Episode 424: Coping with the Long Winter

No need to whine, it's Whiny Palooza! Have some wine and join us on the Whiny Palooza Podcast with Rebecca Greene.

Welcome to the Whiny Palooza Podcast. I'm your host, Rebecca Greene. I'm a wife, mother of 3, and licensed clinical social worker. I also have 3 fur babies at home too. My passion has always been to help children and their families. I always dreamed of being a wife and a mother. Parents are always learning through their struggles, failures, and successes and joys. I am no stranger to this wild ride of parenting, and I know behind every great parent lies a team of supportive friends and family. I want to be part of your support system. I want you to know that you are not alone. We are in this parenting world together. Join me every week for insightful discussions with experts on parenting and marriage, as well as other parents who have found the secret to successes in parenthood. You'll learn tips and tricks to make life with your family better than ever. I hope you will follow along with me while we dive into what it takes to achieve a happy family.

Hello everybody, happy Winey Blues Wednesday!

Happy Winey Blues Wednesday!

We know the sign is backwards.

The Facebook magic wand icon that flips the screen so you could read her shirt and the sign has disappeared. It's been gone for like the last month. Apparently it's a common issue.

You see my new sweatshirt?

Her sweatshirt says "Violent Little Thing." Honey, why does it say "Violent Little Thing"? That is the Onyx Storm third book in the Fourth Wing series.

Did you read it? Did you read it?

I did.

Did you read it? Did you like it?

I did.

It was so good that I'm still thinking about it and still buying myself clothes.

Yeah, she's gotta have her Baskayas dragon merchandise.

Only two.

Only two. Two different sweaters.

I'll tell you what's next. I want dragons.

What, what, what are you gonna do? Are these like just tchotchkes? You think you need more house clutter? You were complaining.

It's gonna go on my bookshelf and some dragon jewelry, maybe.

Okay, well, Rebecca Greene, if you're watching and you don't have plans for a swag store and merch, I believe you gotta market.

So there's lots of merch out there, you just don't know it.

Well, I'm so thrilled that I have lived without this knowledge.

So, um, we'll move on from the Fourth Wing series that I'm obsessed with, that I'm gonna read again. If you know, you know. That's what I've got to say. So I have been hearing a lot of people complaining about the winter, complaining how long it is, complaining that it's never going to end, complaining about how cold it is, complaining that it's snowing again.

Isn't that Buffalo?

Like, no, it's worse this year.

Do we actually know this? You just made it up? This is your own personal feeling evidence.

I will look up statistics for you.

Yes, I love me some statistics.

This winter feels longer. It's not just me. I'm not alone.

Okay.

A lot of people have been complaining to me, which is why I wrote this blog. So if you go to whinyplousa.com, there is an actual written blog on the topic with all of the details. So you can go there and read it. But we're gonna talk about it. Yes, we always miss stuff that I wrote about, but we're gonna do our best.

And we always talk about stuff that you didn't write about.

Yeah, we do.

So you got to do both. Yeah, you got to be a loyal Whining Blues fan, watch, listen, and read.

I love it. Yes. Okay, so how— so I, I started out this blog with, I have found a lot of ways to cope with the winter. So I wanted to share my coping strategies, and then I'm just going to give you some general ones for anyone. But what, what I do— and, and I want you to chime in— why are there 3 Seth Greens?

I don't know, it keeps saying I'm watching over and over and over again. I'm only watching once.

I will tell you, gotta love Facebook, that, um, I love you so much, I'm watching 4 times. A coping strategy for me today was going to change my nails to something a little more springy.

Your St. Patrick's Day nails?

Yeah, they made me feel really happy as opposed to the Valentine's Day nails.

Okay, so you look at them and that makes you feel good?

Yeah, my nails are a coping strategy.

I did not know this.

100%.

Okay.

And I'll go even more springy next time.

Oh, I was— well, I just— when I thought you couldn't get more springy.

So go get some spring.

Can anyone else see this, or is it just us where it Seth Green is watching every 2 seconds. I'm watching a lot, I love this episode. I'm really not doing anything, I swear.

So Seth, um—

Okay, see, that's another person, that's not me.

So my assignment to all of you women out there is to go get some spring nails, it'll cheer you up. But anyways, so I'm gonna tell them what I do and I want you to share your coping strategies too. But for me, you know, I have found that if I can get— Something's wrong.

