Posted on by althea

No shoes, no coat, No Problem!

IMG_7271 My kids dislike wearing shoes.  And coats.  And for the most part, clothes.

That makes getting them out the door in cold weather a bit (ahem) of a challenge.

I’ve felt rather daunted these last weeks, envisioning the next six months of shoe and coat wearing season.  It stretches ahead of me like a dusty road of tears.

So I’m taking a new tactic.  I don’t want to battle over the little stuff, and I try to pick my battles.  So I have decided that Andrew and Sylvia get to choose if and whether they wear coats and shoes.  My hope is that by the time it really does get cold enough to be dangerous that they will both decide on their own to wear shoes and it won’t be a Mom/Child battle.

So far so good.  My kids aren’t wearing shoes and coats.  (I’m chuckling here.)  Yesterday it was raining and 45 degrees, and Andrew went out to the car barefoot with a short-sleeved shirt on.  Sylvia doesn’t like to wear shoes when we pick up Andrew from preschool, which means that she can’t walk, but she’s OK with that.  She likes her coat because she gets to pull up the hood, which is waaay cool.

My neighbors have wittnessed my barefooted kids running about while I am warm in a down coat and had.  Argh!  Whatever!!!

I’ve struggled with myself as I’ve allowed this situation to unfold.  But until frostbite is immanent, or until they get whiny about being cold, I’m going to let them be.

So to close, here’s a funny exchange between me and my smart little boy yesterday afternoon.  I was following his wet footprints as Andrew walked barefoot with no jacket in the nearly freezing weather.  I felt rather frustrated:

Me: “Andrew! You know, if you keep walking around barefoot without a jacket in this cold weather, you’re going to get sick!”

Andrew: (turns and looks at me quizzically) “No Mom!  That’s not true.  You don’t get sick from being cold.  You get sick from bad things…like germs. (pause and smile) You’re being silly, Mom. (pause and chuckle) I think you’re telling me a joke!”

Oh dear, I can’t fool my preschooler.  Education sure does make it harder to run a dictatorship.

Here’s hoping that he’s right!

5 Replies to “No shoes, no coat, No Problem!”

  2. Hmmm … one thought I had was maybe turning down the thermostat inside so that it feels a little chilly and prompts a preference for warmer clothes and socks, but if they are immune to 45 degree temps outside, they might not get cold if it's 65 inside. Although being in it all day versus being outside briefly may make a difference. I wear socks all summer, so I am not understanding this preference for running around barefoot in the cold and damp. It makes me shiver!

  3. I was thinking about it a little more and maybe life is so exciting for small kids that they just can't be held back by things like shoes and coats sometimes.

Comments are closed.