Searching for the cabin fever cure

Rachel Brougham

4:29 a.m. AKST, January 24, 2013

I'm not the only parent who thinks it.

This time of year, after spending yet another Sunday stuck in the house because it's cold and blowing and icy and just not fun outside, I'm happy to come to work Monday morning.

Rachel Brougham
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Even Thom, 3, is over winter.

"I don't really like snow anymore," he told me the other day after he slipped and almost fell in our snow-covered driveway.

Then, once inside, it was, "But there's nothing to do."

We've been hit with cabin fever.

It's only January and we've seen our fair share of movies this winter. I'm the queen of Candy Land. We've built castles with Legos, forts with Lincoln Logs, constructed marble tower masterpieces and put hundreds of puzzle pieces together.

It's not that we don't like playing outside, but when the windchill dips below zero and the snow blows sideways forcing you to build a snowman with your eyes only half open, you can only handle so much.

Spring, please hurry. We want sunshine, green grass and budding trees -- not gray skies, frozen toes and slippery walkways.

I recently turned to some local parents to see how they battle cabin fever. Here's what they had to say:

— "We usually play the Wii together, cuddle and watch a movie or bake."

— "The last snow day (the kids) made a puppet stage and five puppets out of things in the recycling bin. They used cereal boxes, a netted orange bag, Popsicle sticks, beads, glue, Duct tape, etc."

— "We put blankets over tables and pretend we are camping."

— "One year, my kids and I made a hexagon fort out of rolled up newspapers."

— "(My son) loves to paint and he loves glitter glue. We can whittle away the hours with a good 'crafternoon.'"

— "I let them fill the tub and do a doll wash! They have a blast."

— "Visit the library."

— "Have a mother-son dance party. We crank up the iTunes and dance around the living room -- great exercise and hilarious."

— "We 'camped' in the living room, had 'picnics' on a blanket on the floor, made s'mores over the wood stove, went swimming at the 'beach' (Charlevoix Area Community Pool)."

Taking some of these ideas to heart, this past weekend I baked vegan peanut butter cookies (which are now gone), made a fort out of blankets (immediately knocked down by the klutzy dog) and failed at a craft project (any tips on removing Super Glue from your hands 5 days later?).

I'm OK admitting that we just aren't inside people.

The official start of spring is March 20. That's 55 days away. Yes, I'm counting.

Rachel Brougham writes about a number of subjects in this column which appears each Thursday. It will be easier to write come spring, when her fingers finally thaw out. Email her at rbrougham@petoskeynews.com.

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