Photo: iStockphoto
Tears well up in his eyes as you zip up his snowsuit. You put on his mittens; he flings them across the room. You put on his hat; he yanks it off and tries to run out the door.
Toddlers and winter clothes just don?t seem to be a good mix.
?It?s hard for them to understand,? says Natalie Nuys, mom of nine-year-old Isabella, five-year-old William and one-year-old Christopher. ?It?s warm in the house. It makes no sense to them that we?re stuffing them into these hot clothes.?
As each of her kids became more verbal, Nuys tried to explain about needing to dress warmly. But her approach has been not to push it: ?If they say, ?No mittens,? we go outside with their hands bare,? she says. She brings the mittens with her. ?Inevitably, they start to feel cold and get upset. Then I quickly come to the rescue.? The next time they head out on a wintry day, Nuys will say, ?Remember last time when you cried because your hands got so cold" That?s how it is again today.? Role modelling always helps?Nuys finds it?s easier to persuade her kids to wear a hat when she ignores what it does to her hair and puts one on herself. When Beth McMillan worked at an Ottawa daycare, she found the toddlers she looked after frequently pulled off their winter wear. One little boy took his boots off every time they went outside. ?One day he stood in the snow with one bare foot and began to walk toward me,? says McMillan. By the time he crossed the five feet of snowy ground, he was cryin...