My Winter Survival Guide for Parents

As a mother of five children who lives in Northern Idaho where it snows a ton, I know how tough winter can be when it comes to parenting. So, I've gathered together a few of my survival tips for wintertime parenting to share with you.

Avoiding Cold and Flu

Fall and winter are also known as cold and flu season for a reason, kids pass the cold and flu around like crazy so you are going to want to do everything you can to prevent your children from getting it. The best thing you can do is to stock up on vitamins and have your children take them. Taking vitamins really helps the immune system fight off the cold and flu. If you can afford it Emergen-C and Airborne are great for super doses of vitamins.

Teaching your children to cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing and making sure to wash their hands is also key to avoid getting sick.

Disinfect your doorknobs, cabinet handles, sink handles, toilet handles and other such things daily. I use Lysol or bleach water for this. It really helps.

In the end, sometimes the still get sick, so make a list of what you want to stock up on in your medicine cabinet and fill it up. Nothing sucks more than having to go and get a bottle of cold medicine in the middle of the night.

I normally get Tylenol and Ibuprofen both because you can switch off and take them before the next recommended dose is due. Ask your doctor about that before doing it though. I also make sure to get cough and cold syrup and I get the generic because it works just as well and is cheaper. Other great items for the medicine cabinet are throat lozenges, Vick's vapor rub, and that nasty throat spray for sore throats.

Fighting Boredom

All right, we all know that our kids get all hyped up and crazy when they are cooped up inside too long. This drives them crazy and in turn drives the parent crazy. Well, I just make sure they have coats, hats, heavy gloves and a snow suit and send them on out! Most days, kids don't care if it's cold out there because they are running around. We just don't want them to go out because they might get sick, well…they are just as prone to getting sick going to school, so let them play.

I also make sure to stock up on color books, reading books, crayons, pencils, markers, paper, construction paper and other fun items. Put a box together and get it out when they start acting restless. It might be messy, but it's better than sitting them in front of the television.

Cutting Out the Holiday "I Wants"

The holidays are the one time of year when the "I want that" coming from my children drives me insane. What I do is have my kids make lists of what they want. They can keep the list handy and add to it as they please. If they are watching a commercial and see something they like, I just say "Go put it on your list."

On topic of the holidays, it's also helpful to make a point to schedule special events like tree lighting ceremonies, parades, and Santa trips. Going places helps kids not feel so isolated from being inside all the time.