Yes, there's some issue with Facebook. This is highly amusing.

I'm sorry, but every 2 seconds it says that Seth Green is watching, so it's kind of— so it's amusing to Seth Green.

I'm very persistent.

So I want you to get cozy, and I want you to think about it like, what better time than winter to get cozy on your couch with a blanket, a hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and a book or a movie, or when I wrote one, get cozy with your loved ones and wear your cozy pajamas and your dragon merch and my dragon merch. And when I was writing this yesterday, I was literally typing under a blanket on my couch working. I did hours of the blog Then I did emails, then I did whatever else on my computer, and I sat there on my computer and I'm like, I am working and I'm cozy. And what better time than the winter to do this?

Awesome.

So that's number one. I want you to look at the cozy side of it, and I want you to embrace it and enjoy it. And I want to give you a little tip that Seth and I have. Seth and I have a sauna in our basement. And I have really embraced it this winter because I have gotten like chilled to the bone where I can't warm up. So I am like, what better time than to go in my sauna, which I did not do today. And the— and I looked up the benefits of a sauna are like unreal. So now I'm even more encouraged to go in it. I think you're supposed to go in it like 3 or 4 times a week. And I want to tell you You can get one cheap on Amazon. We have one that you literally—

one person, you zip it up. It's not like a big wooden one.

No, it's a single sauna. Now mind you, do I want the big beautiful sauna? 100%. So maybe one day Seth and I will buy a sauna that we can both go in and sit in. But, um, you also might have one at your gym, so check, because someone told me the YMCA has one.

It does. And steam room.

And you know that I don't even know that. And we have a membership, so I should definitely check that out. But, um, so I'm, I'm using the winter to, to get cozy time on the couch. I'm using the winter to enjoy my sauna. Um, I have not been enjoying my hot tub because I haven't been wanting to go outside in my bathing suit, but I need to get over it and go do that.

Yes, please.

And I'm doing something really well, and I'm staying active. And I think that there is this joke among women. I don't know that men talk this way, but women will talk like, I'm storing up pounds this winter, fat for the winter, like a bear. Yeah, and not a good idea.

It does not help. You just gotta lose it later.

And I am really staying active, and I think that's helping my mood. And not only am I walking on my treadmill and I'm doing my weights and I'm really pushing myself to be active, but I'm also making myself walk outside. So not only do I think it's good for us to stay active, period, but I think that if we can push ourselves to do it outside, I think there's an even bigger benefit, even if it's freezing outside, because we're giving ourselves fresh air.

And the cold— the cold therapy is actually a thing, right? I have a cold plunge. It's a frozen block of ice that I can't go in right now. But like cold— they're going out in the cold and moving in the cold creates even more endorphins that make you happier.

Well, so that is—

you're outside complaining about the cold, you're actually getting to feel better.

So I'm going to talk about that for a minute because I want to tell Seth what I experienced. So when it's really cold and I make— and I walk outside, um, I think about how cold I am and that my body is working harder and that I'm probably burning more calories.

Yep, and you probably walk faster.

And I walk faster, and I'm thinking about the health benefits, and I don't last as long. So I'm not going to tell you that if I'm freezing, my walks might not be as long, but I'm still getting out and walking. And like today, I walked outside and it was like mild. So days like today, it's easy. But I'm pushing myself to get fresh air, even if I walk up the street. Even if you go outside and just walk up the street, you're getting some air. And, um, I'm seeing families do skiing and sledding and ice skating, and there's so many things to actually do with your family outside. Am I doing any of those things? I'm not, but it makes the winter more fun, and I will tell you that growing up, my parents did such a good job because pretty much every weekend we went skiing. I mean, I grew up skiing all the time, and it really made the winter fun. So, you know, a gentle nudge to all of us to go do something fun outside. We haven't— we haven't even built a snowman, I don't think.

We have not. I don't know if our kids are too old for that now.

Um, I think you're never too old to build a snowman. Okay, I'm gonna tell everybody that.

Okay, then we gotta build a snowman when we get some more snow.

