The Tipping Point

Satchel, who is always cold and who once coined the term "cold sleeves" to denote shirts with short sleeves and no warming power, decided sometime last year that he was too cool to wear a heavy coat. He likes wearing a long (warm) sleeved shirt with a short (cold) sleeved shirt on top, and a hoodie. But as we all know, hoodies can only keep you so warm.

In the days that he was really into being a superhero, all I needed to do was purchase a coat with say, Power Rangers on it, and we were golden. Last year I bought him a black & green reversible heavy coat at Old Navy. This coat quickly became known as the "Bubble Coat" and was moved to the top of his "Do Not Wear" list.

In an attempt to make the mornings more pleasant, Warren took over the coat shopping. After much negotiation, Satchel agreed that he would wear a heavy coat like his daddy's--a shell with a fleece zipped inside. It was like two coats in one! And it provided protection from wind, rain, and cold. Perfect! Jiro, of course, got a new coat too and they were both beyond happy.

For about a day.

Somewhere between leaving the house, going to school, and coming home again, their coats were once again deemed uncool.

"Too bad," we said.

They picked them out, we bought them, and that was that. Most days they opted to just wear the fleece part over their hoodies and most days this was enough.

This year it's been the same routine. I finally just laid down the law. "There will be no discussion," I said. "You either wear your coat (both parts) or I will buy you a PINK one and make you wear that!"

They dutifully started wearing their coats, but refused to zip them up, and then took them off as soon as they possibly could after entering the school building.

What. Ever.

Well that's all changed now that is FREEZING outside. There's really no way to argue that "It's not cold" or that "I like being cold" now. No siree.

This morning, Satchel was all zipped up. As he voluntarily put on his gloves, he just looked at me and smiled.