S.N.O.W.: Strategies for Staying Sane During Winter

Sometimes, maintaining sanity
requires doing something crazy.

We opened the blinds to see what the morning held. Snow was falling for third time in a week. Of course, snow was better than cold. One week we didn’t leave the house for five days. We didn’t even go to the garbage can, but left the bags of trash to freeze in the garage. On day six, the danger of instant frostbite passed so I bundled up to venture out for groceries. It had warmed up to -4* F.

Does it sound crazy to you to live in a place where this is typical of winter? It sounds crazy to me. Why do we live here? I ask myself. Of course, I know why: family, grandparents, cousins, nannies, friends, church, etc. We settle for winter because we love our community. Still, when the temperature plummets or another storm delivers two more inches of slush on the roads, it takes more than the love of relatives to keep from being buried alive by winter blues. Maintaining even a semblance of cheerful sanity takes intentionality and creativity—strategy. It takes S.N.O.W. 

S—Study: Not classroom work, but delight-filled learning. When you hear winter moans begin, ask: “Why did God make winter?” Then gather your kids, pull out your computer and your library card and search for answers. What makes winter important? How does it work? Look for God’s wise design in winter. “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 111:2-3).

• Watch a video clip about how snowflakes form. Cut out your own snowflakes.
• Read a book about animals inhabiting earth’s polar regions. How are they uniquely designed?
• Examine the frost on your windows. Can you replicate it?
• Learn about the people who live inside the Arctic Circle. How do they survive?

One of our favorite cold snap activities is to watch “Frozen Planet.” Though not presented from a Christian perspective, the science shows forth the intricate design and care of God over His creatures (including people!) living in coldest climates.

How does frost form in such delicate patterns?

N—Nest: We have an extended forecast available to warn us of foul weather. Mamas, we must take a lesson from the ants: “Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:7-8). Contentedness in the winter is possible, but it takes forethought. We need to be like the virtuous woman: “She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet” (Proverbs 31:21). Make home ready to be a place of contented play and rest.

• Prep your pantry with ingredients for special projects and warm your home with cooking. Gather up your family and together bake bread, make homemade pizza, simmer some soup, mix up some cookies, or try making candy.
• Select and gather supplies for a new skill you could learn as a family: candle-making, soap-making, sewing, knitting, carving, or building. Find new ways to use your hands and time.
• Stock up on craft supplies: paper, glue, tape, felt, yarn, and coloring/painting supplies. Give your kids cardboard boxes, cardboard tubes, and egg cartons specifically for creative purposes. If they run out of ideas, get some craft books from your library for them to look through.
• Check out books and audio books by the wagon load. Put piles of books next to sofas heaped with blankets. Find chapter books to read aloud together. If you can’t think of some good titles, ask other moms who you know to be readers for their favorite titles.
• Pull out board games and jigsaw puzzles. Set up a card table specifically for puzzling. Sit down with your kids for some relaxing fun.

My kids love to spend a cold winter day strewn around the living room with their sketchbooks or Legos or puzzles listening to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle or Winnie-the-Pooh.  Remember those five days of polar freeze when no one left our home? We survived on a full pantry, craft supplies, library books, and bed sheets turned into hammocks hung from the dining room table. Puzzles and Laura Ingalls Wilder books on audio CD got us through a month of snowstorms.

Just hanging in there in our hammocks....

O—Open your door...

…and let someone in! Why not ask someone else to come over and bounce off the walls with you? Time for messy house hospitality. After all, no mom really cares what your house looks like if it means an opportunity to leave her own. While the kids play together you can share laughs. “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad” (Proverbs 12:25). Winter doesn’t have to be lonely. Invite a friend in and dispel the stress with good words of truth and perspective.

…and go out! Not all cold is lethal. Make sure you have good outdoor gear ready for everyone, including yourself, and lead the charge to get outside. Find local nature parks that offer winter activities. Load up a backpack with snacks and hit the trail with some friends. Company and food lessen grumbling. Hang out it your yard. If it gets dark too early, bring out glow sticks. If the kids get too hot in their play, bring out popsicles. Shovel paths, construct forts, build snowman, dig tunnels, and throw snowballs. My boys love a snowball fight against mommy. Join the kids in their play, and teach them you never grow too old to delight in God’s work.

Sometimes the best cheering up is a friend
to venture through winter with you--
especially if they stop to count the passing train cars for you.

A sunny snowbank is the perfect place
to eat a popsicle.

 

W—Wonder. Orchestrate unique and beautiful encounters for your family with this winter God has made.

• Bundle up and take a moonlit hike in the woods.
• During a snowfall, try to catch falling snowflakes on a piece of black paper and look at their designs under a magnifying glass before they melt.
• Look out the window on a cloudless day and be dazzled by the brightness of the landscape.
• Take advantage of the early sunset to go out stargazing—even in your own yard.

As you look around you, meditate on the beauty of God in His creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

This too shall melt. Enjoy the beauty while it lasts.

 

Winter can be long and gray—but it doesn’t have to be endlessly dreary. Sanity isn’t to be found in the forecast, but in a steadfast trust in the sovereignty of our loving God. Hold tightly to His lordship, and then persevere in finding ways to delight in His work and provision. Study His creation and how it works. Nest ahead to prepare a cheerful home from which to face the season’s icy blasts. Open your door to the warm fellowship of friends—or, better yet, invite your friends to join you outside to enjoy the fresh air. Wonder at God’s handiwork, beauty, power, and mercy. Turn to Him in worship and trust Him for the grace to face one more winter day.