Can't handle another wet winter

[birdinhend]

I wfh part time.
Have spent the past few winters doing all the usual toddler groups and soft play..even though DS has just stated school I can't handle spending the weekend sat around the house as he's crap at independent play or doing the same treadmill of soft play and swimming etc and I've been in the house all week mostly asides the odd gym visit either working or doing housework. The weather forecast here is shocking for the next month.
Does everyone feel like this? I feel like I'm wishing time away for better weather or until he's older. We do the occasional play date but house isn't big enough or other people don't have only child so not as bothered.

Well, what's the alternative? Live somewhere dry?

My autistic ds HATES the rain with a passion. Will shake his tiny fist at the sky and scream his head off if he gets wet (sensory issues). No amount of fancy wet weather gear will tempt him out in a downpour.

Also, what is fun about freezing, sideways rain blasting you in the face? Muddy shoes and trousers, sweating under uncomfortable waterproofs, feeling hot, damp and cold all at the same time. I think the people that enjoy it are all sadists.

Complain bitterly until summer. Works for me.

There are no "haters" on here. A disagreement or a difference of opinion is not "hate".

Agree - we’re in Canada with snow for many months but we’re still outside most days. There’s no bad weather just bad clothing

😂

Anyway. The climate is getting wetter, so not much change any time soon.
I think the Atacama desert is quite dry. No McDonalds though.

@Parker231
Is it pouring with rain for weeks on end tho? With gale force winds.
Does anyone actually enjoy walking in the rain, where you get soaked and uncomfortable and can't see if you are completely blind like me and need glasses.

I'm in Sweden so also get snow from about October to March but I used to live in the UK and the rain is seriously depressing and oppressive. It's also much easier to have fun in the snow, sledding, skiing, iceskating etc. You come home cold but you won't be muddy and wet. Plus it's lighter outside when there is snow on the ground.

Snow and rain are two different beasts.
Ill take snow everyday but rain…..

Also the OP is ALREADY doing the ‘Going out in the rain’ to walk the dogs. Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t to do more of it!!

@birdinhend at that age, I did look for any activity that was indoors.
Very variable depending in where you live but museums can be a god send (we spent many days at our local one)
We also had some that were more science orientated.

Then things like skating worked well too. (Indoor) tennis when they were a tiny bit older etc….

I found 1~1.5 hours of proper running around made home much easier (less demanding of my time, less grumpy, less fighting)

Beach and barbeque in the winter, in the rain? Wouldn't be very enjoyable! Even woodland walks are no fun in the rain.

I don't subscribe to the 'no bad weather only bad clothes' mantra. As a pp has said, it's no fun walking about in soaking wet clothes, wet trousers, rain seeping down the back of your neck, clothes sticking to you, and sweating and uncomfortable. You're often trying to keep an umbrella from blowing inside out, trudging through mud and getting wet and messy trousers, having the wind blow in your face, and risking your phone or camera getting wrecked by the rain. No fun at all. I would rather stay in the house!

@birdinhend OP I agree. The miserable, long, wet winter last year did my head in. And the summer of 2024 didn't start til late July! Right now we are on the 5th day of chilly, wet, rainy, windy weather here where I live, and I am sick of it. Thunderstorms, driving rain, brisk winds, power cuts, and flooding! And it's only September! 😬

@birdinhend sounds like you're not far from me - but I'm in semi-rural Somerset near the Devon border (Taunton area) so we can get to Exeter easier than Bristol.
Do you have your own car/transport? It makes a real difference out this way - we're happy to drive an hour to get to the aquarium in Plymouth as you pay once & can get in free for the rest of the year. But appreciate COL is having a Messi e impact for everyone.
Could you look at getting an annual pass to somewhere local that has indoor & outdoor activities? We usually pick one per year & visit the hell out of it throughout the year.

We manage it. I’m in Scotland. If I didn’t go out in the rain I’d be a recluse! My grandchildren are in forest school. They are outdoors all year round. But I get it, now. This thread isn’t asking for solutions, just a whiny old moan session. Crack on! I’ll be over here making a den and toasting hot dogs.

And well done you.

But it doesn’t take a genius to understand not everyone is the same and it’s ok to enjoy INDOORS activities instead.
If you like the rain so be it. Don’t force others to enjoy the same things than you.

If you wanted to be helpful, you’d racked your brains to find indoors activities fir the OP instead.

Not sure where I forced anyone to do anything. 😏

And you can do anything indoors all year round. Weather makes no difference at all. Just a lack of imagination and a determination to hold a pity party.

I feel your pain

It's really bad, even on a fine day the swings, slides etc are wet because of the humidity!

OP, who walks your dog? Can you get the children involved in that?

Weather makes no difference at all.

^

Sure.

You can ski in 30 degree heat right?

Check the forecast, choose the brightest interval and walk round the block if it's a short one. Air and exercise even if it's a miserable ten minutes.

Nip out in the garden between showers.

If you have space and a bit of money/skills, make a little awning outside with a wood frame and corrugated plastic roof or similar. So you can play outside but not get wet. It's what nurseries and school reception playgrounds do.

If you are in Somerset are you anywhere near a town with a swimming pool? Street? Etc? They are usually toasty warm if not too hot so I’d go there let children go swimming have a hot chocolate.

And yes COL is crap…..I don’t have any money to do anything either so I’m usually at home doing nothing.

Christ some of the replies!
There's an Amber warning for rain and rain here, but I shall done my rain coat and enjoy it anyway with my lack of imagination and pity party 🙄
How do you cook hot dogs outdoor in gale force winds and rain..just for future reference?

It's not the small child, I wouldn't be able to cope with a dog in the rain. Don't they have to go out twice a day 😕?