The Worst Part of Winter

wifeofadam · December 2013

Getting out of the door.

Here's how leaving the house in the snow goes around here:

1 - Run out to the car, start it up, and get the windows defrosting.
2 - Come back inside and get four children into boots, hats, gloves, and coats.
3 - Listen to four children cry and whine about having to wear boots, hats, gloves, and coats.
4 - Open the door and listen to the three older children whine about being cold and wanting more boots, hats, gloves, and coats.
5 - Open and lock door behind me while carrying the baby and diaper bag, and while yelling at the older three not to run in the snow.
6 - Listen to the middle two whine about how their pants are now wet because they didn't listen to me and ran through the snow.
7 - Get everyone into the car.
8 - Buckle four kids into carseats safely, which involves removing some coats.
9 - Listen to half of the kids cry and whine because they are too cold and the other half cry and whine because they are too hot in their coats.
10 - Finish scraping the ice off of the windows that the car failed to defrost in time.
11 - Heave myself into the front seat, get halfway out of the driveway and then realize that I forgot something inside EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

And then we get to run to the store or do whatever and repeat this process a few times before we get back home.

At least I'm not pregnant this year too. I must remember to be more thankful come Spring when I can simply open the door and let my barefoot, half-naked children run to the car themselves. Ugh. It makes me never want to leave the house.

kelly321 · December 2013

You know what amazes me most about your routine? That your car windows haven't defrosted in that time. Because when I think about how long it takes me to get two kids out the door and then multiply that by the time it must take to get 4 kids out the door (I'm multiplying by a factor of about 4365, which is probably conservative), then I think you need to take your car to get fixed.

For us, it goes like this:
1. Make sure the girls are distracted (i.e. put in Finding Nemo DVD) while I get the diaper bag ready.
2. Run outside and pull the car out of our extremely narrow garage.
3. Get the stroller out of our garage (it can't go behind the car because the garage isn't long enough. Complicated.)
4. Run back inside, get the girls away from Nemo.
5. Put on DD2's scarf and warm little shoes.
6. Put on everything of DD1's except her shoes.
7. Put on everything of mine except my shoes.
8. Put on DD2's coat and hat, which always make her start screaming bloody murder.
9. Take both girls out into the breezeway.
10. Put on my shoes (5 seconds)
11. Put on DD1's shoes (5 minutes because she wants to try herself but can't do it yet) (DD2 is still screaming in the background)
12. Go out the door and put DD2 in the stroller (she stops screaming while I have her in my arms, starts again when I put her in the stroller)
13. Let DD1 try to get herself in the stroller until she gets stuck and starts screaming because her leg is bent in a strange position. Help her in the stroller.
14. Start moving (DD2 finally stops screaming again).

wifeofadam · December 2013

Our car was made in 1999 and I don't park in the garage, so sometimes there is a sheet of ice so thick on it that it would take forever to defrost with just the heat from the car. Yes, we need a new car. Preferrably one made in this millenium

tamarar5 · December 2013

My van is a 2002 and we have now rep placed the radiator 2x because it froze solid. Now we have a working radiator but almost no heat.

kelly321 · December 2013

One of ours is a '99, too

We use this thing that goes over the windshield so that frost can't build up on it overnight. But we rarely get deep frosts here.

wifeofadam · December 2013

kelly321 said:

One of ours is a '99, too We use this thing that goes over the windshield so that frost can't build up on it overnight. But we rarely get deep frosts here.

This is what I need. I also saw something on Pinterest about spraying it with vinegar. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow, although I'm hoping not to have to leave the house at all!

tamarar5 · December 2013

We have a garage but it's detached.

our out the door routine consists of me:

1. telling C to put on coat, snowpants, boots, hat, mittens.

2. tell C her boots are on the wrong feet and zip her coat.

3. Put fleece on E, find socks and robeez and hat.

4. Tell c to zip coat and not use her Teeth to put on her mittens (to which she proceeds to pull off said mittens again.)

5. Open garage door from inside the house.

6. Tell c to put dogs in the house, where she unzips coat and removes mittens AGAIN.

7. Find my coat tell c to zip up or I'll beat her (really wouldn't but like to threaten

)

8. Spend the next 15-20 minutes searching, emptying, packing and researching the diaper bag for my keys.

9. Find said keys: in the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, washing machine- any completely random place you can think of. Once last winter I found my keys in the mailbox.

