If you know me, you know that I am a summer girl. I am dreaming of flip flops, sundresses and my pool as I type this. I live in Buffalo, NY and we have a very long winter. This winter feels particularly long for some reason. On the one hand, I want time to go slow because my son goes away to college next year, and on the other hand, I can’t wait for spring! If you are feeling like winter is never ending – if you feel like you are so tired of the cold and snow – I am hoping that I can be helpful. I am going to tell you how I cope with the winter, and then I am going to give some general tips and tricks to help you cope with the long winter.
What am I doing to cope with winter?
Get Cozy!
As I am typing this, I am under a blanket on my couch. Getting cozy on my couch with a blanket is one of my favorites in the cold winter. If I am not working, throw on a good movie or tv show or give me a good book and I am super happy. Add a cup of hot coffee and I am even happier. Find your cozy.
Enjoying my sauna!
We have a sauna in our basement that I have been greatly enjoying this winter. It is an easy one that you can order off Amazon. It’s not expensive and you simply climb in and sit in it. It is only for one person at a time, so we take turns. I would love to get a more expensive one that more than one person could fit in. This gives me alone time doing something beneficial for myself that also warms me up. It’s making me very happy this very cold winter.
Stay Active!
I have been staying active every day and I think that really helps my mood. I either walk outside or on my treadmill and I have been doing more weight training. Walking outside gets me fresh air even if it’s cold outside. I just bundle up. I don’t always last long if I am cold, but I think the fresh air and activity is so good for me. Ella and I just tried a yoga class. It’s a great time of year to try a new inside class. I also see people outside doing cross country skiing. I would love to do that.
Time in the kitchen cooking and baking!
I spend more time in the kitchen in the winter. I don’t mind being inside cooking my family a good dinner or baking us something. In the summer I feel like I want to be outside more and spend less time in the kitchen. In the winter I can embrace cooking us warm cozy dinners. In fact, I really need to make us some soup! My mom made beef stew the other day. It’s good weather for getting in the kitchen and making something healthy, warm and delicious. My kids seem to have zero interest lately, but a lot of you probably have kids who would love to help you cook or bake something. My girls are much more interested in baking cookies or brownies vs. dinner. Although I do love that I see them making themselves breakfast and lunch much more often. Cooking is therapeutic and the smells always make me happy too!
Reading lots of books!
I know I mentioned getting cozy and warm with a blanket and a book, but I want to talk a little bit more about reading because I love it so much! Go find yourself a good book, get comfy, and enjoy! It is one of my greatest coping strategies. I feel like it’s the ultimate mom time out. If you haven’t read the Fourth Wing series, now is the time. Then report back to me on your book report! If you have a good book recommendation, send it my way!
Refresh your Inside Space!
I did something very special for myself and my family this winter. I did a lot of work inside my home. My kids are 18, almost 16 and 12 years old. They don’t play with toys anymore. I cleared out all the toys from the playroom. I made us a relaxing, beautiful, peaceful, Zen room to hang out in. We had the kitchen, dining room, and Zen room painted in calm relaxing colors. We got a new couch. We moved things around. We made our space inside better. I don’t know a better time than the wintertime to make our inside space better. Changing your furniture around, buying a new cozy blanket, lighting some candles, repainting a room, getting around to hanging some pictures, are all ideas to help boost your mood while we spend so much time indoors. Refresh your space and then enjoy it.
Get Outside!
I know that it’s cold, but I still think that we all need the fresh air. I see a lot of families doing activities outside together such as skiing, sledding and ice skating. I can feel the mom guilt creeping in because I haven’t done any of these things with my kids this year. I hope that you have! If not, here is our gentle push to go do something outside with our family. My family went skiing every weekend growing up and it really helped us to enjoy the winter. I personally have been taking walks outside. Even if we go for a short stroll up the street, we are giving ourselves a little fresh air and activity. We don’t want to spend all our time on the couch.
Light Therapy!
Our electric bill wasn’t so pretty. I tend to turn on a lot of lights. The brighter the better for me. In fact, I know that people buy lights specifically for light therapy to help boost their mood in the winter. Buy yourself some pretty twinkle lights to hang. My daughter has them in her bedroom and they are so pretty. I want to put some on my bookshelf! I want you to enjoy your bright lights but watch your electric bill!
More general tips to help us cope with winter:
It’s the perfect time to buy yourself a journal and reflect. Writing is so good for us.
Take up a new inside hobby like puzzles or crocheting.
Have a board game night with your family. Better yet, invite some friends over which leads to:
Stay connected with your people! Connections always help to boost our moods. Hosting a game night or a movie night in the winter is perfect. It’s also a good time to join a book club which I did do!
Plan a winter adventure with your family! I see people camping and hiking this winter all over Facebook.
If you can, plan an escape to some warm weather. A warm vacation always helps to break up the winter!
Plan for spring. Is there a spring project that you want to work on outside? We need more rocks! My friend has begun plotting out her gardens for springtime. That will get you excited!
I truly hope that something that I wrote will be helpful to you if you are as ready as I am for winter to end. I know that winter is long and cold. I know that you may be feeling down. I want you to know that you are not alone. I have had so many people complain to me about the winter recently. That is where this topic came from. This is for all of you, and I also wrote this for myself. Spring will be here before we know it. I hope you can nurture yourself and find some joy in this time of year.
Laughing, Learning, Loving,
Rebecca Greene, LCSW-R
Check out my 
:
Whinypaluza Notes:
Whinypaluza Mom Group:
If you are looking for a supportive community, come join the free Whinypaluza Mom Facebook group. I created this as I wanted us to have a place where we can talk about tips, strengths and challenges we are having. It is another step I took to help everyone to know that you are not alone. The February Valentine challenge was a lot of fun! Come join us and bring a friend with you! I love to give away prizes. This group is private so please find me on Facebook at Whinypaluza or Rebecca Greene and message me to ask for an invite. I’m also on Instagram @becgreene5 and @whinypaluza_mom. I am also on Tik tok @whinypaluzamom.
The Whinypaluza Schedule:
Whinypaluza Wednesdays: My weekly blog comes out every Wednesday. I am always open to your topic requests. A new Vlog (video blog) also comes out every Wednesday night on Facebook and You Tube live at 8:00 PM Eastern time to discuss the blog. If you would rather listen to a podcast than watch a Vlog, you can wait for the following Wednesday and the Vlog is released on my Podcast.
Family Fridays: Every Friday morning a new Podcast is released. Most of my episodes on Fridays are me discussing parenting and marriage with experts on the topic. If you would rather watch the Podcast instead of listen, you can watch it on You Tube. If you would like to be on my Podcast or know someone who would like to please message me on Facebook or Instagram or at whinypaluzamom@gmail.com
I would so greatly appreciate it if you would subscribe, rate my Podcast and leave me a five-star review. This leads to it being shown to more people that we can help. I appreciate it when you share my blogs, vlogs and podcasts with a friend so that we can build our community and help people one mama at a time. Every time you like and/or comment on a post it helps and is so appreciated!
