Sunday, December 9, 2012
Getting Your Kids Ready to Play in the Snow- Avoiding Frustration
Rather than just referring to getting my own little son ready to play in the snow outside, I could have titled this post: Lessons Learned From Working in Childcare in the Winter. I worked my way through undergad schooling by working in a daycare center and was honored to be promoted to the role of assistant preschool teacher. I loved getting to work with kids in this way, and I feel like it has greatly influenced my parenting style to this day.
Whatever the actual role, my working with preschool and early elementary aged kids meant that about twice a day in the winter we would undergo the momentous task of 
taking around 20 kids to the playground, and first dressing them in 2 boots, 2 mittens, a hat, a coat and snowpants each. Suffice it to say, I have put a lot of mittens on a lot of hands before my own son ever came around. In my years at St. Michael Lutheran, my fellow teachers and I were able to come up with a pretty good system for efficiently getting everyone ready for playing in the snow, which I have now adapted for my own home. I know that a few of these ideas may be self- explanatory, but for those who may be venturing out with their kids in the snow for the first time, the process of getting ready can seem intimidating. It has been used for comedic purposes in countless shows and movies, typically with the child needing to pee the instant that they are fully dressed.
Whatever the actual role, my working with preschool and early elementary aged kids meant that about twice a day in the winter we would undergo the momentous task of
taking around 20 kids to the playground, and first dressing them in 2 boots, 2 mittens, a hat, a coat and snowpants each. Suffice it to say, I have put a lot of mittens on a lot of hands before my own son ever came around. In my years at St. Michael Lutheran, my fellow teachers and I were able to come up with a pretty good system for efficiently getting everyone ready for playing in the snow, which I have now adapted for my own home. I know that a few of these ideas may be self- explanatory, but for those who may be venturing out with their kids in the snow for the first time, the process of getting ready can seem intimidating. It has been used for comedic purposes in countless shows and movies, typically with the child needing to pee the instant that they are fully dressed.- First, and probably the most obvious is to send everyone to the bathroom. While this was going on we would have one person...
- Set all of the kids' clothes out around the room so that mittens and hats do not end up on the wrong hands. (An aside-- if you send your child to daycare PLEASE label everything clearly. It is nearly impossible for your child's teachers to tell one pair of black gloves from 10 others.) This is when I would typically put on my own snow-pants and boots, but nothing else since if I was fully dressed it was harder to move and I would end up sweaty before even entering the playground.
- Put on children's socks, snow-pants, boots and hats. Then I have would have most kids put on their mittens so that they would be inserting mittened hands into coat sleeves. This was a lot easier to do to get the mittens under the sleeve cuffs than putting them on later.
- Put on your coat and head outside.
A few extra tips-- we always leave a towel by the door we are re-entering from to wipe up the floor, and now that I am at home, I throw our snow stuff right into the dryer so that if we need to run to the store or on another trip outside nothing is soggy. I wish that I could have done this because it was so sad to send kids back outside with slightly damp mittens.
We also try to remember a small pack of tissues when we head out since snot and preschoolers in the winter often go hand in hand. Ew. I just realized how grossly true that last sentence was, although unintentionally.
When we return inside I immediately turn on the stove for the required cup of cocoa. Yum!
After being out in the wind and cold, your kids hands and cheeks will probably be in need of warming, but also be in need of some lotion to prevent drying and cracking. Unfortunately, dry skin is something that my family has to deal with even when not outside, so in the next few days I will be sharing a post with some of my favorite tips to keep your skin soft and comfortable even when you are exploring outside in the winter.
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