World’s Greatest Babysitter Has Given Us The Best Winter Activity Hack Ever
“They’re going to be out there until they’re frozen and you have to go get them.”
I’ve always loved a snow day. There’s nothing cozier than building a nice fire, making a pot of tea and cuddling up with a good book under your favorite blanket. Of course, when you have kids those days are over for you. They’re in your space and in your face. Want to watch a Real Housewives marathon? I don’t think so: You’re watching Paw Patrol... all day. But Chelsea (@chelsea_explains on Instagram), the self-proclaimed “Michael Jordan of Babysitting,” has genius advice to reclaim your snow days.
This particular hack is called “Arctic Explorers.” It only costs a couple of bucks and it will buy you an hour or two of quiet time in the house.
“How it works is you take some of your old Easter eggs, and you put some change in them — I didn’t even do quarters; just pennies, nickels, dimes — you put them in your Easter eggs and you hide them in the snow. And you tell the kids, ‘Hey kids, it’s time to play Arctic Explorers! You guys are searching for penguin eggs. There’s money in the penguin eggs.’”
But what will you do when the kids find the dozen or so eggs you’ve hidden in the snow? This is where the plan is really genius: You lie to the children.
“You tell those kids that there’s a big number of those eggs in the backyard — 100, or a billion, whatever, you just make it up,” Chelsea explains. “Give them a shovel (even a spatula, in a pinch) and send them off.
“They’re going to be out there until they’re frozen and you have to go get them.”
The children will thank you for your lies. They will have the best time ever. Maybe they’ll even try to look for the rest of the eggs tomorrow...
“She is playing chess and we’re all still playing checkers,” one commenter marveled.
And the commenters had some good recommendations of their own.
“We live in Florida, so we don’t have snow. But we have a sand box in our backyard and it works the same!” explains another. “Sometimes we’ll hide them in plants or just in the dirt. We call them dinosaur eggs and they only lay them in the winter time.”
“My favorite thing about this page is that it’s just creatively lying to children and it’s for their own benefit,” a third agrees.
Hey, you call it lying; we call it childhood whimsy.
Enjoy your tea and quiet, friends.