So another coping strategy for me is that there's no better time than the winter to cook and bake in the kitchen. And Seth totally knows that when it's summertime, I don't want to come inside, right? Like, I literally want to be outside. I don't want to come in and cook. I don't want to come in and do the dishes. I just want to be outside and soak it up and enjoy it. So Seth grills a lot in the summer to give me less time in the kitchen. But I know that this is the time for me to really enjoy all of the cooking and baking that I'm doing. And I'm cooking a lot. I'm cooking pretty much every night. I mean, sometimes we get takeout.

We've been cooking a lot more lately.

I'm really trying to cook a lot. And, you know, the smells in the kitchen and the, you you know, we're all hanging out in the kitchen, and it's just— it's something that I think we do more of in the winter. So it's one of the ways that I cope, and I know that my family loves to bake, so it's a great activity to do when we all want to be inside. So, um, I have not made any soup this winter, have I?

I don't think so.

I think cooking is very therapeutic. And I not only think that cooking is therapeutic, but I think that the smells are therapeutic.

It's aromatherapy.

It's aromatherapy, yes. Which brings me to— I didn't write this down, but light all your candles, people. We have all these candles, light them, enjoy them. And, uh, smell it up. Well, I mean, that has to do with light therapy and the smells. Yes, and the smells.

I forgot about the light side of it.

So I paid our electric bill the other day, and I was like, there's something about brightness. Like, I put on a lot of lights, and I'm also the light police, so I'm both. I go around turning off lights, and I go around turning on lights because I love the brightness. It's really good for me. I don't want to be in darkness, and I love that my daughter has twinkle lights in her room, and I want to bring some twinkle lights like around the bookshelves. We have some. I want to actually put them up.

Oh, I did not know we had any.

We do. We have some sitting in a box that we have done nothing with.

Okay.

So I say they even sell lights for the winter, like light therapy.

Oh yes, you can buy like vitamin D, whatever, stimulating lights. Yes, I have seen that.

So if, if you're struggling, buy yourself a light and make sure you're not sitting in the dark. Like, we need, we need light. Sometimes you walk into someone's house and you're like, oh my God, it's so dark in here. So I touched on reading, but I really, really have embraced it this winter. What did you say?

You are reading a lot.

Is that bad or good?

No, it's good, it's good.

I'm also doing a lot of other things.

Right, it's not like it's your only hobby.

It's not my only hobby, but I love it. Get yourself a good book, you'll be happy. It's my favorite coping strategy. You have anything to say about reading?

I also love to read. I thought, um, writing was your favorite coping strategy. Has reading supplanted that lately?

Mm-hmm.

Well, it helps to have some really captivating page-turning novels that you're obsessed with. Exactly. Fourth Wing series. Yeah, Rebecca Greene.

Yep, yep.

When's the next one?

Um, she hasn't started writing it, so it's gonna be a while. She said she needs to write a romance and then she'll write it.

Oh, so she's gonna write another book and then come back to Fourth Wing?

Yeah, she needs a break. Okay, she needs a break from the Fourth Wing characters. I think it helps her write better to take breaks.

Need some variety.

She said she finds that she does so much— such better writing when she takes a break from it. And she said she always does romance, then fantasy, romance, then fantasy.

I did not know that. I didn't know we had any Rebecca Greene romances.

I haven't purchased any of them. Um, they're like on my Kindle and they're on my Libby, but you would probably enjoy them.

Well, especially you tend to read some summer— you should read some summer romances in the winter about people on a beach because that could be a seasonal coping strategy.

I feel like I read summer books in the summer and winter books in the winter.

Never mind.

But I like that idea.

Christmas book.

I like that idea. Okay, refresh your inside space. We did such a good job.

You did.

Okay, so I'm gonna tell you what we did, and then I'm gonna tell you some easy suggestions that don't need to be as complicated. So it is the perfect time of year to update, refresh, change your inside space because you're in it so often, and it just, you know, changes your mood and It's, it's just such a good thing for your mental state. So I was really tired of our paint colors. It was like giving off emotional energy that wasn't working for me, like too bold, too angry, it felt like to me. So I got rid of the red and orange, which were in style 11 years ago. Everybody asked me why I painted my kitchen red. Think 11 years ago, people, it was in style. So we did a beautiful light, uh, relaxing gray in the kitchen and the dining room, and we did a really calming blue in the front room, family room that we're in now. We're sitting in— it's very hard to see the color, but it's like a really pretty relaxing blue. And not only do we change our paint, which I think has totally changed the tone.

Yep.

