"Nobody wears coats anymore."
How many parents have heard those words? How many of us uttered them as teens? Yes, all of us know why teens don't wear coats: a) Teens are SURE coats make them look fat, even on girls who weigh 70 pounds and b) A coat will cover up their stylish new outfits. It's the same reason you see teens running around in miniskirts and winter boots. Or tank tops and scarves.
The picture's a little fuzzy but I believe that's Jennifer Aniston. Which means she's probably wandering around 70-degrees-and-sunny L.A. with her "winter look." If you'll notice, nobody in the background is wearing a coat. A couple of the guys are even sporting T-shirts. They aren't ice skating in 30-degree weather and they certainly aren't sledding or snowboarding out there in California. In other words, Ms. Aniston can get away with that look because she lives somewhere WARM. I'm guessing you and the teenagers in your life don't.
Yet every year I'll walk through the mall shaking my head at the teens in tanks and miniskirts. Just throw on a scarf and winter boots and you have your "look." It can't possibly keep you warm, but who cares. The guys are looking...
...and thinking, "She's hot."
While all us old folks are saying, "Where's her coat? She's going to catch a cold. How could her mom let her out of the house without a coat?"
(By the way, any of us who were once teens know that as much as moms can fight to keep their kids in coats, all they have to do is find somewhere to stow it once they get where they're going. Teens are clever that way.)
The problem with this is when it starts at nine or ten years old, when your kids still want to be KIDS. They want to sled and ice skate and hang out OUTSIDE, even when it's cold. They haven't yet reached those sedentary teen years where all they do is watch TV and hang out at friends' houses. Sedentary teens can get away with no coats, as long as they run from the car to whatever indoor activity they are pursuing. Elementary and early middle school kids? Notsomuch.
Have you experienced this in your pre-adolescent children's lives?
29 comments:
Ya know, I was getting onto my 10 year old son this morning beause he wanted to wear a sweatshirt jacket instead of a coat. It's 14 degrees this morning. Yesterday, he wore a jersey over a shortsleeved shirt, and I got a call from his teacher that he took the shortsleeved shirt off. The high yesterday was 28. I don't understand it. I HATE being cold. I wear layers of clothes!!
This was starting for us last year when my kids was in FIRST grade! It wasn't the coat--we live in the prairies. Even teenagers wear their coats here (thankfully for them, places like Old Navy have a lot of stylish outerwear options these days, unlike when I was a teenager wearing a Michelin man parka from K-Mart!). With my kid it was his sweaters. Every morning I'd make him put one on and every afternoon he'd come home with it in his backpack saying the other kids didn't wear sweaters. Why am I the only mom making my kid wear a sweater in the dead of winter?!!
I remember for a while it was popular to wear our winter coats hanging off one shoulder, or sometimes even both almost like a shaw. It used to INFURIATE my Dad. But I KNEW I looked cool! ha ha.
My not quite five year old BOY refuses to wear a jacket, because he claims it is too hot.
My seven year old BOY would rather wear a jacket several sizes too small than be caught dead in a sweater he thinks is uncool.
KIDS!!!
Just Jen--What IS it with kids thinking sweatshirts and hoodies are "JACKETS." Those are not jackets!!!!!! At least, not in the "keep me warm when it's 30 degrees outside" sense.
This week it's been cold down here. 30-40 in the mornings. It may hit 55 by the time the kids our out of school.
However, just the opposite is happening. The kids down here freak out and bundle up. There is no heat in our schools and living near the water the wind can slice you in half.
I see teenage boys and girls looking like their about to climb Everest.
Definitely not beach weather.
knitwit--My guess is the other parents found their kids' sweaters stuffed into their backpacks at the end of the day too! Although I did have friends in school whose parents didn't care what they did, really. They were workaholics or just lazy parents...and their kids ran wild as a result.
jules--I was in my 30s, going out with girls in their late 20s for nights on the town...and THEY wouldn't wear their coats. "It ruins the look" they'd say. So they'd be walking around downtown Nashville in 20 degree weather wearing a strapless dress and high heels.
Rayna--It's funny that boys are that way too! For them it's probably a, "Tough guys don't wear coats. Coats are for sissies" thing
I know! So Crazy...I was one of them teens and now I can't stand the cold. Even in warm weather I'm covering up! Thankfully we only deal with it for a short period of time and it's not nearly as cold as up north! Thanks for the shout out...you didn't have to mention moi!:) have a nice day lovely!
Yes! My ten year old son is walking around without a coat this morning...and it's 27 degrees. We couldn't find his coat (who knows where he left it) and we were in a hurry, so needless to say people are probably thinking to themselves, "What kind of mother let's her child walk around without a coat?!" My son's reaction, "Mom, I'm fine! I don't need a coat." I pick my battles.
