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Atlantans stocks up for winter storm
01:16 - Source: wxia

What are you doing to stay sane in the storm? Send your stories and tips to iReport.

Story highlights

Have coffee handy - lots of it

There's always the TV

Hope that the power doesn't go out

Send them to a childless friend

Atlanta CNN  — 

The dire warnings have been heeded. The pantries stocked. The cars parked.

For Atlanta parents waiting out the impending ice storm at home, it’s not so much about staying safe as it’s about staying sane.

When Georgia announced storm preparations, schools closed – sending thousands of kids home for an unexpected mini-vacation.

And now parents across the metro area have something new to worry about: how on earth are they going to keep their kids from going stir crazy – and driving them up the wall?

Those trips to the craft stores? Done. Baking treats? Done. And the storm hasn’t even hit!

Why ice is so much worse than snow

“Everyone’s nerves are on edge,” said Mary Koronkowski, a resident in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta.

We reached out to a few parents to get some tips and pointers on how to stay sane. Turns out, there’s hope for you.

Under any other circumstances, some of these tips would be frowned upon. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!

1. Caffeinate yourself

Coffee makes you chipper even on the darkest days. And believe us, a blackout and a room full of anxious kids definitely calls for high energy.

So, have a pot full pot of coffee handy at all times. Save some in a thermos flask in case there’s a blackout.

“(I’m) making coffee tonight and putting it in thermos so if we don’t have power in the morning I don’t eat my young,” said mom Paige DeMent.

2. Park the minions in front of the TV

Thank goodness for small mercies: The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

“We don’t count Olympics as screen time,” rationalized Josh Levs, a CNN journalist, on paternity leave.

Why not put power lines underground?

He has company. All those rules about limiting TV don’t apply during inclement weather, they joked.

Julie Rodgers Smith is a mother of two little ones.

“We are watching the Olympics for as long as we have power,” she said.

3. Hope that the power stays on

Like all good moms, Guinevere Patrick is ready for the storm.

Both iPhones are charged

the iPad and the Kindle

the computer of course

until the power dwindles”

And when it does? Uh oh … don’t even go there!

“Just broke the news to 13-year-old that if we lose power, we lose Wi-Fi for his tablet - the HORROR!,” tweeted Kathy Schmidt.

4. Shame the kids into behaving

Kids are savvy. If nothing works, threaten to take your case to the web. Your threat options are plenty: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook. If your children are over a certain age, the horrifying thought of social media infamy will send them into a quiet corner.

“All three kids rankling each other and working themselves into a frenzy,” Koronkowski said Tuesday night, describing the scene at her house. “I have threatened to post a video of the heathens if they don’t knock it off.”

Parents are finding comfort in collective empathy online

“We are all in the same boat,” Lisa Laczko said. “It’s crucial for our sanity.”

(Warning: this has the potential to backfire on you. For some, 15 minutes of fame translates to a ticket to Coolville.)

5. Send them to your childless friends

Surely, you have a friend like Kelly Holton. She doesn’t have children and her office is closed.

“I’m not sure my extroverted soul can survive another week of being trapped at home by the weather,” she said. “I live alone so my problem is too much peace and quiet.

“I’d gladly borrow someone’s kid for a day just to break up the monotony.”

Any takers?

CNN’s Alanne Orjoux, Mike Pearson, Tori Blase, Dorrine Mendoza and Ed Payne contributed to this report.