MOMMASAID CLASSIC: 20 Signs it's Winter, Mom

Technically, it’s still fall. But it sure feels like winter in more ways than one. I’ve added some new ones to this classic list. What’s your addition?

1. You found three mittens in the toy box – and they’re all lefties.
2. The kids’ boots, however, are still a pair — and frozen to the garbage can in the garage, along with what appears to be a SpongeBob scarf and a soccer ball.
3. After a month of constant play, your kids’ Hokey Pokey Elmo can no longer put his whole self in.
4. You absentmindedly hum the background music for Super Mario Brothers while you scrape the last of the hot chocolate out of the container.
5. You wrestle the baby’s snowsuit on, and then he fills his diaper.
6. By the time you get it off again, it’s spring.
7. You’re flipping through the TV channels, remote in one hand and credit card in the other, for a fundraiser to cure Cabin Fever.
8. You’re shouting at the ceiling to “Knock it off!”
9. You’ve spotted two of the missing right-handed mittens — on the neighbor’s snowman.
10. The sun goes down hours and hours before your kids do.
11. Your advent calendar counts down to Spring Ahead, when presumably, you’ll (blessedly) lose an hour of searching for Barbie’s head between the couch cushions.
12. You wish the stroller had four-wheel-drive.
13. You’ve suggested to the pediatrician a Frequent Flu Card. Ten punches = free venti coffee.
14. Don’t worry. The groceries stay nicely refrigerated in the car, right where you forgot them.
15. You’re wondering if your hairdresser would mind meeting you at the indoor soccer facility. I mean, you just sit there for 90 minutes, three times a week. Why not get highlights while you wait?
16. Your socks are now starring in a puppet show with no plot.
17. And that’s just the socks you can find. The rest are stuck by static cling inside someone’s Dora the Explorer feety pajamas.
18. You tend to use your sleeves as oven mitts. It’s just easier.
19. Of the 43 winter hats in the school’s Lost and Found, exactly zero belong to your children.
20. You’ve heard the two words that put fear in the hearts of all parents: Snow Day. Again…

Parts of this list appeared in Parenting magazine, back in the day, and yet it still applies.

Share, share, that’s fair: What are the signs of winter in your house?