Dark gloomy winter

iamawesome

Sun, Oct 27 2024, 5:28 pm

racheli3 wrote:

Please help me keep my spirits up now that cold and dark nights are upon us and we will be stuck inside as a family for long evenings in dark.

I’m with you! The dark and cold are not my thing… I find being stuck indoors super hard, and it’s hard on the kids too! Especially one of my boys who is a real sports outdoorsman type. He goes nuts when he comes home from school and it’s too dark and too cold to hang out outdoors…

Hello2u2 ↓

Sun, Oct 27 2024, 5:30 pm

im planning to do a sensory activity every day after school while kids listen to a cd (zing app, worth every penny)
clay, kinectic sand, find the pennies in the flour, chulent beans mix, pom poms and glue, pipe cleaners.....
and then bedtime can be prompt because its so dark
you can bake something
and go to sleep early!
yum!

zaq ↓

Sun, Oct 27 2024, 6:19 pm

Seasonal Affect Disorder, or SAD, is a real thing: depression caused by lack of exposure to daylight during the winter. It's treated with exposure to panels of bright lights during the day. You may not have clinical SAD, but the lack of light affects everyone. Combat it by getting as much natural daylight as you can, and supplement with bright artificial light . Open your shades as early in the day as possible, and go outdoors in the morning or midday for as long as you can, no matter how cold it is. Bundle up and you'll be fine.

Planning fun activities as a family is a great idea, but first you need to elevate your own mood. Hopefully your kids get recess outdoors so they can benefit from the daylight. And don't forget the effect of upbeat music. Choose the liveliest playlist you can assemble. Leave the slow, lyrical stuff for bedtime.

Tanya1234

Sun, Oct 27 2024, 6:40 pm

I love the weather in the winter. I hate that it gets dark so early. I live in Brooklyn and I don’t like to send out my kids, even my young teen when it’s dark. So the only time they can go is right after school. Also the rats situation is not fun at night either. But I love the short Fridays and long motzi shabbossim

cinnabon

Sun, Oct 27 2024, 7:21 pm

I love the long cozy Friday nights and Motzei shabbos!
Also in the winter we do a weekly game night (try to stick to same night a week) with fresh popcorn, warm cookies and tea.
I do miss the outdoors though. I’m a real beach girl and sometimes run off to the beach all bundled up when it’s not freezing outside

jmom18

Sun, Oct 27 2024, 8:06 pm

I literally suffer from winter depression. May be a contradiction, I like the structured and coziness but for some reason I’m not in great spirits and the dark cloud days get me down in the dumps.

Mommyflower

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 12:03 am

Make big pots of soup or chili and come up with fun toppings for them. Make indoor s’mores using a sheet pan of sandwiched Grahams, chocolate, and marshmallows. Do scavenger hunt in your home if the kids are getting antsy. Before Chanukah, announce a clean out and donation day. Put kids on teams while you supervise them each filling a large garbage bag of giveaways for donations and actual garbage for throw out. The team that finishes first gets to pick flavors for an ice cream party for all. Go to the library and get a stack of books. Parents can read out loud to kids for an hour before bedtime or listen to books on tape while everyone gets under warm blankets on couch. Bake cookies for Shabbos on Wednesday night before the oven is busy. Bake apples with a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon and serve warm. Make paper snowflakes to hang on your windows. See online instructions for how to fold and cut them.

Pink Flamingo

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 9:26 am

I love winter! I get depressed in the spring/summer
I love the long cozy nights and find I'm much more productive in winter. I also love the cold, it is so refreshing and energizing and I exercise a lot more outdoors.
Summer is boiling and humid and hot and smelly and exhausting and I spend my days and nights chasing kids around in 90 degree weather and accomplishing nothing.

Also shabbos in the winter is heaven while in summer it's pure torture

keym ↓

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 9:31 am

Everyone here is talking about cozy, getting your kids settled early and all
That is not at all my experience.

Maybe it's my boys and their ages.

But in the summer, they run and climb and dig. Even when they have school, recess is strenuous, after school they use up their energy.
At bedtime, I bathe them, and they're exhausted. They sleep well and solidly.

The winter, they have all this energy. Recess in the cold tends to be a bit of running around but also indoor board games.
At home, they just don't have the natural outlets. They nosh more. They're more sedentary - reading, crafts. But they also aren't tired, can't fall asleep and winter bedtimes are such a struggle.

Not to mention trying to get up and wake everyone up at 7am when its still dark outside

Chayalle

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 9:34 am

keym wrote:

I have always felt this way, and I have girls.

I find the need to take them out to something - like ice skating, a sports club, etc... - something active, in the winter, because they don't get enough exercise and stimulation.

My girls were petite, and a doctor told me that I would more likely get them growing if they are active. I found this to be true for them.

And coming home in the dark is so hard on teens.

↑ keym

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 9:40 am

Chayalle wrote:

My kids are little and come home in the dark.
8 year old dismisses at 4, gets home at 4:45- after sunset in the winter.
10 year old dismisses at 4:45. Gets home at 5:30. It's already dark in the winter.

And yeah, we do as much exercise as possible. As much outdoor play as they can tolerate until they're too cold
But I just don't experience winter as cozy and settled.

Winter to me means wild edgy boys without enough of an outlet to let out their energy. Bickering.

mha3484

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 10:22 am

I second Keym. My almost 8 yr old has a boat load of energy and the winter is HARD. I signed him up for indoor soccer at yeshiva last year but he hated the gym its too loud so there went that idea. He just wants to be outside. He and my 10 year old get dismissed at 3:45 and are home by 4 so its not really so dark but my 8th grader ends at 4:30. They do some really crazy things indoors and I look the other way and daven that no one needs stiches.

nightingale1

Mon, Oct 28 2024, 10:43 am

I’m so nervous. My kids are very little but they need the outdoors! My 3 year old has so much energy and we live in such a small apartment…I have about 5 hours from when he comes home from daycare till bedtime. Supper/bath is maybe one hour of those. What am I supposed to do with him for 4 hours?? He is a really difficult kid and the summer has been so great, we spent a lot of time outside and I got to have a social life with the neighbors too.