That was my Grandpa's thing about kids and coats. He would always say something when he saw a kid without a coat on.
Now I on the other hand remember being the girl who wouldn't wear a coat into the bar. I'd have it on in the car but the minute it was time to get out, the coat was off lol.
Ahh I remember not wearing a coat.....AND I WAS COLD!!! lol
Canadian winters on the prairies aren't nice by any means, so when I was a teenager, I always thought those kids were idiotic. Thankfully, none of my 5 kids (including 2 teens) like to be without a jacket either. Or mitts, toques and scarves. Boots, on the other hand, are a different story. *sigh* Can't win 'em all, I guess.
Summers are really chilly where I live. Locals wear hoodies, jackets and long pants throughout the year. It's so easy to spot the tourists, shivering in their shorts and T's. And the local kids? Yep, never wear jackets or coats! I don't know how they do it.
My 16 year old daughter often won't wear a coat--and we live in Canada!
This makes me nuts! My child has only worn a hoodie for the last 4 years. We did compromise and buy a lined hoodie so its slightly warmer than a shirt. If we lived somewhere really cold, I would hold him down and force him to wear a coat.
But we live in Houston, where it's actually a freaky 75 degrees today and last week it was in the 30's.
My guess is that she has extremely warm arms and super cold feet. So maybe she should go w/ a vest
This morning we had 5 degrees but it has been blow zero and in January it will gett well below zero. Whether wearing a jacket is cool or not is not an issue here since not wearing one in January will cause frost burns...
What a cute outfit! Haha. I have always been that way and still am. I have to make an effort to take my coat but I have to admit it's because I am a very warm person. I radiate alot of heat, especially when being active outside. Maybe that's why the really young ones don't want to wear it outside?
I used to have students who didn't want to take up the space in their locker with their bulky coats. A bunch of them drove so they would run from their cars into school in just hoodies. I would get cold just looking at them. Unfortunately I am always cold so I have to have on three or four layers just to walk to my car.
I live in the desert, but it gets really cold here, during the winter. It doesn't snow as "bad" as the northern states, but it snows. Kids here bungle up. There are so many cute jackets, nowadays.
When I was growing up, in S. Texas, kids were like that in high school. I remember my best friend who was freezing cold, yet, refused to wear a jacket!
I've never been fashion dependant, so I worse a jacket when it's cold, and I didn't when it wasn't. I preferred comfort over anything else.
I hated coats as a kid, not for fashion reasons, but because they felt so bulk around my arms. In fact, I love the look of pea coats, but they make me arms feel stiff. When I was younger, I always had to get the sleeves on my coats taken up by a seamstress, which made me feel even more awkward. These days I like to wear puffy down vests with long sleeve sweaters. It looks like I am wearing a coat, but I still have the freedom to move my arms around. Fortunately the weather doesn't get terribly cold here. - G
My son refuses to wear a coat, but will wear a hoodie!
I think the kids do the layering thing instead of coats.
My nephew doesnt like to wear jackets too..I really love your blog:) Wish you a great day
Kisses
I'm not sure that's Jennifer Aniston, but I'm about 90% positive she's at Hollywood and Highland, an outdoor shopping center, and yes, it's in Southern California. Hollywood to be exact.
I know when I lived in colder places, I hated wearing a coat. Not because I didn't think my coat was adorable, but because I was just resentful of the whole notion of HAVING to wear a coat in the first place.
Oh gosh yes, my 10 year old would never wear a jacket unless I reminded him
xoxo
SC
Oh, Lawsy, I could go on and on about this topic! You should see some of the teenagers up here in Alaska running around in shorts and flip-flops in the middle of winter. I always tell my girls to be prepared in case the car broke down and we had to walk—a coat wouldn't seem too bad an idea then!
Up here in God's country we don't have to fuss to much with the kids attire, they WANT to wear something warm. My older kids on the other hand hated wearing coats, boasting that snowboarding made them hot (my son) and my daughter who never wore anything more then a hoodie because she hated being to "bunched up with clothes".
Now if you find any random pictures of me from highschool you would see me wearing my coat all the time! We had to go outside to get to classes (open air campus) in the Michigan cold and weather. The only worse thing was snowmobile suits and dresses...BRRRRR!
heh, my only problem as i became more conscious of style was having a coat that was flattering to my figure. I'll admite when it's a blizzard like it's happening right now outside i'll bundle and look like a floating puff ball if i have to. I will be warm and still enjoy the winter. I just don't want to look like i'm a thousand pounds with a gigantic waistline on an average cold day. lol
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