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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask WHY there are little girls with bare legs and ankle socks in this weather ?

201 replies

BlahBlahYeahYeah · 11/12/2014 22:39

Are you the owner of one of these amazingly resilient (possibly frozen) little girls, sporting bare legs and ankle socks in Mary Jane type shoes in this weather?

Can someone PLEASE explain this mystery to me, because I just cannot get my head round it.

As a parent to a school age dd and toddler dd, I couldn't contemplate bare legs in this weather for either of them.

Are these parents BU? Or am I??

OP posts:
TimelyNameChangey · 11/12/2014 23:47

I have noticed a lot of it this year too OP! I think it looks awful! Even if the child isn't cold they LOOK it! Grin

sanfairyanne · 11/12/2014 23:48

if you are 'up north' i cant even believe you are complaining about this. only big southern jessies feel the cold
Grin

ToomanyChristmasPresents · 11/12/2014 23:52

I have a friend whose DD gets eczema from the tights, so she actually feels more comfortable in socks even though it is cold!

dancingwitch · 11/12/2014 23:52

DD will wear tights but is otherwise just in her short sleeved polo shirt & skirt. In the last month, I have insisted on her at least taking her cardigan into school in case she gets cold but it is still unworn. She just doesn't feel the cold. I often wish I could stick a banner above her saying "I have tried" as I really feel the cold so will be bundled up in down filled coat, hat & gloves whilst she skips along beside me in just a polo shirt. I am finally learning to accept this & have stopped buying her thick coats & snuggly jumpers. One thin cardigan per winter which she will wear half a dozen times. When she started school, the teacher saw all of the parents individually and asked if there was anything they should know about our DC. I immediately said that she was a hot bod and please don't make her wear a cardigan or coat or anything unless she got it herself. Being too hot makes her really grumpy!

QuinnTwinny · 12/12/2014 00:03

To quote my dad 'We wore shorts to school when I was young, didn't cause us any harm.'

WyrdByrd · 12/12/2014 00:05

Because my 10yo has a mind of her own and cold legs won't kill her Hmm .

I think she's bonkers too but she has two pairs of virtually brand new school trousers she won't wear & I have bigger fish to fry of a morning.

5madthings · 12/12/2014 00:11

Ds3 and ds4 are like this, don't seem to feel the cold. Mrmadthing is the same. There can be snow and he will still wear shorts, weirdos! I hate the cold!

Lovecat · 12/12/2014 00:14

My 9 yr old insists on socks for school because they do sport, dancing or gymnastics of some form on a daily basis and if she wears tights it wastes time having to change into socks or go barefooted. Her socks are knee height but she tends to shove them downward.

But thank you so much for judging my parenting Hmm

SusanIvanova · 12/12/2014 02:02

Because I have eczema and putting tights over it would have been torture.

legspinner · 12/12/2014 02:51

My DD (aged 11) will wear shorts every day if she could. Including in the winter. No school uniform for her, so many girls and boys her age wear shorts all year round. DS aged 14 hates long trousers so its shorts all year round for him too (again, no uniform). NZ isn't as wintry as the UK, but it can be bitterly cold here!

I used to be Shock at the number of primary aged kids who came out of school in bare feet in the winter. Apparently its a Kiwi thing....

3bunnies · 12/12/2014 03:22

Dd2 has sensory issues and hates the feel of tights but she wears leggings instead - they are in school colours so she would blend in if she didn't insist on pulling her socks over her leggings making her look a bit strange. At least I am not being judged on bare legs! She is shocked that she will have to wear tights at secondary school, although knowing her she would probably rather have a detention and do some extra work. She doesn't like trousers either, or cold legs. Having said that I hate tights too.

differentnameforthis · 12/12/2014 04:42

I also hate the parents who walk around with their child in a pushchair with out a coat hat or gloves and the parents with the child with no socks and shoes on ... but really use two minutes of your busy time to put them back on

After you have put them back on 4/5 times, only for them to be taken off 5/6 times, you get the message that your child REALLY doesn't want them on.

