A February Battle Cry from a Snowed-In Mom

Why is February the worst? For being the shortest month, it always seems like there is no end in sight.

• I mean, it feels like Groundhog Day was forever ago.
• Did Phil see the shadow or not? Who cares, winter is apparently here to stay.
• Did Valentine’s really happen? Or was that just a Vitamin D deprived myth?

Oh, and do not even come at me with a leap year, because seriously February you are just the worst.

My Beef with February

I have nothing against cupid, amethysts, or those fortunate to call themselves a Pisces or Aquarius. It is the dead of winter and cabin fever that makes me fear February. Before motherhood took hold, I think I kind of liked this month. Some of my favorite people are born in February, so I can own that it is not a complete disaster. However, as a Midwest mom, it is hard to get through the daze that is this cold prison.  

Outdoors is where I prefer to be. I also love sunshine. Neither is in high abundance during February. There are only so many Lego sets that can be built. The over-sized boxes from the holidays are great forts, but I am sick of them taking up hallway space. Yet, my will to recycle these boxes got lost with the warmth that was early October.

This month also brings out the germs and the hand sanitizer. It is actually a toss-up to which I detest more. Germs are gross, but hand sanitizer stings my already over-dried fingers and smells funny.

February, you got me beat.

I Need to Rally

For the sake of my household, I understand that I have to get my contempt for the second month of the year under control. I need to “Choose Happy,” so that is why on the most recent snow day I let the kids be outdoors a lot. And never once did I complain about dripping wet boots walking across the hardwood floors.  

I even joined in the outdoor fun and looked at scooping snow from the driveway as my exercise work-out for the day. This gal went old school with a shovel and made faces at the snow blower because it intimidates me too much. The strong smell of gas and the thought of spraying snow in the wrong direction causes me to keep my distance from this device. It is completely irrational, I know. But February is only 28 days (sometimes 29), yet never wants to end. Therefore there are plenty of irrational factors to go around right now.

Mother Nature did me a solid on our last snow day by making sure the sun was bright and shiny. It was not exactly an equal exchange for the 11.5 inches of snow this month. But I made my peace with it, while the kids begged our neighbor to spray them with snow from her snow blower.

February Support Group

Neighbors and friends have saved me from the depths of despair that is February. If my children are outside playing in the snow, then you can bet a few neighbors will join them to make tunnels and snow angels. There are safety in numbers during big snow events. Especially when those numbers need to face down frigid temperatures and my preschooler who needs to pee (but doesn’t want to come inside and take off his snow pants).

Throughout February, my mom friends have been insanely great about meeting at the library, the museum, the trampoline park, and anywhere that serves coffee. Many have even opened their homes to me and my caged monkey sons who are adorable, yet ornery when trapped inside together for too long.

Those 1-2 hours of socialization between fellow adults is priceless, plus my boys need to interact with children that are not blood related in order to retain some semblance of manners. We have not yet reached a status of needing to keep a log book of our winter journey, but there have been a lot of days filled with canceled events, raised voices, and time-outs.

Hello March, Are You There?

As the month comes to a close, I pray that March will be a fluffy lamb and April’s showers will only occur between the hours of 1 am-3 am. This thought is for the convenience of every spring soccer mom out there in the world.

Until March 1st, and beyond, I will plug along and try to keep my pouting to a minimum. Because the only thing worse than February, is a sulky mom in a hooded sweatshirt who refuses to utilize the snowblower.

It is time to woman up, play outside when possible, and find a retreat in making hot cocoa.

Stay strong everyone! How are you surviving February? Leave a comment and share your story.