When South Carolina Weather Gives You Lemons…

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When South Carolina Weather Gives you Lemons - Columbia SC Moms Blog

If South Carolina weather over the past several months could be summed up into one word, it would be: Unpredictable. Between the initial flooding, subsequent massive rainfall, and now snow – which happened to occur between weeks with unseasonably warm temperatures – if we’ve learned one thing here, it’s that we really don’t know what to expect with the weather. Shoot, in my kids’ laundry baskets right now we have short-sleeved shirts, skirts, thick cable tights, sweatshirts, hoodies, and sweaters. And it’s not because I found a hidden stash of summer clothes under one of their beds. It seems like I can never fully put away one season’s clothes, because you just never know.

This past Saturday, I planned on taking my kids hiking with our local Hike It Baby group (you can find local hikes on hikeitbaby.com). I hyped it up, and they were so excited to go hiking! I kept checking the forecast for rain. Yes, it was going to rain Friday, but Saturday was supposed to be just cold and cloudy. I shrugged – bundle them up, and we’ll be fine. With all of this rain, clouds and cold air weren’t going to deter us from getting outside.

Cabin fever is real, y’all.

On Friday, I checked the forecast again … still only a slight chance of snow. But the meteorologists’ reports seemed to indicate they thought snow was much more likely. I’ll admit – hiking in flurries actually sounded pretty fun. The kids would love it. BUT. It’s rained heavily over the week, and with below freezing temperatures overnight, I had to be concerned about ice on the trail, which is neither charming nor fun. So when my kids woke up Saturday, excited for the hike and because – looking outside – it was actually snowing, I had to break the news that we would not be hiking today.

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Our massive snow accumulation.

BUT! I said, we could certainly take a walk down the road near our house in the snow. It’s exactly what we did when the flood trapped us indoors for a week. Even in the rain, when it let up a bit towards the end of the week, we gathered our rain gear and umbrellas and went for a walk. Partly just to get out of the house, but also because we were curious about the damage in our area. Our street is only about a half a mile from the river, and houses at the end of the street, on the river, were indeed flooded.

So off we went, bundled up in more layers than South Carolinians are used to, to survey the snow covered landscape. Really – not so snow covered. More like snow-dusted. But the kids had fun. They only lasted to the bottom of the first hill, due to my neglecting to track down mittens.

My 4-year-old loved showing off her newfound knowledge of the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees. The 6-year-old mostly just collected rocks (or chunks of asphalt) and jumped over the tiny creek between the road and a property fence. My almost 3-year-old spent most of the short walk on my shoulders, in between chasing his siblings and hitting trees with sticks.

They had a blast. And so did I. For once they weren’t fighting, or yelling, or not listening. We were just in the moment. And it was great.

What should you take from this? Don’t let less than perfect weather keep you cooped up indoors.

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Tips For Making the Most of Your Time Outdoors

It’s worth investing in weather appropriate gear, from rain boots and raincoats to warm jackets and weatherproof gloves so that you can take advantage of the great outdoors even when the weather isn’t all that great. (pro tip: thrift stores are great for all these things. You can find barely used weather gear for a fraction of the cost, because this is South Carolina, and normally, it’s not needed very often)

Use the opportunity to show your children what effect the weather has on their environment.

  • After the heavy rains, we noticed an increase in mushrooms and new miniature creeks formed as a way to deal with the excessive water. If you are more ambitious, take it a step further. Go online and research what kind of mushrooms you found. Are they safe to eat? Poisonous?
  • After the cold snap, it became more obvious that the trees around us were very different. Some kept their leaves, and others were bare. So we talked about that. On our walk, we noticed a great deal of moss – we discussed its texture, color, and purpose.

A change of pace is great for resetting attitudes and calming the nerves. Because I’ll admit – I was down to my last nerve, and coffee only helps so much.

Returning home to the promise of hot cocoa and popcorn is a sweet, cheap treat.

And maybe, just maybe, they will all nap.

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Katrina Siron
Katrina is a mom of three great kids and has been married to her first love for nearly 10 years. She’s grateful to have a job that allows her the flexibility to both work from home some days and in the office others. On the surface, Katrina is pretty crunchy – she loves breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping, natural birth, and homeschooling — but still loves her stroller, having her kids in their own beds at some point, her epidural was fantastic, and she’ll be sending the kids through public school. Most of all she loves the fact that we have all these choices, which makes life interesting! One of her favorite experiences was moving to Japan in 2002 to live as an adult dependent with their USMC family. It was an amazing experience, and if it weren’t for that, she probably wouldn’t ever have met my husband.

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