Amanda Lamb: Winter blues

Intellectually, I know it is not right to dislike an entire season, but for most of my life, winter has ranked pretty low on my list.

I can totally understand why some animals hibernate and come back out in the springtime when the world is in full bloom. I would like to wrap up in my comforter right after the holidays and take a nap until about mid-March. I think it basically boils down to the fact that no matter how many layers I put on, I am perpetually cold. Thus, in short, I am a confirmed summer person.

Part of the issue in the wintertime is keeping children entertained and engaged when most of the activities revolve around being inside. With the exception of the rare North Carolina snowstorm (during which I always have to work, adding another line to my already lengthy "I dislike winter" list), my kids spend a lot of time indoors in the winter months.

Video games aside, this forces them, and me, to be more creative at coming up with things to do. They still enjoy dress-up, and putting on shows. We also have games that we like to play together as well as a plethora of art supplies that could just about create enough content for the Louvre. We also enjoy watching movies as a family, although there are not nearly enough appropriate family movies to satisfy our theatrical appetites.

My personal favorite inside activity in the winter months is reading. I have varying degrees of success getting my daughters to buy in to this concept. My older one actually shares my love of reading, but can be easily distracted. My younger one still sees it as a school assignment, not something to be savored.

Like every season, the winter too shall pass. Soon my daughters will be outside riding bikes, climbing trees, taking walks and building forts. I, too, will be outside, exercising and squinting at my laptop screen in an effort to work and at the same time feel the long-forgotten sun on my pale winter skin.

The best part of North Carolina weather is the knowledge that the cold doesn’t linger and the sunshine does…