In my last post, I talked about our family outing to the factory outlets in Castle Rock, Colorado. As I wrote in the post, although today started with mild weather (for Colorado in the middle of December) with a 48 degree high, by the afternoon it was pretty dang chilly. As we walked around the stores, all of us bundled in multiple layers, we kept noticing people in really inappropriate clothing for the weather. I’m talking t-shirts, some shorts, even some sandals. I couldn’t believe there were people there without coats on, I can’t imagine how cold the shorts-wearing people must have been.
Now, I grew up in Colorado and its not that odd to see a Coloradan on a cold day in a fleece jacket, shorts and hiking boots. I mean, we ski in t-shirts here sometimes, a little cold doesn’t effect the way a lot of people dress. But my moral conundrum smacked me upside the head when we were walking past the giant Christmas tree and saw a mom standing by a bench with her three children. The mom was wearing a nice coat with a “fur” trimmed hood and her baby was in a carrier with a fleece blanket shielding it from the wind. But her two girls, who looked about 5 and 7, were in jeans and thin long-sleeved shirts. No coats, no jackets, no hats or gloves or anything. And there they were, standing next to their nice warm mother, shivering and crying because they were so cold. I was appalled. My entire family was in shock. We gathered in the nearest store and discussed whether or not we needed to/should/could do anything. “Should we buy them coats?” Well, the parents we SHOPPING so they could obviously afford coats for their children and were both wrapped nice and warm (the dad had joined them by this point.) “Should we say something?” What do you say?
What would you have done? I am a big proponent of not judging other parent’s decisions because we rarely know the back story, but I have gone over this so many times and regardless of any of the backstories I can come up with as a possibility, nothing I can think of excuses this. And I am pretty creative.
So tell me, what is the right thing to do in this situation? Should I have done something to protect those poor, freezing girls? I don’t know the answer.
Confidence Mama 
Hi Katie,
As someone who fights with a 3 year and a 9 year old about wearing their coats to school, I feel this mom may have given up the argument and let the kids do as they wanted. Maybe it was a teaching moment…Ok, don’t wear your coat and lets see how you feel after being in the cold a while. Last week during our Colorado subzero weather, I asked the 9 year old to put a letter in the mail box. I told her it was too cold for her to go outside without a coat. Her reply, “I’m not cold, I don’t need my coat to go to the mailbox.” Me, “wear your coat!!!” Her, “I don’t need it”. Me, “OK, but don’t tell me you’re cold when you come back in.” I watched her go out the front door, without her coat and stop halfway to the mailbox turning around to come in to the house. “It’s really cold out there. I’m getting my coat.” Yikes!!! All kids need to learn there lessons the hard way for them to remember that lesson in the fututre. Some never learn the lesson. During the same cold spell, I was driving by CHS and saw at least 3 kids walking to the building with no coats, hats or gloves. One in shorts and a tee. Makes you wonder if their parents gave up the argument, too.
I too have had to give in to my children when it comes to dressing appropriately for the weather, and I must say it only takes a couple steps out into the cold before they decide to dress for the weather. My six year old daughter would love to wear tank tops and flip-flops year round if she could, but she has realized in the Midwest, that is only going to work for a few months of the year!