Every day the snow falls, Janet McGovern looks at her three children - home again from school - and girds herself.
No more panicking when they go outside, jump off the jungle gym and disappear in snowdrifts. No sense fretting about taking down the 5-foot Christmas tree buried in a snowdrift on her deck in Brookfield, Conn.
McGovern is one of the nation's seasoned storm survivors, trying to meet the challenge of seeing her family through one of the harshest winters on record. Blizzard conditions existed in six states Wednesday and ice coated many other states after a gigantic storm billed as the worst in decades hit a large area of the country from Texas to Maine. Even schools in Chicago closed Wednesday, a first in 12 years.
"We've never had a winter like this," says McGovern, who has two daughters, Morgan, 11, and Devon, 7, and a son, Garrett, 3. "There hasn't been a reprieve.
"My husband and I laugh and say we'll be telling stories about this winter when we're 95 years old."
Laughter truly is one of the best medicines for fighting off the bad-weather blues, says Scott Bea, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Better than overeating, junk-food bingeing, oversleeping or remaining isolated, which just makes things worse.
"People need to get out and play in the snow," Bea says. "Get in a snowball fight. Go sledding. This bad weather is something we all have in common and can help us bond. Be in the moment with others."
Even if you can be in the moment only on social networks because it's too dangerous outside?
That is the plight of Andrea Chancellor in Muskogee, Okla. After shoveling her driveway Tuesday, she went inside to warm up and was a little miffed when she looked out the window. The driveway was covered again within minutes and she couldn't see across the street to the neighbor's house.
She jumped onto Facebook.
"I see comments from lots of people around Tulsa saying they're cooking big meals for family, their kids are squealing because they're home from school, and they're having good family time," Chancellor says.
Bea encourages people to pick up the phone if they're alone. "We think having conversations on phones is healthier for people than the keyboard," he says.
Isolation can be a particular problem for people who have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), says Elaine Ducharme, a public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association.
SAD starts in the fall, when the days get shorter, and ends in the spring. Symptoms include sleep difficulties, a sense of hopelessness, overeating, irritability and loss of sexual desire.
"It really is a major definite illness we look at as something other than the winter blues," she says; people who are concerned should seek professional help.
Light therapy - using a 10,000-lux light for 30 minutes a day - can help patients, as can sitting by windows. Some medications can help, too, Ducharme says, and eating well, exercising "and fighting off those urges to sleep all the time and eat carbohydrates can be helpful to some."
This winter has been difficult for healthy people, too, she says.
"It has been absolutely ridiculous. Most people are just saying they're done with winter at this point."
One thing neighbors can do for each other is trade off children, she says. "You take the kids one day and let your neighbor have some time alone. The next day, your neighbor takes the kids."
McGovern knows she's lucky because child care hasn't been a big problem for her, unlike many moms who have to scramble to find child care help on snow days. Her husband, Brian, can also help out with their trio by working from home.
Still, she says, she's no saint.
She has her moments when the kids are all getting on each other's nerves and hers. Her husband is on a conference call with the office - again.
Her solution? Exercise. And she has a new workout buddy.
"I head out with the snow blower to do the driveway," she says. "Who ever would have thought I'd enjoy blowing snow? But it's great exercise, and it means you can get out and go somewhere when the storm is over."
Bea encourages people to pick up the phone if they're alone. "We think having conversations on phones is healthier for people than the keyboard," he says.
Isolation can be a particular problem for people who have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), says Elaine Ducharme, a public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association.
SAD starts in the fall, when the days get shorter, and ends in the spring. Symptoms include sleep difficulties, a sense of hopelessness, overeating, irritability and loss of sexual desire.
"It really is a major definite illness we look at as something other than the winter blues," she says; people who are concerned should seek professional help.
Light therapy - using a 10,000-lux light for 30 minutes a day - can help patients, as can sitting by windows. Some medications can help, too, Ducharme says, and eating well, exercising "and fighting off those urges to sleep all the time and eat carbohydrates can be helpful to some."
This winter has been difficult for healthy people, too, she says.
"It has been absolutely ridiculous. Most people are just saying they're done with winter at this point."
One thing neighbors can do for each other is trade off children, she says. "You take the kids one day and let your neighbor have some time alone. The next day, your neighbor takes the kids."
McGovern knows she's lucky because child care hasn't been a big problem for her, unlike many moms who have to scramble to find child care help on snow days. Her husband, Brian, can also help out with their trio by working from home.
Still, she says, she's no saint.
She has her moments when the kids are all getting on each other's nerves and hers. Her husband is on a conference call with the office - again.
Her solution? Exercise. And she has a new workout buddy.
"I head out with the snow blower to do the driveway," she says. "Who ever would have thought I'd enjoy blowing snow? But it's great exercise, and it means you can get out and go somewhere when the storm is over."
By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY
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