Enough already! Five things you can do to beat the cold.
To reiterate how cold it is outside is becoming a tired cliché. Short of jumping on the first flight to a palm tree studded locale, here are some ways you can trick yourself, albeit temporarily, into feeling hot, hot, hot.
- After the kids go to bed tonight, run a scalding hot bath and lounge around with a good book or magazine. Put an umbrella in your drink and you *might* just think you’re laying on a beach in Tahiti.
- Make yourself an embarrassingly gigantic, steaming mug of hot cocoa. Throw caution to the wind and load it up with marshmallows or fluff. You burned enough calories from shoveling snow this weekend. You deserve it.
- Crank the heat high enough so that the whole family can walk around in shorts and a t-shirt. Just for one night, it’ll only cost you a couple of extra bucks. So worth it.
- Cook something in the crock pot (stew, oatmeal or even hot caramel apple cider). Your house will smell amazing and your body will appreciate the warmth.
- Load up on the bronzer. Being pasty white AND freezing just ain’t a good combination. The below temperatures outside may say ‘winter’, but you’re glowing, tanned face is saying ‘summer, summer, summer’.
What are your favorite tricks for beating the cold?
A friend told me she and her family did this once and I thought it was so cute.
Similar to your #3, they cranked up the heat and all got in bathing suits or shorts/t-shirts. They then did a craft project of making a bunch of paper suns and hung them in the windows to make it seem sunny out. Turned on some Hawaiian music (Iz is my favorite), put on leis and hula skirts and did the limbo and conga line. Then blended up some fruit smoothies afterwards to cool off.
While sitting under a fleece blanket sipping a cup of hot tea and wearing a hat with ear flaps, I close my eyes and transport myself back to one of the (many) days last summer when I walked outside into humidity so gross it was like having a pancake stuck to my whole face. Then I happily return to my present-day fleece blanket/ tea/ ear flaps situation.
I don’t think it’s very responsible to “crank up the heat” nor does it send a good message to the kids. There are plenty of people trying to stay warm or with no warm homes. Why not donate money to helping people with oil and heat and tell your kids you are keep the thermo at 68 for that very reason! Now that sends a warm thought!
I’d take the pancakes on my face any day.