Kids learn tough lessons through experience.
“Live and learn” – it’s one of those sayings I find myself repeating often these days. It seems even as my children get older, they’re not necessarily getting wiser. Or rather, if Mom says it’s black, it’s white in their eyes. And I know it’s just going to get worse as we enter the teen years.
When they were younger, I told my children constantly why wearing mittens is necessary in 25-degree weather, and why it’s not a good idea to stand on the kitchen counter to reach a glass on the top shelf. They truly didn’t know any better, and surely didn’t have the life experience to know what would happen if they went against my advice.
But, at 8 and 10 years old, my children either somehow have inexplicably not gained any life experience – or they simply like to defy me.
In early November, the weather suddenly went from 60-degree days to days with high temperatures in the low 30s. We’ve never lived anywhere else, but the kids still haven’t grasped what the weather is like in New England. So, I’m constantly explaining that, yes, I know it was warm and sunny yesterday, but today it will be 30 degrees cooler. They just don’t believe it.
Each weekend, I put my son’s weather-appropriate school clothes aside for the upcoming week. He doesn’t care what he wears, and this saves time in the morning, because he doesn’t have to think about it.
I have tried to do something similar for my daughter, but as any parent of a ‘tween knows, moms have bad taste in outfits. If I even suggest she wear something in particular, she suddenly hates that particular shirt or pair of pants. If it were up to her, she would wear the same two sweatshirts and pairs of jeans every day of the year. That is, when she’s not pulling out some crazy, weather-inappropriate outfit.
On the first really cold day in November, Lauren came out of her room wearing a T-shirt and capri pants. Her legs were bare from the knee down. She said she didn’t need a coat – she would wear a light fleece instead.
The weather was expected to top out in the low 30s. I shook my head, and told her that if her teachers asked why she wasn’t dressed for the weather, to tell them that her mother had warned her. Parents are repeatedly reminded to make sure their children are dressed appropriately for the weather, so I didn’t want her teacher to think I had “ignored” that directive.
When I picked the children up from school, I resisted asking Lauren about how cold she was. But, she couldn’t wait to tell me about how bad it had been. She told me that at recess, many children asked to go inside to the bathroom repeatedly, just to warm up. Now, this child likes being dramatic – it wasn’t cold enough to keep the kids inside for recess, so I know it wasn’t really that bad. But was this child, in a way, admitting I might have been right about something? I know those words will never come out of her mouth, but I felt a sense of satisfaction anyway.
Kate Roy can be reached at kate_live@live.com.