This past week, in its infinite wisdom, the Limestone District School Board declared four “snow days”, cancelling all buses to the elementary and high schools. I use “snow days” in parenthesis, because for those of you who live in Eastern Ontario well know, there was no snow on Monday and Tuesday, just bright brilliant sunshine. They cancelled school because (insert whiny wimpy voice here), “it was too cold”.

With a snowstorm the prior weekend, what ensued was six days of raging cabin fever for kids across the county and anxiety for the poor high school students whose exam schedules were being bounced around like juggling balls at a summer’s busker festival. By Thursday, kids were begging their parents to drive them to school.

Hopefully the school board has learned its lesson and is reviewing its policies on bussing, but in the meantime, here are some tried and true hacks for combating cabin fever during inclement weather.

1. Need exercise? Have a dance-off and bust-a-move.
2. Fix it up. Tackle that home reno or clean up project you’ve been putting off forever. You’ll thank yourself when the weather is sunny and warm and it’s already done.
3. Take a nap. Our bodies are meant to hibernate in winter. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em and luxuriate in a long winter’s nap.
4. Discover the artist in you. We rarely make time to try a new craft or hobby. Maybe you are a budding Picasso or Rembrandt and just don’t know it. Pick up a brush and try your hand at something new.
5. Fight boredom with board games. Risk, Monopoly, and my personal favourite Stock Ticker are great ways to kill an afternoon.
6. Go outside and play in the snow. During one of the “we have to cancel school because it’s too cold outside” days, Clare played outside for three hours and made this cool snow fort. Go for little walks and let the fresh air revive your spirits.
7. Don’t watch TV endlessly. It’s OK to indulge in a movie or Netflix binge-watching, but at some point boredom will inevitably settle in.

This week’s #HappyAct is to make a plan for that next snow day…they are calling for snow on Tuesday, but maybe even Monday will be too cold to send the kids to school. #TriboardTuesday