I am picking my battles....

[ginna74]

my son has a couple hoodies and he has been wearing them. I have these past few days been trying to get him to wear his coat. I guess it isn't cool or something. He is 12 and we have moved so he is in a new school, so it might be the newcomber thing, but I think it is the coolness factor. I dunno ....lol

 

[debster812]

DS is 12 now, and for as long as I can remember, he's always 'run hot', the kid really does not get chilly or cold until it's really BITTERLY cold. When he was in pre-school, DH and I had to sign a note saying that if he took his jacket off when they were out on the playground, that it was OK.

It's December in New England, and he is mostly wearing hoodies to the bus and to school. He's worn his North Face jacket a few times, when it's been in the 20s, but not too often. He did just get a buzz cut, so he's been wearing a hat in the mornings. He also will only wear super low cut socks.

I figure he's plenty old enough to realize when he's cold, and when he's not. He does keep a hoodie and pair of wind pants in his locker at school so if he has to layer he can.

This is really something that I choose not to battle over.

 

[AlternateEgo]

Hahahah! I was battling an outfit with oldest daughter too!

She wanted to wear a jumper I made, but I told her she would have to wear jeans under it. (Trust me, its cute.)

She told me she wasn't wearing jeans with a "dress" ... so I told her to take the jeans off and go stand outside for 5 minutes.

I won

 

[Ephany]

Glad to know it's not just my kid. This has been our battle all week, we've compromised on that fact that she has to take at least a zip-up fleece in her backpack just in case. It may be nice in the afternoon, but it's cold in the morning and that's when they have recess. On the other hand, she loves to wear her fuzzy boots and crocs so I don't have to worry about her feet getting cold.

 

[crashbb]

You can't catch a cold from being out in the cold without a jacket. People catch more colds during the winter because they tend to congregate together inside where it's warm (and where all the sick people are). You can still get hypothermia or frostbite, but I assume that the OP's child isn't that stubburn.

PP said that she would get cold. She didn't say that she would get a cold.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

My son is 14 and is the same way. He is old enough to decide if he freezes his fault

 

[mill4023]

PP said that she would get cold. She didn't say that she would get a cold.

3. And when it gets too cold (which doesn't happen often in southern Louisiana), you ARE NOT ALLOWED to go out without a coat/jacket, because I am the one who has to take off from work to care for your sick behind!

I was wondering how long it would be until someone implied that being cold can somehow make you sick

 

[krcit]

This is a battle I don't choose to fight either. I have 3 kids and they are still just wearing hoodies. The younger 2 only walk across the street to school and my oldest walks about a mile but she knows when she needs a coat. My middle dd cracks me up beacuse she loves hats-silly, funky hats with ear flasp and tassles and such. She has been wearing hats every day with just a hoodie

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I guess I don't see how it is a battle. It is cold out. Put your coat on. The end. There is no battle bcause the kid shouldn't be arguing back.
Of course that was just how it was for me and my friends growing up and my kids (although still young- we'll see how it goes when they are teens) get the same deal. Do what you are told. The end.

 

[Kitzka]

I don't fight with my DD 11 about this either. We are in Norther NJ and it's been pretty mild. At the same time i don't like to wear coats either. I am very warm all the time and wear short sleeves ALL year round. i hardly get cold and rarely wear a coat.

Lara

 

[nmmom95]

I guess I don't see how it is a battle. It is cold out. Put your coat on. The end. There is no battle bcause the kid shouldn't be arguing back.
Of course that was just how it was for me and my friends growing up and my kids (although still young- we'll see how it goes when they are teens) get the same deal. Do what you are told. The end.

