Rain, Rain Go Away - Dana is Feeling Uninspired Today

As a native Seattleite, gray, rainy days never used to bother me. In fact, some of my favorite activities lend themselves best to a dreary day. You never feel guilty reading all day, or watching movies or sitting in a coffee shop, chatting with a friend when the weather's so nasty out.

However, having kids has largely changed my feelings towards the rain. Going through long stretches of time where kids can't get outside and go to a park, or a zoo just get sooo monotonous. This craptacular weather, combined with a prolonged stretch of illness at our house has led to a raging case of cabin fever. We're out of finger-painting paper, we're tired of coloring and all of our other normal indoor activities. I've reached that place, which is dangerous for mothers, I've run out of ideas to keep people occupied. Our house operates best when I'm wearing my social director on a cruise ship hat, leading people from one activity to the next. Now we're all just wandering aimlessly around, getting cranky trying not to step on the sea of toys covering the floor. Tropical vacations should be mandatory this time of year. Since that's not going to happen, I don't need to worry about a bathing suit-ready body at the moment, which means chances are, the afternoon activity will involve baking - again...