Conquer Cabin Fever!

It's hard enough to manage life with kids in a regular setting but when you're stuck in doors due to the cold and snow, things can get extra challenging. Even a large home can make for tight quarters when the whole family is trapped inside. To beat those winter blues and keep yourself out of the mental ward, you have to get creative. Taking a few minutes to plan out the days when you're homebound can be worth it's weight in gold. Check out these few tips to help make the winter days a little more bearable.

The first trick to help ward off the winter blues is to brighten your home by turning on all the lights. We need sunshine and when the sun doesn't provide it we have to create it ourselves. It's a simple and instant pick-me-up and well worth the extra pennies you'll pay in electricity. Turning on the lights and opening up the blinds can quickly brighten things up including your mood.

In addition to sunshine, we all need some physical activity. That can get difficult when you're indoors but there are activites that can release some energy and get your endorphines flowing which puts you in a better mood. Try renting an exercise video that you can workout to with your kids. Not only will you get in a great workout and burn some extra calories, but your children will burn some of their boundless energy making everyone feel a lot better! It doesn't even have to be an exercise video. You can create a basic exercise routine to do with your children and still reap the rewards. Jumping jacks, windmills, push ups, sit ups, and the good ole' fashion crab walk or wheel barrow are great ways to work your body and have fun at the same time.

Another idea is to start a book for each child with artwork, creative stories or poetry. Let each child create their own work and put it in book form for them to enjoy down the road. This could become a family tradition and each year you could all look back on the past years to see what was created. Your children, or you if they're too young, could also document major or special events that occurred in their lives that year. These "Beat the Winter Blues Books" could be wonderful treasures later in life.

Lastly, a way to freshen the mind and give you a new perspecitve on things is to rearrange the furniture. Sounds crazy but changing things up in your house and your kids' rooms can give you all a fresh outlook on things. It can also allow you to purge out any unwanted items in the process. Nothing wrong with a little decluttering to help cleanse the mind and lift spirits!

I'm hoping these few simple ideas will help banish the winter blues for y'all. Mixing these ideas in with your own survival techniques will help the cold winter month go by a little faster and with a little less stress!