Summary: The kids are home for a snow day. Tackle a few home improvement projects together to keep them busy and lighten your load.
The news of a snow day elicits shrieks of joy from students while parents are left with the thankless job of coming up with a way to keep them busy all day. Rather than send them off to play put them to work doing fun home improvement jobs that will keep them out of trouble while shortening your to do list.
-Rearrange the family room furniture: Kids love to have a say in where things ought to go. Of all the family members it is usually the kids that use the family room most. The same old same old gets boring. Change things up a bit without spending a dime.
-Organize the media: DVDs, video games and CDs seem to multiply and miraculously get separated from their cases. Take time to go through the various disks deciding what to keep and what to sell or donate. As the kids get older some of their favorites are now not so cool.
-Clean out the refrigerator: Take everything out of the fridge and give it a good scrubbing. Kids like cleaning and are not as fearful of gross discoveries they might find. Throw away uneaten leftovers and anything past its expiration date. Wash plastic containers from throw-away yogurt or sour cream to use for craft project on another snow day.
-Give the dog a bubble bath: Its cold outside but inside it is warm and a bubble bath to pamper the family pet is in order. Use the best doggie shampoo you have and dont forget to scrub behind the ears. Blow Fido dry so he doesnt catch a chill and put on his favorite bandana.
-Decorate for the holidays: Get the kids to lug the holiday decorations up from the basement or garage. They love rediscovering the items seen once a year at Christmastime. Deck some halls and fa la la a bit to take your mind off the snowstorm outside.
-Organize sports equipment: Its too cold and snowy to play any sports so go through some of that junk and see if you can make some sense of it. Get rid of broken equipment or the stuff no one uses anymore. Check to see if baseball gloves still fit and if not, donate them.
-Decorate a wall: We tend to put kids art on the fridge. Class it up by letting them pick several of their favorite pieces and put them in frames. Hang them gallery style on a wall in the house where they are visible.
-Bake bread: Nothing compares to the smell of bread baking in the oven on a cold winters day. Use an old recipe or find a new one and teach the kids how to mix and knead to make homemade bread you can serve for lunch or dinner.
A snow day doesnt have to be a dull day. Doing things together makes household tasks more fun and most kids appreciate the time we spend with them more than anything else.
