Top 10 Signs That You Have Cabin Fever

It’s the dead of winter, and in the Midwest that means cold, snow and little daylight. Alright, it’s true that we’ve actually had a really mild winter, with little snow and pretty warms temps, compared to the last few years. And yes, our days are getting long little by little, and Day Light Savings time is just around the corner. But after months of being stuck inside one thing is for sure. Cabin Fever has set in.

So how do you tell if you have Cabin Fever? Here are the top ten signs.

1. Endless pacing. From the kitchen to living room, from the bedrooms to the bathroom. It doesn’t matter where you are going, or what you will do when you get there. The point is that you are moving. Because if  you have to sit still for one more second, someone isn’t going to survive.
2. The dogs are on Craig’s List. They are restless, jumping from couch to couch, barking at everything that moves. Or thinks about moving. Or has moved sometime during the past 12 years. And since it’s too cold to let them outside to burn off some of their energy, the only other solution is to sell them. Seems reasonable don’t you think? Unfortunately, no one wants to buy a dog in the winter, so we’re still stuck with them.
3. On the rare days when the sun is shining, and the bitter world looks warm again you sit, for hours, with your face smashed against the window. Ignoring the freezing cold glass, and the fact that your face just might freeze to the window, you pretend that you can suck all of the warmth out of the sun.
4. The very idea of leaving the house, all of the sweaters, jackets, mittens, boots, wool socks, hats and scarves is enough to send you screaming back to your sweats, burying your head under the covers and shutting your eyes against the world. Until it’s finally June and the snow has melted away.
5. A quite night at home, with your hubby, the kiddo, the dogs and a movie or two sounds like Chinese torture rather than bliss. Haven’t we been doing the exact same thing for past six months?
6. You snuggle up to your hubby out of necessity, not because you want to. The 3 or 4 blankets you already have piled around you are just not keeping out the cold, maybe some body-on-body heat will do the trick. Only, you’re so cold that there’s no hope that this contact will turn into more.
7. You plan vacations to far away, tropical places. Not that you will actually go, but maybe if you look at sunny pictures long enough, you’ll start to get just a little bit of a tan.
8. When you do finally venture outside, because the house is totally void of anything edible (unless you count dog food, which I do not), by the time you get back home, a 66º degree house feels like heaven.
9. Two hours later, in that same 66º house, you’re shivering while jumping up and down, blowing on your hands just to keep warm. And you’re actually considering leaving, just to feel the warmth of the house when you return.
10. You finally take the kiddo outside to play baseball, because you’re tired of telling him that you can’t play until the snow is all gone. Five minutes later everyone is back inside again, because you discovered that you can’t play baseball in the snow afterall. Two days later, you do the exact same thing.

How about you? What are the signs that your family has a serious case of Cabin Fever?

This blog was inspired by Oh Amanda’s Top 10 Tuesday’s Blog Carnival. Head on over for more Top 10 Lists.

Tagged as: cabin fever, snow, Top Ten Tuesday, winter