to get angry at parents who don't put their children in coats when its cold!

[Cezzy]

Going to school, parents all dressed up in warm clothes, coats etc but their children are just in a school fleece. Sorry but it's bloody cold in the mornings and the wind blows right across the playground from the fields so it feels even colder, it's not as if you have to pay a lot for a warm coat nowadays (for £16 I got a bundle with warm coat, 2 shirts and trousers). It really makes my blood boil to see these kids all hunched up and cold. So maybe they don't want one leaving the house, getting into the car etc but they still go out playtimes and lunchtimes. My children don't always want to wear one but I insist and usually they are glad they have them once we get out. Rant over, thank you.

[MoChan]

I am only wearing a light fleece or jacket out at the moment. Why should I be weighing DD down with some big heavy duffle? It's not that cold.

And yes, I'm another who has difficulty getting my child to keep hers on. Yes, I can force her, but unless it's perishing, what's the point? Plus, I don't hover outside the school all day so I can't possibly insist that she wears it at playtime...

[Francagoestohollywood]

.
My dc have never refused to wear a coat when it's cold. Omg, are they wimps?

[DooinMeCleanin]

I wear a big winter coat and end up carrying the dc's coats for them. I guess if hopped, skipped and jumped the school run I wouldn't need a coat either. They don't wear them at playtimes either, I walk the dogs past their school and have never seen them with a coat on.

YABU.

[shagmundfreud]

Yabu

My children are as hardy as mountain goats and sneer at the thought of wearing coats in weather like this. Actually ds2 would be wandering around today in a string vest like a little Rab C Nesbit if I hadn't requested he put on a shirt for the sake of decency.

I would never make them wear coats if they didn't want to. Turn them into wusses like the rest of the children round here.

[jellybeans]

YABU. Up to the parent/child surely? My boys often don't want to wear a coat. I don't force them but they have to take at least a raincoat in the bag.

[HalfSpamHalfBrisket]

'Twas me re: "would it still be OK to not bring a coat if it was raining?".
I am now going to out myself as a reception teacher, so my POV is based around FS/KS1 children. I don't get 'angry' or 'annoyed' that children don't have coats. We (unless it's sub zero!) give the children the option of wearing their coats in cold weather - as others have said, it helps them become independent and self-reliant. But please still send in or keep a coat in their bags every day as:

• we have indoor playtimes if it's raining, but we still have to go up and down to the hall for lunch, phonics groups etc. - that doesn't stop if it's pouring down.
  
• I am in 'loco parentis' for 4 and 5 year olds. I had 2 children shivering in the playground this morning because they didn't have enough layers on - I asked them to put a jumper or coat on and they didn't have them in school (and yes of course I managed to find them something).
  
• we play outside every day, regardless of sun, wind, rain, snow....a coat means they have the option to do this and remain dry/comfortable.

[WhoIsThatMaskedWoman]

Where is the OP anyway? It's brisk springlike weather down here - if I put their winter coats on now, what will they wear when it's 15 degrees colder in the actual winter?

[demonicma]

can't be arsed with the daily fight over it. when he's cold enough and wet enough, he'll start wearing it I suppose.

[chill1243]

Me too, especially when the kids are very young.

I assume the teenage boys are just showing off

[ouryve]

OK, so we have a harsh icy blast in the northeast, this afternoon. Cold enough to leave my sinuses sore. Now that persuaded DS1 to first, put his coat on and eventually, ask me to zip it up for him!!! [hgrin]

[montysma1]

Or you could just mind your own business and attend to your own children.

[madhairday]

Ha

I'm lucky if I can persuade my dc to wear jumpers.

YABU

[ShowOfHands]

Gosh, you're very excited op.

What did the police say about the matter?

[Hungrydragon]

Showy....I just spat coffee on my lap thanks to that

[JamieComeHome]

My DSs are 8 and 11. Nether of them like wearing coats and I have lost count of the number of times I have bought coats which they don't wear. They just don't feel the cold as I do. They both have thick LandsEnd lined hoodies and thermal vests in Winter.

[JamieComeHome]

Both like hats, mind you.

Actually, come to think of it, I don't really like coats. They are too heavy and bulky. Even when I wear one I don't do it up unless I absolutely have to. And lots of childrens ones are very boxy and restrictive

[JamieComeHome]

I also agree that this is one issue where DCs get to decide.

If they are simply being stubborn then they'll get cold - natural consequences.

[Sirzy]

If it was sub zero temps you may have a point! But it's hardly cold enough to need massive winter coats yet for most people!

[GypsyMoth]

Whoisthatmaskedwoman.......according to op's profile, she is in Norfolk..... And likes amateur dramatics!!! And is a teaching assistant too!

[Andrewofgg]

montysma1

Or you could just mind your own business and attend to your own children.

That's not the Mumsnet Way, though, is it? :)

[mrsravelstein]

i think the OP might be talking about me, as we have a very windy playground in which ds1 and ds2 were running around in this morning in short sleeve t shirts, whereas i had full length winter coat, hat, gloves and scarf on as was frozen.

dd is not quite 2 and is currently wandering around in a vest at the moment having taken all her clothes off as apparently it's very hot, she tells me.

[pissedrightoff]

Oh bollocks to you!
Are you the interfering old bat who stopped me yesterday to ask why DD had no hat and gloves on?
A) Erm because she runs bloody everywhere and is never cold
B) Mind your own beeswax

[raspberryroop]

Unless a child has SN what's the problem ?

[dikkertjedap]

At present about 9 in 10 children in my class don't seem to have a coat. Also, about 70% are still wearing summer dresses and the boys shorts and T-shirts, no sweatshirts, no cardigans.

We repeatedly ask parents to provide a raincoat and warm coat/fleece, our requests are usually ignored, but some parents have commented:

• no need, the cold will boost the immune system
  
• the cold will make them learn better
  
• coats are too expensive and if they have to go out then school should provide coats
  
• child does not like to wear coats.
  

All our children are given a coat when it is cold. I regularly go to the charity shop to buy cheap coats. None of the children object and some ask if they can please keep the coat as they feel cold.

[Marymaryalittlecontrary]

I think the comments from teachers are interesting.

I think that if you want to give your child the choice of whether to wear a coat or not then that's up to you. But if you tell them to wear one and they 'refuse' then that's a different matter and you need to get firmer.

I'm a teacher and have never once had a child refuse to put on a coat. A couple have said 'I don't want to' but were told they had to and complied. If you want your children to put coats on then they should put their coats on. If you're not bothered whether they do or don't then fair enough.

I think that children who are running around and being active and getting hot are one thing, but it's completely different if the child is a baby or toddler in a pushchair. My grandmother always said she looked at babies in prams who weren't properly wrapped up against the cold with such sympathy after she started using a wheelchair - as she said that she then realised how cold you can get sitting in a chair.

Also, some people just don't have a lot of common sense about when their children might need coats. I remember going to see an outdoor show a couple of years ago. It was in July, started at 6pm and ended at 10ish. Of course when it started it was warm, but I remember looking at all of the kids in thin t shirts (and I could see the parents were mostly empty handed so they didn't have jumpers or coats with them) and thinking "you're going to be freezing by the time this finishes." Sure enough, as we were all leaving I heard child after child whingeing "Mummy/Daddy, I'm coooold!"