activity to death (library, trampolines, soft play, museum etc etc). I also have two days off a week and sometimes feel like I'm filling time until DS 4 goes to school.
We do down time in the house (play dough, reading, baking etc), but fuck am I bored of it and I'm sometimes envious of child free friends who can just do a bit of DIY and veg out with a film of a weekend.
Try to avoid too much tv, get the balance between independent play and engaging parenting. Do some local classes but not too many. Fuck me, my head explodes.
I also WFH which doesn't help.

Generally I find Feb half term is the worst school holiday of all. We usually go swimming a lot.

Yeah it's grim. I remember ds used to get a hacking cough for weeks at a time in the winter so I used to avoid swimming on the principle of him not being naked, wet and cold more than I could help.

It was actually quite good in a way that he had a January birthday so at least there was a party.

If I put ds in front of Lego or colouring and sat there, a) he lasted about 2 minutes 10 minutes max on his own, plus just sitting down meant I would fall asleep back then. I also don't agree with TV as background noise as I'm a speech therapist.

We did a lot of sliding downstairs on cushions/duvets (ruinous), can you get round the room without touching the floor, building constructions out of string and small furniture, sending postcards to elderly relatives followed by a trip to the postbox, and a bit desperately begging to visit other families.

It's horrible and so long since we had a decent summer (I'm not counting the short crazy heat wave a couple of years ago). We need a prolonged period of warm, dry weather now.

Yes its shit.. then the kids finally get to school age and all you get is coughing/sneezing/puking all winter 🙄 I'm counting down the days until spring

@Jingleballs2
Oh god no? Even after all the nursery germs? We were planning on going abroad for feb half term next year but all the school bugs make me a bit reluctant to spend a fortune if then someone's ill.
DH brings home his fair share from school but is never sick, just passes to me. Plus nursery germs on top.

Yes!! DS went to nursery so I assumed he would have a decent immune system by then, but noo.. they seem to have an even even bigger variety of germs 🙄 Another reason why I find winter shit, I refuse to go on holiday between November and March now after the disasters we've had

We find repurposing and tweaking teenager team building activities to be age appropriate help when it's utterly rubbish outside and I'm out of ideas. (Was a youth worker for a bit so a few idea jumped out at me).

Sofa Cushions on the floor for jumping
The floor is lava

Rope across two chairs to put pegs on (wherever, then colour coded)

Make "string mazes" from string wrapped around the hallway spindles and taped for agility and to give me 20 mins.

Make tunnels out of sheets and dining chairs.

I struggle with the amount of energy they have so found new things helpful and doing something a bit different to just the same colouring/games/toys reinvigorates indoors a bit.

Still lots of clear up but some peace here n there as they're happier to be in the house.

I couldn't have given a shit about the weather before having a child. Now that I've a toddler I long for spring to come. We've had nothing but rain for weeks on end. Had our first properly mild dry day yesterday and it did wonders for my mood. The change in my disposition was physical.

Being out in the sun with kids is so much easier than trying to pass endless rainy days. As long as it's dry we are out. My god I miss the warm sun.

Yes we do puddle suits and wellies 😒

My 2 year old doesn’t go to nursery but we go to toddler groups/classes every week day. We have 2 classes/groups on Tuesdays and Fridays and 1 on Thursdays. Mondays and Wednesdays both have 1 booked class and 1 optional play group that we go to. This (plus travel time) keeps us busy Monday-Friday but weekends and holidays can be challenging!! I’m the type of person that can’t just stay in so I’m always looking for something for us to do but there’s not usually much on (especially on Sundays) and soft plays get far too busy on weekends!!

Are you in the UK? Lockdown ended nearly 3 years ago, how can things have been shit for you this whole time?

(Totally agree about last summer though - compete washout!)

Yanbu. Mine is nearly 11 now and I get bored when she is talking to her friends for hours on the phone and playing roblox but as least I can have some me time with my book.

@Usernamen
Yes, I said I'm in Somerset.
No it's not been shit since then. My point was WINTER is shit, which feels slightly exacerbated after a year of lockdown having to think of endless activities to entertain a young kid. Plus last summer.
It would seem I'm not the only one that thinks this..

I was lucky when my lot were small because I had lots of friends with similar aged children. We basically took it in turns to entertain so other mums could get a day off .Its absolutely mind numbing otherwise. Hats off to everyone who is still sane after this half term .

I remember how tough jt was very vividly.

I must have looked like I’d lost the plot when I used to have ds2 in the pram and me and ds1 (about 3) head to toe in waterproof and wellies. Ds1 loved being out whatever the weather. I often used to take him out on his bike to the park which is about 10 minutes walk away. It wasn’t unheard of that he was too tired to ride back so I had a bit of rope that I used to pull him home with!

Then a long, warm bath with a bath bomb, bath flutes, bath crayons etc

We also had a small 2 man tent that he’d play with in the garden - again whatever the weather! A warm coat and hat and a thick blanket to sit on and he’d often go out for his picnic style lunch!

Dens in the living room or dining room were a bit tame for him but I sometimes got away with it for his lunch!

This is the worst school holiday by far. But it really won't be long now until we start getting warmer days. There were a couple of days this week that it was warm enough for mine to play in the woods without a coat and it's so much nicer.

Half term in bad weather is awful.

Everywhere is packed and expensive.

The season is always hardest to bear near the end.

A lot of us love Autumn and the first frosty morning, the first snow but yes by now we are all sick of the rain, gloomy skies and need our vitamin D fix

It's a normal reaction this time of year.

I personally long for the feel of warmth on my skin and the feeling of standing on warm stone flagstones or crisp grass. Reading (and falling asleep) in my conservatory, gardening (a little bit)

Again all normal and we're nearly there...

We'll be complaining about the heatwave and global warming before long!

It is more than a bit shit this year. It’s the constant rain and mud
mine just want to be outside all day and every time we come in for a snack or lunch it’s dry joggers, coat, socks and wellies. I have literally got a laundry mountain

Oh it’s just CRAP isn’t it. I swear the people wanting to cut the summer holidays and add a week to Oct and Fed half terms have either never had small children, or have had endless money to spend on soft play etc.

We both work full time and so swimming lessons, parties, play dates etc keep us busy on rainy weekends but I’m a teacher and the rain this week has been hard. DDs are 2.5 and just turned 5 so ok at playing together at home while I supervise, but a full day at home would be way too much. We’ve done soft play, role play, play dates at friends/having friends round on repeat.

Bring on dry weather and gardens/parks/play areas that aren’t flooded!

Do it. We're in the canaries at the moment. It's bloody amazing (but not looking forward to getting home tomorrow 😭).

Genius. I've just accepted that both of ours will be full of mud at any given moment between September and May.

Agree, I'm desperate for the park to be in a fit state to use. February half term can be exhausting and expensive when you've got small children.

YANBU I have 4 year old DD and 10 month old DS. Holy moly this half term has been hard. The local library just down the road is a godsend, nobody uses it other than us so even at half term it’s a massive room full of books and toys I can let them loose in.

Yanbu we have left the house 4 times today, have 4 activities planned tomorrow. I'm at work until Thursday when we are risking it and only have 3 things planned.

Some of these are small e.g. we went out to buy broccoli, but the time taken to get everyone dressed and out, then undressed and back in, is usually enough for them to forget what they're arguing about.

Our DC is 2 and omggg winter is SO boring. I spend an embarrassing amount of time on my laptop/phone at home, which can't be a good example to set.. however DC seems to have developed v good imaginary play skills, possibly from us ignoring him a bit..!