How to Stay Safe and Sane on Snow Days
Snow days can be fun, but only if you're prepared. Do you know what essential supplies you might need to stay safe--and sane? Fay Wolf, professional organizer, joins Easy Does It host Ereka Vetrini to share her tips for getting snow day ready.
Wolf suggests keeping at least a three-day emergency stash for your family. To start, it should consist of about a gallon of water per person per day. She also recommends keeping food that doesn't require heat. "Things like peanut butter and jelly, canned goods, dried fruit, things like that," she says. She also notes that people often forget that it's very important to stock up on toilet paper--like Charmin Ultra Strong.
Related: 10 tips to be prepared for emergencies
In addition, Wolf says that it's important to stock extra batteries and battery-powered electronics in your emergency stash. Plus, she says, you should keep salt or kitty litter on hand to break up ice that may form on walkways. And finally, she says, "Cash in small bills is a really good thing to have in an emergency."
Related: Snow-covered? Home insurance and blizzards
After you've taken care of your emergency stash, it's time to take care of your sanity while you're stuck indoors on a snow day. "One way to get over the whole cabin fever feeling of it is to add a little structure into your day," says Wolf. She recommends participating in what she calls "the Four Quarter Race," splitting the day up into four quarters, each with a specific goal.
The first quarter is the productivity-based quarter. Wolf says, "It's really important to get those sort of annoying tasks out of the way first thing in the morning." Set a timer for 60 to 90 minutes, which will both make the tasks fun and establish a cut-off time so you know you don't have to do these tasks forever. The kids can catch up on homework while the adults catch up on bills or clean out the fridge.
The second quarter is all about creativity, play, and spending quality time with your family. Wolf notes that in this quarter, you can do an arts and crafts project. For example, she suggests using Charmin toilet paper rolls from your emergency stash to make bracelets. Another idea is to hold a dance competition in the living room. She asks, "How often do you get have a dance contest with your family?" In this quarter, if it's safe, you can also have the whole family go outside to play in the snow.
Next, take a halftime break to eat a healthy lunch. Then begin the third quarter activity, which is what Wolf calls "the Donation Race." This is a race to see how many clothes, books, and toys you can get rid of in a set time period. "You can actually get a lot of decluttering done in only 60 minutes," she notes.
And finally, says Wolf, "whoever gets rid of the most in the third quarter gets to choose the final fourth quarter fun activity for the day." This activity can be anything from watching a movie to playing board games to telling scary stories--the fourth quarter is all about fun.
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