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I let my kids choose, but it doesn't get *that* cold here. It's been in the 30s and 40s mostly, and my kids wear hoodies (with lining, so a little warmer) and long and short-sleeved shirts. They walk about a mile to school and really don't want to wear the winter coats they own. I grew up in Chicago, which is significantly colder (30 degrees is a nice heat wave much of the winter), and I remember some years wearing hoodies much more than winter coats. So I'm fine with their choices. It's not cold enough to injure them, and if they're cold it's their own fault. If I were in Chicago, or somewhere colder, I would likely have a different take.
Frankly, if your teen cannot choose his or her clothing wisely for the weather, I think you did not do very well at teaching them to choose when they were much younger.
Frankly, if your teen cannot choose his or her clothing wisely for the weather, I think you did not do very well at teaching them to choose when they were much younger.
I don't think that's fair. Peer pressure is strong.
Ha ha! I was a pretty independent kid. I would have dressed cooler whether she "let me" or not!
She never understood how I could not be wearing a coat and boots in winter. She also never understood why I would let my kids run around the house in winter in bare feet and short sleeves. Well, gosh, they were HOT, like me!
I am currently sitting on my couch, in bare feet, with my indoor thermostat reading a very comfortable 62 degrees F right now. I am wearing a t shirt and jeans. A cat is curled up near me.
Me too! I never wear a zipped up 'parka' and couldn't be forced to do that. As an adult in MN it still irritates me when other adults have to say: "Aren't you cold? Where are your gloves?" It's 70 to 75 when I get to work and all these ladies are shivering in their sweaters...one day I'm going to get tired of that crap and sit around the office in my underwear.
The doctor who lived next door to me when I was going to school let his kids go to school without 72 layers and snow pants, and sometimes even had wet hair. That really drove the mothers nuts, as people with no medical knowledge will insist wet hair in the winter will make kids sick...and he was just 'crazy'.
If you actually live in Yellowknife then it makes sense to put on that many clothes: with average morning temps between -30 to -40c during winter it wouldn't take too long to get frostbite.
Down here in the States it's a different story; even in the Northeast (where I grew up) the avg morning temps were only around -5 to -10c with the coldest mornings being around -20c. And the upper Midwest (i.e., Minneapolis) is about 5c colder than that. At that temp a sweatshirt sufficed while waiting ten minutes for the bus; if my parents tried to make me wear too many clothes I would just leave them in my locker instead of wearing them back home.
So in terms of clothing discipline and practicality, living up there is a whole different ballgame than living anywhere in the lower 48. Probably the only people who could relate to that would be Alaskans or Siberians.
Even though it is below freezing outside I constantly see teens who are completely underdressed and some who aren't even wearing winter coats.
I don't mess around when it comes to dressing for cold weather. I have a thirteen year old daughter and I make sure she is always bundled up. She has a very long walk to school in the brutal morning cold, so serious winter gear is a must. That means that insulated snow pants and knee high winter boots are essential. I don't care how uncool my daughter thinks they are, I have to put her health and safety first. Besides she has a change of shoes at school and can wear whatever jeans or yoga pants she finds stylish underneath the snow pants. Just as long as they're on when she goes outside. Next I have her layer a puffy vest from the North Face over a fleece jacket from the same brand. Over that she wears the Canada Goose Kensington parka with the Marmot Montreaux coat under it as an extra liner. I always have my daughter wear thick gloves, a warm hat, a scarf, and both her hoods up.
I know that with all that gear on when she walks to school in single digit weather with the windchill in the negatives she's warm.
Do you force your kids to get bundled up for the cold weather?
This takes me back. We live in the frozen tundra in the upper Midwest. Lots of snow and killer wind chills. And, I did try to force them....but you have to pick your battle grounds.
Both my oldest kids were that way. They are in their mid forties now, but when they were teens I felt like I must look like a terrible Mom...because my daughter would stand at the bus stop, (across the street from our house)with her jeans rolled up at the ankles, (80's Madonna style)no socks and little ballerina flats, shivering....She at least wore long sweaters a warm coat.
A few years later my Son refused to wear a coat all winter long, and went to school in t-shirts. I drove him everyday...It was embarrassing to me. I finally gave up threatening and cajoling. He never even got a cold that winter
Teens just rebel against things is weird ways....It is not always the parents that are at fault.
Teens just rebel against things is weird ways....It is not always the parents that are at fault.
I don't think it's always rebelling, I think that different people have different body temperatures and that teens/kids also tend to run warmer. I know that when I was growing up I wasn't rebelling by wanting to wear shorts in winter, I simply wasn't cold.
I know my son needs to dress warmer at times.So his style is a zip hood over a t-shirt.My sister bought him a winterize zip Hoody with fleece on the inside.The minute he gets sick I harp on him."Maybe you should of wore your knit hat or gloves"...He grumbles but I see him wearing it. Lol!
Seems like overkill for a teenager. How long is her walk?
I grew up in New England, so it was cold, but not usually below 0. When the kids were little and we were up north, I'd carry their coats for them if they didn't want to wear them. I think it's important for kids to figure out how to handle their own comfort.
Now we live in Florida and they can wear shorts in the winter if they want to.
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If I were in Chicago, or somewhere colder, I would likely have a different take.
