What do you do on rainy/bad weather days?

[mrs.t]

I have a high needs DS, almost 8 mo. I have to get out of the house every day with him, even if it's just for a drive, or else he gets into a crabby mood. This is fine when it's beautiful outside, we are both happier taking a walk in the sunshine. However, it's been raining and it got me thinking about winter. I feel like I'll go insane if I'm stuck in the house day after day with a whiny boy. I have a local mall, but that gets really boring and I end up spending more money than I should. Plus, when it starts snowing, I'm not going to want to drive. We have a pretty big yard so I guess I can always take him outside on snow days, but when it's really nasty I'm at a loss. What do you do???

[BarefootGirl]

I've been thinking about this myself.  I am home with my 10 day old.  The weather has been rainy almost every day since we left the hospital and I'm going a little batty.  Other than just strolling the mall and shopping centers, I haven't come up with much.  Most places I can think of would be difficult if babe started crying a lot - libraries, movie theatres.  At least at the library you can step out to calm baby if necessary.  You can't do that at a movie.  Maybe a museum or aquarium? 

[cocoanib]

I don't know if this helps at all,  but on cold/rainy days or days where we need stuff to do inside, we get in the kitchen.

DD loves watching and "helping" me bake and prepare things.

This past weekend, we dehydrated some herbs and prepared them and put them away. Another day we baked cookies all so we

could be in the kitchen. Sometimes she was in her sling, others she was in her walker. DD likes activity and this seems to keep her entertained. 

[dancingflower]

Our public library has a nice children's section, he can crawl and meet other babies or watch the bigger kids.

The children's section of our barnes and noble is also pretty baby friendly. Borders maybe.

I'm thinking of getting a family membership at the YMCA so we can use the indoor pool. There are also some city ndoor pools.

I'm also planning on dressing him properly and hit the outdoor playgrounds. I keep myself sane by spending some time outdoor during the winter (walk/bike). I worked as a babysitter for a bit and I remember that the children did want to be outside in the winter too. They are always running, which keeps them warm.

Truth is that since the temperature went down, I noticed that our LO is not being offered so many opportunities to be active. When the weather was nice, we were more inclined to stop by the parks between daily errands. Your thread actually called my attention to that. I even caught myself wondering if the struggle that we've been having to get him to sleep in the last few nights has something to do with the fact that he's been always tucked and tied in the stroller or the ergo lately. I wanna hear what other mamas do.

[jecombs]

 Have you thought about joining a Mom's group in your area?  That's a great and free way to get out of the house.

On rainy days, I like to take my kids to the library or to an indoor play area at the mall or Chick-fil-A.  I'll usually buy a coffee or something at Chick-fil-A, but it doesn't cost more than $2.  In the winter I always sign us up for swimming lessons at the YMCA.  You don't have to be a member to take them (a membership would be great, but we can't afford it).  My 3 y.o. will take lessons by herself and I'll do parent-child lessons with my 6 mo. old.  The lessons are once a week and last for 4 weeks; they only cost $20.

[Knitting Mama]

Seconding the mama's group. You can look here on MDC for your local tribe, and also try meetup.com. I found a fabulous AP mama group on meetup.