Grown up or still a kid?

We've had a day of snow. And more snow. And still more snow. It is cold and dark and nobody has come to plow us out. My daughter seems unfazed by the snow. She's been walking to school for years in the snow and it really doesn't bother her as long as she's prepared for it.

Her brother, on the other hand, is less able to handle the snow. Why? Because he's like a 2-year old when it comes to putting on the proper clothing. He's not like some of the kids around here who wear shorts all year round, but he really refuses to wear the right kind of coat and boots? BOOTS? No freaking way! I sat in the shoe store last week with him and begged him to at least try on a pair of boots. He would not budge. All winter he wears sneakers. At least I convinced him that his Converse All Stars were not a good choice for winter and that perhaps he could find a sneaker made of a leather product that would at least keep his feed dry-ish. He did agree to that.

Coats are another sticky wicket. Have you noticed that Suri Cruise is carried around with a blanket around her because she will not wear a coat? Well, you cannot do that with a kid over 6 feet tall and 200 lbs. It just doesn't work. The only coat he will wear is a trench coat with a zip in lining. It is not warm. Believe me, it is a ridiculous choice when the weather is 10 degrees outside, but there is no way of convincing him otherwise.

Oh, he has a parka he can wear. A nice warm Lands End jacket. But he says that he doesn't want to look like a dork, so he won't wear it. Because it's blue. Blue not being black. Not that he would wear a black parka wither. Nope, he's not going to wear a coat and that's that.

I thought we had finished with this fight because last year and they year before I got him a coat he would actually wear. A real bomber jacket. He liked it a lot. But he also says it's too small now, but he refuses to try it on to prove it to me. So I don't believe him even though I know he's grown like crazy since last winter.

I just do not get this whole fad of no coats for boys. They wear hoodies and are always freezing but you cannot get them to put on a freaking coat. When did coats become the enemy?

Comments

[Ilona]

I feel your pain. Actually, I feel his too, because I remember doing the same thing in high school. We did wear boots, as I recall, but no mittens, no hats, no scarves. Coats were small and tight. This in central Ontario, where winter temperatures routinely dropped well below freezing.

Why? Because hats, mittens and coats that actually covered your body were not "cool". Standing huddled around in quivering, shivering, miserable clusters, now THAT was cool.

The more things change...

[Daisy]

Boots were a battle I chose not to fight for a few years. This year, Amigo (16) suggested he might need a pair. Now that it's his idea, I bought him a pair. In the middle of a snowstorm, not on sale.

[Jerri Ann]

I hate a coat, absolutely hate them. I refuse to wear them. And, even today, I was wearing a short sleeved shirt, hair drenched with sweat (tell me there's not some hormone issues somewhere) and people are running around bundled up like it was 36 outside and felt like 24...which is exactly what the weatherman convinced my husband that it was....I hate coats, jackets, hoodies.....I like it cool.