Having grown up in Michigan and Illinois, I am sure that once January and February rolled around, my poor parents had to hear “I’m bored” at least half a dozen times a day. Raising my son in Florida did not give way to those words for the same reason that I uttered them. However, we were transplanted to Minnesota this past summer.
As a single parent, the amount of time that I get to spend with my child is severely limited. Yet, the last thing I wanted to hear this winter were those dreaded words: “I’m bored.” Knowing full well that this stands to be one of the most difficult winters that my little family has ever weathered, I set about making certain I had some “cabin fever” essentials.
A favorite way for us to spend an evening at home is pop some popcorn – I do it the old-fashioned way on the stove, light a fire in the fireplace, and watch a movie. It’s a good standby for boredom, especially when he gets to pick the movie. That being said, you can only watch “Spy Kids” I, II, and III so many times before it’s just time to find something else to do.
While I’m not a great board game player, I do acknowledge the benefit of them and the purpose to playing them on occasion. Chess, Monopoly, Life, Risk and Statego are by far the most challenging for me to play. I can handle Scrabble, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry, Checkers and Candyland.
Card games are a different story altogether. Hand and Foot, Uno, War, Ah Shucks, Skipbo, Phase 10, Rook, and the list goes on, are all games that I truly enjoy playing. The nice thing about some of these games is that they take a long time.
The other thing that I’ve done is to make certain that I have lots of food staples in the house. As long as the weather doesn’t knock out the power, cooking and baking is always a great way to break up the monotony of being stuck in the house for extended periods of time. This also gives parents an opportunity to spend some quality time with their children.
The winter can seem long especially when you’re stuck or stranded in the house due to a storm. However, there are a lot of things that you can do to pass the time and occupy yourself. All you need is some basic items and a little bit of creativity, and you’ve got the makings of a great snow day!
