The temperature doesn’t hit forty. It’s dark by five. The wind has traveled from the Arctic to remind you that a vacation would be nice. The kids want TV, but you’re getting that bad parenting feeling.
Panic sets in, but it doesn’t last.
You know there are plenty of places to take your kids, the library, indoor bounce parks or the mall. Here are a few options you may not have considered and have served us well.
- Petco/Petsmart – For a 2 year old this is the zoo, even better as everything tends to be right at a child’s level. They have lizards, rats, turtles, fish, and cats. It’s not hard to kill an hour here. Not adopting that cat is a different story.
- Lowes/ Home Depot – This is especially true in Christmas Season,with so many cheesy blow ups. The rest of the story is fun too and your kids will want to wander. Let them. Teach them how things works. They’ll figure out soon enough you have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t turn your backs either or they’ll test that model toilet sitting on the end cap.
- School Sports – You don’t have to take your kids to Major League sports to get them into the games. I’ve taken my kids to a grade school level football game to just get them out of the house. There are plenty of things to get their attention. In the cold winter months there are basketball games every night in a gym somewhere close It’s fun and they usually have snacks.
- Barnes and Noble. This one is probably the most obvious of the bunch. I do feel like we’re cheating on the library when we go, but I do love having asiago pretzels at an arms reach. I spent much of my youth at our local Borders drinking hot chocolate and reading comic books and movie mags. I like B&N but was always a Borders guy.
- Art Museums – Growing up our family were members of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – the one with the Rocky Steps. My dad bribed us with food from the commissary to go, but even when we were just three or four the everything in building inspired us. Long hallways, unique architecture and those suits of armor kept us interested. You can skip the “kids” museum for a week weekend to check out your closest art museum and your kids will find their own inspirations.
If you can think of other under the radar spots please feel free to share.
Here’s our Week Eight Video.
Leave a Reply