Surviving a blizzard with a toddler

Blizzard Jonas dropped a ton of snow on the East Coast this past weekend. This was our first big storm that we have had to deal with while having a toddler. Being 30 weeks pregnant on top of that was just an extra bonus. I was due with my daughter when Hurricane Sandy hit so I was just thankful there wasn't a chance I would actually have the baby during a storm this time.

I have honestly never been so busy. I really took for granted the ability to pop out of the house- even if it was to food shop! We ended up home for about 72 hours and thankfully our power did not go out.

Things to have on hand for (non-pregnant) moms and dads: wine and beer. No explanation needed.

Things to have on hand for toddler:
1) puzzles - if you click the link for .99 cents you can get your hands on foam alphabet puzzle pieces. You local dollar store may carry them as well. These have been a constant favorite for the past year for my 3 year old. You can match letter, build blocks, line them up, pop out the letters...she made a cake out of it? All I know is it kept her super busy.
2) coloring/art supplies - do yourself a favor and pick up an art easel. Not only will the drawings stay contained, we were able to play school, trace letters, draw, use chalk - so much variation it held her attention. I love this art easel by Discovery Kids because you can put it on a table top. It doesn't take up too much room and you can wipe away the chalk dust from the table instead of it getting on the floor and in your rug.
3) movie or movies - if you have a toddler you know that there is a good chance you will watch one movie over and over and over.
4) snacks. My husband and I concluded she ate more than both of us combined.
5) MILK - I didn't do the whole rush the grocery store for milk/bread/eggs, mostly because I don't know how to make French toast. We had about a quarter gallon left. When you are home for 3 days I had no idea how much milk we would go through. Especially since we ended up using it for coffee, mac and cheese, cereal, not just drinking. Buy milk!
6) sled - now living in Delaware means no hills so I thought this was an odd Christmas to get from the grandparents, but my daughter had a blast just being pulled around in the sled by mommy. She laughed her face off the entire time and didn't want to stop. We went with a really simple plastic sled that was really easy to pull even at 30 weeks pregnant.

Things to consider:
1) grabbing pantry staples like bread and PB&J in case you lose power
2) extra batteries/flashlights/candles in case you lose power. We set up a pile of blankets as well in case the heat went out.
3) bottled water
4) a shovel - does this sound dumb? We couldn't find ours when it came down to it, check you can remember where everything was from all the winter's you didn't need it, don't just assume it's in the garage.
5) salt - if you can find any left in stores!
6) charge cell phones and kindles while you can in case the power does go out. If we didn't have the ipad with some apps ready to go I would have lost my mind.
7) fill up cars with gas - another thing I side eyed prior, we had half a tank left in the SUV. But when we spent an hour trying to get the car out Monday morning we burned through half of that! Don't get stuck and end up in a bad position.
8) if your kid is over the napping stage - try to have them nap. My daughter who is 3 napped for 2 hours each day, she was so tired (wouldn't admit it). Playing outside and the cold I think wore her out. She was happy to be bundled into her bed and take a nap. Also, mommy needed a nap. She actually also announced she needed to go to bed each night around 7. So really make sure to monitor their activity, the last thing you want is to be snowed in with a cranky toddler. 

Some pictures of our activities, dress up was a hit!

Do you have any additional tips for surviving a snow storm? Share your ideas in the comments below!