Snow Days Survival Guide

It may seem strange to title a post filled with beach photos "Snow Day Survival Guide" but I assure you that during those long days, this was my happy place.  Since I've done a number of these snow-ins, I've developed a strategy for staying sane.  It all boils down to one thing:  get a plan.  Of course you should have all of your emergency preparations taken care of first.  But, if you end up not needing to take those measures, then you need to decide what you want to do with all that time at home.

Strange as it may seem, I find it harder to stay home when I'm surrounded by conveniences than when I'm not.  During our five days being snowed-in this year we did not lose power or water, and we had all the amenities including television, internet, and a fully stocked refrigerator.  And the days were endless and boring.  In the past when the electricity went out we had tasks to complete that made each day challenging and fulfilling.  There was snow to melt so we could flush toilets and wash dishes and maybe even get one person a shower per day.  There was food to prepare on cookstoves, and animals to care for and it was more worthwhile than all the sites on the internet or movies on tv.  

But, since we did have all these creature comforts, I decided to rest as much as possible.  Winter is the time when immune systems wane, so why not spend this time indoors doing a little self care.  First of all, I always do a thorough house cleaning before a major snowstorm so that should the electricity go out, we can sit in the comfort of a tidy home.  Then I do extra cooking so that we can reheat things instead of trying to cook from scratch on a camp stove or an outdoor fire.

Once those tasks were done and in order to keep from going stir crazy, I committed myself to doing some exercises everyday, including walking two miles on the treadmill.  I followed this with daily meditation while soaking in a mineral salt bath, complete with a conditioning mask on my hair and a clay mask on my face.  It's not always easy to get the quiet time alone to meditate but headphones help.  To top it all off, I also decided to make one exquisite meal per day and deal with excess pounds later if they should accumulate.

Finally, I focused on family time each day.  Whether it was a game or a movie or just dinner together.  My children are nearly grown and out time together is getting shorter, so I made sure to prioritize time with them each day.  And of course, we did go out together into the snow once.  I truly hate being in the snow, but as I mentioned the years are short, so I made an exception.  I won't say I didn't get a little cabin fever on days four and five and found myself fairly skipping to the car as I went back to work again, but I also won't say that being snowed in was awful--it wasn't.  It wasn't exciting.  It wasn't challenging.  It wasn't even terribly fun, but it was relaxing which is something we all needed just then, and I hope we made a few memories as a family in the process.