Are you sick of winter yet?
I am.
The crazy cold temperatures and ridiculous amounts of snow on the ground coupled with the screaming and yelling that ensues every time my daughter so much as catches a glimpse of her snowsuit (and boots and mitts and hat) is just starting to get to me, you know?
And while I think I did a pretty good job of keeping the winter blues at bay in December and January, I’m finding February to be particularly tough.
But I am determined not to let a little snow and cold weather get me down, so I have been revisiting my strategies for surviving winter, and I’ve come to realize it all really comes down to 5 basic things…
1. GET PLENTY OF EXERCISE
I don’t think it’s a secret that regular exercise goes a long way in reducing stress and combatting depression, but when the weather is cold and dreary I find it really difficult to find the energy to remove myself from the couch and actually go to the gym. But you know what? I always feel better after a good workout. Not only does it help me sleep better (which in turn helps me be a more patient mother), but it also makes me feel good about myself. So I try to schedule some time at the gym at least 4 times a week, and if the snow prevents me from leaving the house, I put some of these at-home workouts to use.
2. PLAN LOTS OF ACTIVITIES
One of the hardest parts of winter, for me anyway, is finding ways to keep my 3-year-old busy. She’s pretty content to stick around the house and play with her toys, but even she has her limits when it comes to Peppa Pig and Doc McStuffins. So I make sure to always have something exciting planned for the 2 of us. We might have a picnic lunch on the living room floor after preschool, do a couple of our favorite science experiments, test out some of the crafts I’m always pinning on Pinterest, go to Starbucks for a snack, take an impromptu ride on the subway, or have a dance party. Whatever it is, I try to make it as fun as possible because nothing puts me in a good mood quite like the sound of my daughter laughing.
3. GET SOME SUNLIGHT
For most of my adult life I have spent as little time outside as possible during the winter months, but once I became a mom, I realized that this was not a very good tactic in helping me survive the winter months with a rambunctious toddler. So after purchasing the right winter gear, I try to get the 2 of us outside for at least a short time each day so that we can get some fresh air and a little sunlight, and I am amazed at what a difference in makes in both of our moods. I guess there really is a link between sunlight and depression!
4. KEEP YOUR FRIDGE STOCKED WITH WINE
Given the name of my blog, I guess it’s no secret that I like wine, and while I don’t spend my afternoons sipping chardonnay like many of my mom friends do, I really enjoy a glass of white at the end of a long day. It just helps make The Trying Threes a little more bearable, you know?
5. BOOK A TRIP TO SPAIN
When I’m feeling particularly down in the dumps, one thing that cheers me up more than a slice of cake or a jar of Nutella is to look for different vacation destinations. My husband and I did a lot of traveling when we were first married, and haven’t really ventured outside of North America since becoming parents, but now that the 2 of them are more comfortable spending extended periods of time together without me around, I think it’s completely acceptable for me to book a girls’ trip away.
Don’t you?
So whenever I see snow in the forecast, I hop onto the computer and start looking for places that would be suitable for my girlfriends and me, and I am currently crushing on the idea of a trip to Spain. And after spending some time on the Wine Tourism Spain website and reading up on the Ribera del Duero wine tour that runs from the Ribera del Duero wine region, my girlfriends are totally onboard.
Ribera del Duero is only about an hour and a half from Madrid, which would be a fantastic little side trip for us if we were visiting Spain. It’s name comes from the Duero river, which was a natural border for centuries, and the winery is surrounded by castles and monasteries which would make for a very beautiful and picturesque trip with the girls.
Sigh.
I wish I could go tomorrow!
But for now, I will just have to settle for daydreaming about contacting Make Spain so I can book our trip while simultaneously shovelling snow.
If you’d like more information on booking a trip to Spain, you can check out Spain’s official tourism site HERE.
Have you ever been to Spain? And how do you survive winter as a mom?
This is a sponsored post. All opinions, including my love for wine and desire to visit Spain and all of it’s wineries, are my own.
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