10. Tell C if she doesn't zip her coat I'm leaving her behind.

11. Gather E, diaper bag, keys, and get out to the garage only to realize the door is still closed and I have to truck back up to the house, unlock the door, hit the remote again, lock the door and cart everything back down to the car.

wifeofadam · December 2013

Sagen said:

The day they reach that whole get themselves ready, out the door, and buckled up is an awesome day!

I am so looking forward to this. DS1 is 6 and can get his own shoes and coat on, but he has a hard time with his winter coat's zipper, so I still have to do that for him. He's the only one that can get himself in his seat. I have to do the other three myself, which requires climbing all the way into the back seat to buckle in the middle two. Once again, I'm thankful there isn't a pregnant belly in the way this year. Last year I would have contractions for hours after any outings because of this.

tamarar5 · December 2013

@+adamwife+

Unrelated to the winter part, but do you drive a van and how do you have car seats set up? If I have two rear facers in the middle bucket seats, no one can get into the back.

wifeofadam · December 2013

TamaraR4 said:

@+adamwife+ Unrelated to the winter part, but do you drive a van and how do you have car seats set up? If I have two rear facers in the middle bucket seats, no one can get into the back.

We have a Suburban. The two middle children are in the very back seat and the oldest and baby are in the middle. The Suburban is set up so there is a seat right behind the passenger seat that folds down so everyone can get in the back. We just keep it unfolded all the time for now.

We looked at vans, but since we don't know how many kids we're gong to have, we needed more seating. The Suburban seats six in the back, although I doubt the 14 year old vehicle will last long enough to fill it. lol

tamarar5 · December 2013

I want a Suburban so bad but dh only wants one if it's diesel. And we were down to one car, so it was crunch time and we got the van. Luckily we did because DH's car was stolen a few days later.

With three, would you put one of the rear facers in the back seat or put the one who can buckle herself?

wifeofadam · December 2013

Put the one who can buckle herself in the back, for sure!!!

The Suburban is a total gas hog. I went from driving a Honda Civic with three carseats int he back seat to the Suburban and we had to completely adjust our budget. I can't believe the difference in gas costs. But we had a friend who was getting rid of the Suburban and we got a good deal on it, so it seemed like a good fit for us. I love driving it and it really is roomy inside. I fear when it finally dies because I'm going to want another one and the newer ones are expensive.

We looked at vans, but the only ones we could find that would seat six in the back were Hondas and Toyotas, and even the used ones were more than we could afford.

tamarar5 · December 2013

I know what you mean about gas hogs. That's why dh wants the diesel. They aren't quite as bad but still pretty penny at the pump. I just really want the 4wheel drive back! My SUV was a 4x4, so I have to remind myself that the van isn't.

musicalmama5 · December 2013

Whew! All that talk makes me so glad I live down South!!

wifeofadam · December 2013

DC2London said:

Here's how it goes in my house:

1-Get everyone dressed and downstairs
2-inevitably realize that somehow, someone doesn't have socks. Go back upstairs to retrieve socks.
3-get shoes on everyone. Carry coats until such time as children are safely buckled in and can wear coats like blankets.
4-Open front door. Feel outside air.
5-Exclaim, "EFF THAT NOISE." Slam door closed.
6-Refuse to leave house in obscenely cold weather
7-Text husband announcing that DC is too cold and we need to move

Homeschooling comes in handy during the winter, doesn't it? No need to leave the house unless there is an emergency!

singingsea · December 2013

Aw man I feel like that and I only have one. I don't know how I'm going to handle getting two ready in the morning.

wifeofadam · December 2013

DC - That's always my response to my friends who are like, "I don't know how you do it! That must be so much work preparing lessons for the kids and having them home ALL DAY EVERY DAY with you! I could never do that!" I'm always like, "No way! You know what's work? Having to actually be somewhere every morning and packing lunches and scooping up four kids to rush them out the door at a certain time."

I'll just stay at home in my PJs with the fire lit and read my son's phonics lessons to him while we sip hot cocoa and stay warm. It's such hard work

Want a personalized experience?

The Worst Part of Winter

Re: The Worst Part of Winter

Choose Another Board

Search Boards