Kids have to have an opinion of their own. While I have veto power if he went for something outlandish, I think that a child of middle school age has the right to decide how cold they are.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I have this fight with my DD14 about skirts. She attends Catholic school. I bought her 3 pairs of pants for school. NOT the school pants, but nice black cottony pants from JCPenney that she picked out. She refused all last year and so far this year to wear them. She walks home from the bus -- not too far, only a few blocks, but there's no talking to her. So fine, no pants, you be the one to freeze. I also tell her, when she specifically refuses to do something like this, that she will deal with the consequences. We have this problem with pajamas. All winter she wants to wear a cami and shorts to bed. Fine, but when she gets cold I refuse to let her change into warmer pajamas. I'm not doing 20 loads of laundry a week, because she won't listen the first time. And if you have teens you know, once clothing has touched your body, it's dirty and needs to be washed.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Kids have to have an opinion of their own. While I have veto power if he went for something outlandish, I think that a child of middle school age has the right to decide how cold they are.

Oh I agree that they should have an opinion. I am just saying that if it is 30 degrees out I don't care what their opinion is on the subject. Put on a coat.

 

[hentob]

Oh I agree that they should have an opinion. I am just saying that if it is 30 degrees out I don't care what their opinion is on the subject. Put on a coat.

Well said.

No battle. Your child should not defy you.

 

[sau418]

lol, in my house right now it is the opposite battle,
"Mom, where is your coat?" from my 3 year old. This being said after I have got shoes, hats, mittens and coats on her and her 2 year old sister and am now in the car in the garage sweating. I usually have a hoodie on and am on my way to the gym after taking them to preschool, so the coat is the last thing I am trying to remember.

 

[christinou]

I have 2 girsl 12 and 14, and this is also a battle I do not fight, they hate wearing coats, and will only wear flip flops, so far we are lucky it has been very mild out, they might wear sneakers if it is really snowy, I figure if it is cold enough they will wear something warmer.

 

[clovergirl5]

Op, I could have wrote this thread myself dd13 is pulling the same thing every morning not wanting to wear a coat. We dealt with this issue this morning again. I make her wear one, I know she takes it off once on the bus, and that doesn't bother me. I just want her to be prepared if she needed it. We live in Michigan way out in the boonies on a dirt road. The kids have an hour bus ride everyday. The buses have broken down. What if she had to get out and walk in the snow and cold? They have never had to yet but you never know LOL. (Im hovering again )

 

[debster812]

Oh I agree that they should have an opinion. I am just saying that if it is 30 degrees out I don't care what their opinion is on the subject. Put on a coat.

OK--while I respect your opinion (your kid, your rules), I also disagree.

As I posted earlier, DS 'runs hot'. 30 degrees, with no wind, and the sun shining, he'd head out to school in a hoodie. Of course he'd also have a tshirt and long sleeve shirt on under it. He waits for the bus for <5 minutes, and does not have recess. He's also got more layers in his locker. I ask him if he needs a coat, and he tells me yes or no.

Of course, I used to make my old school Italian MIL crazy too, by not putting a hat on him every time he was outside as a newborn. Of course, he was a summer baby, it was 90 degrees out, and he had a full head of hair. All the hats did was make him sweaty. So I started keeping a hat in the car. When we'd get to MILs house, I'd put it on him, walk into the house, and take it off. It did not hurt us, and made her happy.

I don't consider an older tween or a teen saying they don't want to wear a coat an act of defiance.

 

[QueenRocks]

Hoodies for my kids too. My kids stopped wearing coats when they hit middle school. The lockers were too small for their coats to fit in.

 

[golfgal]

Oh I agree that they should have an opinion. I am just saying that if it is 30 degrees out I don't care what their opinion is on the subject. Put on a coat.

30???? I thought we were talking about when it gets cold outside I was thinking more like -30° which is when I will say something to the kids.

Well said.

No battle. Your child should not defy you.

See, it isn't a battle because I don't say anything to them about wearing a coat or not, they are PLENTY old enough to know they need one and if the choose not to wear one, oh well, you are cold, not me. I couldn't even tell you if the kids put on their coats before they leave for school or not unless I look in the mud room after they have gone.