Category Archives: weather

Best Winter Gear for Kids?

It’s cold here.  Really cold.

When I grew up, in North Carolina & Virginia, we didn’t know cold like this.  Sure, winter was colder than summer, but all that meant was we didn’t go to the beach every day.  I’m not sure I even wore gloves.

But here, way up in the cold north–almost Canada for goodness sakes!–it’s different.  I realized just this weekend that I’m still reacting to the cold like a girl from North Carolina.  It makes me run into my kids’ closets, giving them layer after layer, afraid that without three pair of socks, their toes will freeze and fall off during sledding.

But my kids don’t fear the cold at all.  They don’t know anything else.  Winter, to them, means cold and snow days and sledding and skiing and hot chocolate with marshmallows.  And kids who grow up here shouldn’t walk around looking like the Michelin man just because their mom is dreaming of warmer climates.

So I need cold-weather clothing advice.

Warmest boots?
Best socks?
Gloves?
Least bulky, warmest snowpants?
Coats?
Toasty socks?

Should I just go for LLBean, because after all, they’re located in Maine, their stuff must be warm?  I don’t know…it seems like I bought their boots for my kids years ago and they all came home with cold, red toes.  But maybe I didn’t buy the right kind.  I need to embrace some new gear myself, so please, any and all comments are welcome.  If you never commented before, but know what I need, please!  Tell me!

We need your help so we can live like northerners, not southerners who somehow got stuck way up here.

Spring Is In The Air

Did you like my post last Friday?


Oh, you didn’t see that one?

Oh, there wasn’t one?

That’s right.  You’re totally right.  Sorry about that.  After enduring month after month of bitter cold, spring snuck up and hit us with a 60˚ day on Friday.  I gave a talk that morning, had a PTO meeting that afternoon, went outside with the boys after school AND STAYED THERE, laptop-free.  Because I could.  Because I wasn’t cold.  And because it was so, deliciously wonderful to be outside and happy at the same time.

But now, winter has kicked spring out on its’ hindquarters, and it’s coming back with a vengeance.  Snow is in the forecast, once again.
But it’s different this time.  This time, we’ve had a taste.  We’ve had a glimpse of the warm breeze, the season of tulips, the days and nights without hats and gloves.  This time, we know it’s coming.  It’s just around the corner.

It is, isn’t it?