Rough winter? Your advice for dealing with it!

Cabin fever: it's going around and it's often contagious! We asked Michael Strouse from The Scholastic Store to talk to the fine people he meets in SoHo every day about how they're dealing with being stuck inside during bad weather. Thanks, Michael! 

It's been a rough winter in a lot of areas, including here in New York City.  That means the guests who come in to The Scholastic Store in SoHo REALLY appreciate the experience. Taking nothing away from how beautiful the store is, I think many people mostly appreciate that it is 1. not their apartment and 2. not filled with frozen white precipitation.

I took the opportunity to ask some guests for advice on how to deal with their kids' cabin fever as a result of the unending snow and ice. We also asked the same question on Facebook, where we got some wonderfully warm results!

Ian, who is six, gave me a long list of ideas for snow that included making hot apple cider and playing homemade board games (including one based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) He also offered a bit of advice for when you are out walking in the snow…try not to step in it, especially if you are wearing your Crocs.


From our Facebook fans, we got a lot of reading advice. Here’s a bit of our fans' snow reading picks:

• "Harry Potter!" -Miranda
• "My husband has been reading the Magic Tree House series to my kids and they love it (3 & 4 yrs). They also just finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was a hit too! Picture books all day long -- current faves: King Bidgood, Ferdinand, Fancy Nancy, Smelly Bill (all Daniel Postgate books are wonderful) and Dr. Seuss, of course." -Anatasia
• "Agatha Christie for me and Deltora Quest and Star Wars for my 9 & 11 year olds." -Carrie

I’m also partial to this response:

• "Just finished the entire 39 Clues series. Except for Book 5 that my cat peed on and we had to throw away." –Melissa (Evidently, Melissa’s cat is not related to Saladin. I’d recommend she get another copy, though. Book 5 is great!)

Of course, there are also those who are more stalwart in the snow...they all seem to be from Michigan:

• "The snow keeps coming and the kids still have school. Michigan is used to plenty of snow!" –Melissa
• "I'm from Michigan, we don't get trapped by snow, we show the snow who's boss..." –David

Finally, there are those that are, well…LUCKY!

• "Gnash your teeth in envy...77 degrees here in SoCal. But I'm reading through the Harry Potter series with my 9yr old who just figured out that BIG books are fun too." -Jennifer

So to stay in theme, I am going to make my own recommendation for anyone stuck at home waiting for the snow to melt: Trapped by Michael Northrup. Blizzard? CHECK! Adventure? CHECK! Reminder our snow situation could be worse? CHECK, CHECK!

So what’s your strategy for dealing with your kid’s cabin fever?



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Previously On Our Minds:
* Overheard in The Scholastic Store
* Vacation time is family time
* How books influence who our kids become: A guest post from a parent