Florrieboo · 12/12/2014 05:16

My sons wear shorts year round in school, they just don't feel the cold, both of them sleep in just underwear and hate to wear pj's. My 2.5 year old daughter is the same, I just have warm blooded children. I don't really think it is anyones business, and I would feel a bit sorry for anyone who had so little to do that they had the time to spend judging me.

jeee · 12/12/2014 05:22

Yet another parent whose children are still in shorts and socks. I think in Year 3 and 6, they're big enough and ugly enough to decide themselves whether they'll be warm enough.

But woe betide them if they whinge that they're cold.....

imip · 12/12/2014 06:25

Dd2 refused to wear tights also. She suffers from anxiety and getting her to school is a huge challenge every day. So she's in socks Hmm it's a battle I'm not willing to fight.

Getting her out with a coat has been similarly a challenge for the past four years. Terrible to think that you'd judge me for my daughter's anxiety. I feel bad enough that he isn't warm enough and it makes me feel cold. But I've discussed this with her psychologist, and unless using physical force, that girl won't be wearing tights, scarfs, gloves, hands, and quite possibly a coat during winter.

She may, however, wear some of these in high summer....

Wellwellwell3holesintheground · 12/12/2014 06:28

OP has specified this is purely curiosity. No judging.

Sallystyle · 12/12/2014 06:37

If my 6 year old had her way she would go to school in a vest and shorts.

She never seems to feel the cold and hates wearing clothes really. Yesterday morning it was freezing and off came her coat and hat. I do make her wear tights or trouser though, but they come off as soon as she is in the classroom.

sashh · 12/12/2014 06:43

So this is why my mum had a go at me when I was 7 and she didn't notice I was wearing pumps until we had gone across 2 fields in snow.

I was carrying my boots in case it felt cold.

Some of us just have different internal thermostats. On a long drive I will be in indoor clothes, a shirt and jeans, my carer will be wearing a couple of layers topped of with a wool coat.

At my parents I need the window open and to sit next to it.

Pointlessfan · 12/12/2014 06:47

Re - babies in prams. My 8mo just pulls off socks, shoes and gloves and chucks them. I put her in tights to keep her feet warm and put a blanket round her but she pulls that off too. She has a warm pram suit but won't fit in the car seat in it so if we are just nipping to the shops or something it's not much use. She cries when we dress her and I think she'd choose to go out in just a nappy if she could!

KinkyDoritoWithJingleBellsOn · 12/12/2014 06:53

My DD is Aspie and would not wear tights or trousers when she was little. It drove me to distraction and I was really worried about her, but she just wouldn't - she would meltdown if I even attempted it.

Mehitabel6 · 12/12/2014 06:54

Maybe it is in the title 'are you the owner of'- they are not a possession and quite probably it is their choice. You could ask why teenagers won't wear coats, boys insist on wearing shorts etc. Personal choice.

Taffeta · 12/12/2014 06:56

ROFL @ "the cold doesn't bother me, anyway" Grin

Most of DSs Y6 friends are wearing shorts. There's a kind of bet going on to see who can wear them year round. DS lasted til early Nov. Grin

DD, Y4, loves being warm, and seems to value it above all else, when asked how two different activities were this week the first comment I got was "Mmm it was lovely and warm there". I wonder if I could have saved myself £20 for those two activities and stuck her in front of a fire.

So, mine are wusses.

DoesntLeftoverTurkeySoupDragOn · 12/12/2014 06:59

The children are old enough to complain about being cold. I used to be Christmas before I could stop DS1 wearing shorts to school - if he wasn't cold, it was fine by me but I made the effort because of people judging me like the OP.

Personally, I am bundled up in an arctic coat and 400 layers by the start of November.

Lagoonablue · 12/12/2014 07:00

I hate seeing babies and toddler in prams with no blanket on their legs. They may have coats and hats on but just sitting there means they are not active and their legs must get cold.

fuctifino · 12/12/2014 07:00

My dd2's internal temperature gauge seems to be faulty.
She is always hot. I am forever picking her up from after school club and she is outside in just her t-shirt. At least she stands out amongst the sea of blue jumpers Grin

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