Old man winter has been such a tease. No piles of snow with which to make snowmen. No snow angels. No sled riding. No, all the old man has left us mothers to work with is cold.

Honestly, this winter has kicked my mothering tail. I’m just slap out of ideas for entertaining the littles. All of the toys from Christmas have lost their shine. Blanket forts? Those are SO January. I have turned into a mother who says things like,”How about another cartoon, girls?” or “Do you want Mommy to download a new game to the iPod?” Pathetic, right? When the groundhog saw his shadow, I wanted to just curl up into a ball and cry. Six more weeks? Are you serious?!?

You can only get your kids to go to sleep with the promise of an overnight snow so many times before they just roll their eyes at you. The last time the weatherman insisted we “stock up for the coming snow storm,” my husband stopped at the store, picked up some M&Ms and soda and we considered ourselves prepared. The next morning, there was a slight (emphasis on slight) dusting on the ground. I hope everyone enjoyed all of that milk and bread they bought.

So, if you’re out there trying to think of ways to entertain your children that does not involve you getting out from under your blanket or putting down your coffee, I’m right there with you. I don’t have any ideas for you, unfortunately, but I feel your pain. Something that has worked for me is, “The next short person who comes upstairs is cleaning a toilet!” Feel free to use that. You don’t even have to credit me. Seriously, you did not hear that from me.

Don’t worry. Soon, it will be blazing hot and we will all be trying to find ways to entertain our children without leaving the comfort of our air conditioning. Until then, stay warm for a few more weeks and I’ll catch you on the flip side.