Exploring five common winter woes, including icy windows, dry skin, and keeping warm, and the useful solutions to beat them.

Five ways to win at winter

It’s only January and already we’ve had quite the cold and snowy winter. One big storm brought us a snow day (check out this Advice on how to survive a snow day at home with your kids). Maybe you are happy to hibernate with a good book or some TV. Maybe you are happy to get out there and make the most of it on some snowy hills. Either way, there are still some common winter woes we will all inevitably encounter, and have to deal with. The good news is there are some simple solutions and helpful hacks to get you through this long, cold winter.

Here are 5 winter woes I’ve encountered - and how I’m tackling them

1. Frozen car windows: why car windows freeze on the inside

A couple mornings over the past week I’ve gotten into the car and the windows are frozen on the inside. They don’t even need to be scraped from the outside, but the inside is icier than Elsa’s frozen castle. It is such a pain to clear ice from the inside.

Somewhere along the way I remember someone telling me it can happen when there’s a loose seal around a door or window, or a window’s opened a crack. That may be right, but something told me this was not the case this time around.

Google tells me it can happen if there’s excess moisture in the car. Ding! Ding! Ding! We’ve had a lot of snowfall recently and it’s been colder than cold (-20 range with wind chill factor). I’ve actually noticed when I opened the car doors to get the snow scraper or toss bags (or kids) inside, snow that hasn’t yet been cleared has fallen in.

One morning, I actually laughed when I opened the back doors and there were piles of snow from the day before still on the floor. (It was a hectic five days, I was solo-parenting while my husband was away, ok!). The girls track in snow off themselves and their boots are dripping on the way home from sledding sessions after school.

Snow should remain outside the car, not inside the car

How can you prevent frost inside your car?

Scoop all that snow out as soon as it lands. Once it’s not so frigid I’ll leave the windows down a crack to let the moisture out. Just like when you drop your phone in water, a bag of rice in the car can help draw the moisture from the air. So can kitty litter - fill a few socks with it and tuck them in the car. In the meantime, if you’re anything like, you don’t have the time or patience to wait for the defroster to do it’s thing. if you don’t have a short handled scraper, any plastic card from your wallet does the trick really well. The window’s will be free and clear in no time.

2. Dry skin: save your skin, cracked fingers, and chapped lips

This cold winter air is really doing a number on my skin, hands, and lips. Our house is extra dry too. When the girls had bad coughs and colds over the holiday break, we set up their cool mist humidifiers, and have yet to put them away. Now and then, we put them on overnight to get some moisture into the air to combat the dryness. Just make sure to clean them out regularly, you don’t want any bacteria to build up inside and be dispersed around the room! I’m also using my oil diffuser with lovely scented oils nightly, again to get some moisture in the air - bonus, feels like I’m at the spa!

How to save your skin

I bought several small bottles of Glysomed hand cream. There’s one on the bathroom sink, kitchen sink, my bedside table, my desk, in the car, AND in my purse. This may sound excessive, but now I have hand lotion within reach all the time, so I use it all the time. Otherwise my skin cracks, and I get little cuts on the sides of my fingernails that are so irritating.

I’m slathering lip balm on my lips on the regular. Lately I’ve been using this one from Norwex. I also love this Nivea Pearly Shine lip balm when I’m in the mood for a pop of pink. Again, one on my desk, one in the car, and one in my jacket pocket to keep it top of mind. The one in my pocket is clutch. I’ve gotten in the habit of popping it on as soon as I pop on my coat, and again while I’m out and about. I’m also taking the time to exfoliate dead skin off my lips. I’m just using my toothbrush but you can concoct a homemade mixture of coconut oil and sugar, which sounds quite lovely!

3. The winter blues: how to beat them

Some of us love winter - a beautiful snow fall, crisp cold air, bundling up nice and cozy, skiing, skating, sledding. Others, not so much. The winter blues kick in and maybe you’re low on energy, tired, cranky, bored. The winter blues can even be extreme, in the form of seasonal affective disorder. You don’t have to sit and wait it out ’til spring.

How to win at winter!

Maybe you need to boost your Vitamin D with a supplement, since we’re not getting much sun exposure. You may not wish to hurtle yourself down a hill on skis or sled, but you can still get outside - bundle up and take a walk. Motivate yourself and plan a trip: to the maple syrup shack for a day, a cabin in the woods for a weekend, or a beach down south for a week! Having plans to look forward to can help boost your mood.

4. Cold and uncomfortable: think Hygge

2016 was the year of Hygge (the word was a finalist for the Oxford Dictionaries year of the word). Pronounced hoo-guh, it’s a Scandinavian concept that acknowledges a feeling or moment of happiness, coziness, wellness, contentment, on your own or with friends. It certainly came across as a trend for awhile there but it’s a lifestyle concept I can get behind - especially in winter where we can grasp on to the ‘cozy’ bit.

How to keep cozy and warm this winter

I got a candle for Christmas. I used to like to save my candles. For what I’m not sure, but I didn’t want to use them. I wanted to think about using them. I like to see them sitting pretty, displayed on the mantle, the counter, the table. Taking the lids off and smelling them. Then I realized something. There are more candles out there! I need to light the damn thing and enjoy it and not worry about it being gone. So, now I light my candles. This candle I got for Christmas (Bath and Bodyworks’ coveted 3-wick Cereal Marshmallow Bar, often out of stock - score!) smells amazing. I love it. I’ve been lighting it a lot - it’s almost half gone! When I’m working in the evenings, chilling on the couch watching tv, in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. It creates a warm mood, and puts me in a happy place. So do my fluffy reading socks from Indigo, chunky knit blankets, and mugs and mugs of hot coffee, tea, apple cider, and hot chocolate.

5. Wet feet, frozen locks, static cling: a quick round-up of hacks to help you win at winter

Pack extra socks. I can’t stand it when my socks get wet. There’s a spare pair in my bag so if I step in a puddle when taking my shoes off at someone’s house (kids tend to charge right in before stopping to take off their boots, tracking water all over), I can switch ‘em up.

Hand sanitizer can de-ice the lock on your car door handle, if you aren’t organized enough to keep de-icer on hand (who’s organized enough to keep de-icer on hands, apart from our Dads?). The isopropyl alcohol that kills germs can melt the ice.

You might getaway without shaving your legs often over winter but shave your sweaters - get all those pills off your winter sweaters with a razor.

Don’t forget this classic tip - dryer sheets zap static off our clothes - and hair - with a quick once over.

And every google search tells me to spray my shovel with non-stick cooking spray so it won’t stick and snow and ice will slide right off. I never thought of that!