But I also got a new carpet for the room we're in and a new couch that we're sitting on. We needed like a bigger couch. We had like a tiny couch from his dad. Yeah, so the tiny couch went upstairs to Ella's room and we got a bigger couch that we can all fit on in the— I'm gonna call it the front room. Okay, that's what I don't— if you come up with the Zen room Family room. What's the other room?

The living room.

I gotta look up what family room and living room actually mean, people. Okay, so updated this room, updated the paint, and really made me really happy. What about you?

Yeah, it's totally— it's a totally different experience.

So I want to know what your experience is.

I'm saying it is much— it feels— the energy feels much calmer.

Yeah, I think, I think our house has a much more peaceful vibe. Peaceful vibe. And getting all the toys out of this room was like long overdue.

Yeah.

So I'm gonna tell you, you don't have to make these big drastic changes that Seth and I made. You can just move your furniture around. You might have pictures on the ground that you haven't gotten around to hanging. Hang some new pictures. Light some candles, like do some stuff to your space to just like refresh it and like boost your mood. There you go, right? So that is an excellent coping strategy. It worked for me.

Yay!

Okay, I'm gonna give you those— those are some of mine. I'm gonna give you some general ones. Um, I don't know a better time than the winter to sit with a new journal and journal. You journal every night?

Yes.

I am not winning any points in the journaling department.

There's no points.

Haven't been journaling, haven't been meditating. I'm doing other stuff, but those are two things that I have not been doing. Okay, um, get a new hobby. Get a new inside hobby. Everybody's crocheting. Is that— am I saying that right?

You are saying it right.

You know those little animals. People are making those crocheted animals and they're making blankets and, um, get a new hobby. I see people doing puzzles. There's so many inside things. I was talking to my friend about how we used to always do board night— board game nights with our kids.

There you go.

Which we haven't done in a while, but I also see that people not only do board games with their kids, but they invite Friends over, have a board game night, host a board game night, host a book club night, host something inside.

Yeah, socialization helps.

Stay connected with your friends and your family.

Don't hibernate by yourself.

Yeah, don't stay alone, don't stay home alone sad. Like, invite people over. Your house does not need to be perfect. We all need to get over that. Have the people over anyway. We don't care. We just want to see you. We're there for you.

Amen.

I know that nobody's going to listen to me, but I'm going to say it anyway. Oh, the other idea for the winter is a movie night. I was talking to my friends about a Friday night movie night because Seth goes to Krav and they don't have the streaming services that we have. So there's movies that they want to see that they can't watch.

You should have them all.

So I said, let's do a Friday movie night while Seth's at Krav and you can pick whatever movie you want. So I'm going to do that. Plan a winter adventure. We went to New York City in the winter and saw all the Christmas lights. That was so fun. I see people camping and hiking and doing all these things. Plan something for the winter to make yourself happy and excited. Escape to some warm weather. I didn't do that. I let my children overrule me. I don't know what I was thinking. But let me tell you, February break was rough. It was cold, it was colder, it was icier. It was not an easy week. Seeing people posting in Florida and on cruises, I was like, woman, why didn't you go somewhere warm? So I am telling you that if you can afford it, Plan a— some— I think February is an excellent time to get some warmth, more so than April. By April it's warming up here, so people go away to spring break to warm stuff. I think we need it in February, personally.

Okay, well, next year we could do that.

No, we can't, Max. Well, Max doesn't want to go somewhere warm, right? Max is going to be in college next year for February break, but we could take the girls somewhere warm.

We could.

It's a thought.

Yes.

Plan for the spring. That will boost your mood. My friend is planning her gardens already. What spring projects are you going to do? Is there stuff that you need to work on beforehand so that you're ready? Are there people that you need to book now to get you ready for the spring work that you want to do?

Like getting your pool open.

Do you need to get— oh, I better double check on that.

I thought I haven't had that schedule.

I I think I was supposed to call to get a closing date, so I better do that. I'll make a note as soon as we get off of this. Um, what other coping strategies do you have that I didn't list?

Um, I don't know that you—

did I miss anything that you do?

Do I—

do you need any coping strategies?

I do not have the same issues that you do.

You do not?

I do not have as much— I don't have the problem with winter that you do.

Why don't you tell us why that might help us?

I live here. If you don't want the winter, if you can't deal, don't live here.

Like, I don't want to live here, right?

