Freezing temps and fashion

[tiredmommy]

husband gave Duckie a ride into school today because she has to bring her viola, book bag and her science experiment board. It's 3F and Lord knows what the wind chill is so she was told to bundle up. She argued, of course, and wanted to wear her topsiders WITHOUT SOCKS even and her North Face fleece rather than a warm coat. Now, normally I wouldn't care about such things but frost bite and an asthma attack are a real possibility in temps like this. Thankfully, husband took on the "just do as your told and get in the car" tone and she complied (this time).

Has anyone else had a problem with their kids not dressing for the weather, especially in those areas with brutal temps like the Great Lakes and the Northeast?

 

[SuZir]

We used to have with both, when they were younger. Luckily this generation wears beanies everywhere, so the battle was to make them take those off in class rooms, when me and my generation absolutely refused to wear hats, even when it was - 20 F and we still had to spend our fifteen minute break after every 45 minute class in school yard. One of my very few detentions ever ever was due three warnings from missing hat

With my kids it was about long johns, because cool guys apparently want to freeze their nuts, and winter shoes. They wanted to wear sneakers throughout winter and only couple years ago the sneaker manufacturers noticed the money they can make with warm, Goretex winter sneakers. After that shoes were not an issue.

 

[jal]

Mine it's 10F here in CT and difficult child 11 can't wear a winter coat to save his life. He'll learn sometime. husband took him to the bus stop to keep him warm before heading to work. Haha. Coat, hat, gloves-what are those?

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[Wiped Out]

We cannot get difficult child to wear a real winter coat. Luckily he gets dropped off right by the door by husband and a bus drops him off right at my school's door after school.

 

[svengandhi]

difficult child was well known for his refusal to wear a coat or warm clothing during his school years. In 1st grade, after the school threatened to call CPS, I left a coat in school for him to wear if he chose to go out to recess. Usually, he stayed indoors and played chess so it wasn't an issue. In HS, people used to tell me they saw difficult child around, HOW does he manage to get by in shorts all winter? Ironically, he initially refused to attend the school he is at, in the North Country, because even he realized he'd have to wear long pants and a coat there and he wasn't sure he wanted to do it.

Babyboy went to his scout meeting tonight in gym shorts, sneakers and a leather trench coat left open and flying in the wind. It was about 20 F.

When daughter was a little girl, she only wanted to wear frilly sundresses year round. I let her as long as she agreed to a turtleneck and tights underneath it.

Part of the reason for this is that schools are kept so overheated that the kids die. They aren't outside that much. In weather this cold, we drop them a minute's walk from the building and they don't do gym outdoors if it's below 32.

H is the same way and he refers to this trait as "thermal indifference."

 

[KTMom91]

Miss KT will wear a hoodie in the summer; I don't own anything heavier than a jacket. She calls me a yeti because I'm rarely cold. I call her the Frosted Mini Wheat girl because she wears eight layers.

 

[confuzzled]

its the style, and its "cool".

my next door neighbor boy (not difficult child) wears a short sleeve tee and shorts (I am convinced its actually a swimsuit, well, because i'm NOT cool) to school every day.

I know this because he locks himself out of the house almost daily and comes over for a key. and daily, I tell him to put some clothes on. and daily, he laughs at me with teeth chattering away. (ok, maybe he's got a toe over the difficult child line).

my difficult child, on the other hand, is nobodys fool. she's like msKT--full on cold weather regalia to include a hoodie, a coat, gloves, boots and so on. she has to go outside multiple times a day and will be the first person to laugh at the short-wearing fools.

we have had the snowiest and coldest winter this year in eons. it is freezing outside.

but hey, its cooooollll....

and since its not you, I vote to let natural consequences kick in....

 

[trinityroyal]

Interestingly, it's my easy child who refuses to dress for the weather. He just doesn't feel the cold, so it's not a battle in which I choose to engage with him.

All the cook kids wear hats these days, so his head is covered. I knit and crochet, and handmade gloves and mittens are "in" this year, so his hands are covered. Those are his only nods to the cold. He wears running shoes with ankle-high athletic socks ALL WINTER. He refuses to wear boots, because they're "too heavy" and he "can't move freely." Most of the time he wears his hockey team jacket as a winter coat. Occasionally he'll wear some or all the pieces of his layered winter coat (wind-breaker, inner shell and really really warm puffy middle layer)

My rule is: I provide all the warm stuff, but I can't make you wear it, so don't come crying to me if you're freezing your butt off later. On days when frostbite is a concern, I make sure fingers, toes, ears and noses are covered, and let the rest of him fend for itself.

I suspect I will also have to fight this battle with Tyrantina once she's a bit older, but the other Monsters all feel the cold like I do, so the challenge is making sure there are enough sweaters, hats and scarves for them.

 

[susiestar]

This is not a battle that I will fight. If my genius IQ children cannot figure out how to not be cold in cold weather, then they will be cold. It simply is not worth my energy. Tyler has maybe worn a coat (a jacket, not a real coat - I didn't even purchase a real coat for him this year after four years of having them never even be worn twice before being outgrown.) four times this year. Twice were because his gpa refused to take him somewhere with-o a coat. The boy simply is not cold. He has five prs of pants but has only worn 2 of them. he somehow lost the others. In his closet. On hangars. On the rod, you know . . . hanging up. I found them with the tags on them right where they went when I bought them and told him to hang them up. Guess I forgot to tell him that he could unhang them and wear them. silly me.

One of his teachers did a major double take a few weeks back. thank you was wearing winter attire for the first time. My mother knitted a Dr. Who scarf for him (the 9 foot long version, not the 12 foot one because it would drag on the ground). He wears it everywhere. No coats though. He wore cargo shorts, crocs with-o socks, a tshirt and the scarf the day after he got it. We had snow and sleet that day. He said he was 'toasty warm!", lol.

I often get grief for not wearing what my parents consider to be the 'right' coat.

I have converted my mother to shawls this year though. They are warmer, far more flexible, and more comfortable than coats. I have fleece fabric that I use (some started life as throw blankets, some as fabric), and some lighter knits that I am picking up. Think pashmina type things. I can cover all of me or part of me, and I don't swell. I do keep an extra in the car at all times in winter, just in case.

I will say that when we travel any distance I do make sure we have coats, hats and mittens in the car even if the kids are not wearing them at all times. For me it is the same as keeping a case of water bottles in the car, just a wise thing to do. When you routinely drive an hour to shop, well, a stash of many things in the car is wise. I won't fight with the kids over coats though. I did get a laugh when the school called to offer to buy a coat for Tyler last year. I told them they were welcome to, though he wouldn't wear one they bought any more than the ones he already had at home. He just gets too hot for them. They quizzed him over the coats and if he 'really' had one or more, and he even carried one to school to show them. It was just a few degrees above freezing that day and he wore shorts and a tshirt and carried the coat rather than wearing it.

Is this really a battle you want to fight? thank you knows he won't get rides to places simply due to the cold, and to dress comfortably for the weather. His comfortable and mine are different, but as long as it is not life threatening, he is old enough and able minded enough to grasp the concept of wearing a coat if he gets cold. Thus it is Not. My. Problem.