Parenting Tip of the Day #4- Coats

I am getting so anxious for spring!  It has been a long, cold winter made all that much colder by having to spend a large portion of it buckling kids into carseats.  There are some frustrations of being a mom you didn’t think about before living them and the amount of time you spend hustling cold kids through a parking lot or trying to arrange carseat buckles safely over coats while you freeze your tookus off are two of mine.  So I wanted to give you a tip about coats for the spring and fall months.

When we’re running errands or making a quick trip I don’t put coats on my kids.

I know, I know- they might freeze!  This is where I try to imagine my ancestors in the sod house laughing at me.  Exactly when are they going to freeze?  In my heated car or in the heated grocery store?  Really the amount of time my kids spend in the elements is minimal.

Here’s why sometimes (in the spring and fall) I don’t do coats:

–They are a pain to put on.  One child+one coat+ one mom = not a big deal.  At this point I have four small children and only one of them is consistently capable of working a zipper or a button, so it becomes a major time commitment to do that all myself.  Usually by the time I’ve got the third kid’s coat zipped the first one managed to wiggle out or spill something on it.

–They make carseats unsafe.  It’s just true.  Your kids are safer with a blanket over them in the car than to be wearing a bulky coat under their buckles.  I keep a little blanket in the car for each kid and it works great.

–They get tossed.  Maybe your kids keep their coats on while you’re in the warm grocery store or library, but mine end up ditching them the first chance they get.  This means I either end up carrying them around or they take up half the space in the grocery cart or stroller.

–Kids dawdle more when they’re warm.  I know this sounds mean, but you know exactly what I’m talking about.  If my kids are wearing five layers they’re going to feel just fine about walking on their slowest speed from the car to church.  If they’re just a little chilly they’ll be slightly more compelled to pick up the pace.

So to keep things safe, I will often take coats with us in case the car broke down or there’s an unexpected weather event going on.  I am not at all advising you to let your kids be in an unhealthy or unsafe situation, I’m just saying it’s okay sometimes to leave the jackets at home.

Anybody else tried this?