But you're never going to move, so quit complaining, right? Get over it.

Okay, so I, I do.

I know there's a winter. There's— if I like the four seasons, would it be nice if winter was a little bit less? Sure, but it's okay. I don't have the problem with it that you do. I'm not resisting it.

So my problem is that I love the people here.

Yes.

So I don't want to leave the people, but I want to leave the weather. So my only thought is to take all the people with me.

Okay, well, let's do that then.

Like, go make myself a Florida cul-de-sac of all my people.

You can convince everybody to move and you find a place and you're going to build a real Yeah, but we could certainly talk about that.

I mean, if you have advice for me, I would— I'm not gonna move because I have 5 more years of school for Lily, so I can't move for 5 years anyway. So if I was gonna move, first of all, your business is here.

True. However, I— because we proved during COVID we could be remote. It's not ideal, but we can do it.

I mean, it's not ideal. It's not ideal for you.

Okay, well, in 6 years when Lily's out of high school, why don't we look at snowbirding and get a place or something somewhere and go warmer places more often.

Even if we did more warm vacations, that might help. Or just like one every winter.

Let's do that.

If we just planned for one warm vacation every winter, that might help.

Well, listen, you let the kids do New York City in December to see it all lit up, and now I'm not doing that again, right? Next time, next winter, well, don't do that.

Yeah, uh, I'll talk—

we're nice to them every other time we go to Orlando. So now you're due for another Orlando trip.

So yeah, I mean, I was good with the Bahamas or anywhere warm. It didn't have to be Orlando. In fact, Orlando wasn't warm. That's why I didn't want to go there. I don't even think it was warm.

No, I think it was like in the 50s. Yeah, when I went to— I have— we came back and I had to turn around and go to Arizona, and it wasn't warm. No, I was wearing my winter coat. I was like You're like, oh wait, I'm so jealous, it's so nice out. I'm like, the sky is blue, it is not snowing, but it is still really cold and I am wearing a winter coat. Wasn't as cold as Buffalo, but it was still cold. Rant over.

So I didn't want to spend the money on going somewhere warm because I didn't even think it was going to be warm.

It was not that warm.

So that is why—

bathing suit weather.

I wonder if the 6 people watching are you.

I'm only one. I'm, I'm on once.

That is so bizarre. Okay, anyways, we're getting off topic. Yeah, so those are my coping strategies. Those are my suggestions. I hope that something is helpful to you. Um, I want to tell you that Diane Sorensen is on the podcast on Friday, and she is talking about her, uh, Beautiful Behavior Blueprint is what I believe it's called. And you will most definitely enjoy her and learn from her. She definitely taught me stuff, and I loved how open and vulnerable and helpful she was. And, um, what else did I want to tell you? Next week our daughter turns 16, so we're going to talk about that. That is big. Yes, big stuff coming.

Sweet 16.

Well, Max turned 16.

They don't say that for boys.

Whatever.

Okay, whatever. Go to whinyblues.com, find the Linktree, sign up for all of Rebecca Greene's amazing resources including her 3 times a week email newsletter. And please like, share, rate, review, and subscribe. So check out the Winey Blues and Mom group on Facebook.

Yes, the Winey Blues and Mom group is free on Facebook, so come join us. Um, a supportive, helpful community. And I want you to know that when you like stuff, when you comment on stuff, when you share stuff, it helps us get this out to more people that we want to help. Yes, please support and, um, share this with someone who's been complaining about the winter because I've just heard so many people complaining that I couldn't get myself to write about anything else. I'm like, this is the hot topic right now. So when I'm hearing a hot topic over and over again, I'm gonna focus on it. So if you have a topic request, send it my way, and we will see you next week.

Thank you for tuning in to the Winey Palooza podcast. If you like what you heard, please be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. While you are there, leave a review. I love to hear your feedback. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.

This show has been produced by Market Domination LLC. To discover how you can have your own show completely done for you and turn it into a real published book and become the authority in your marketplace, go to www.marketdominationllc.com/podcastoffer.

Thank you for tuning in to the Winey Palooza podcast. If you like what you heard, please be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. While you are there, leave a review. I love to hear your feedback. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.

This show has been produced by Market Domination LLC. To discover how you can have your own show completely done for you and turn it into a real published book and become the authority in your marketplace, go to www.marketdominationllc.com. .com/podcastoffer.

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