Sean would tell you that it happened a long time ago, but I would have argued that I still had some thick-Northern blood running through me. For the past two years I have laughed at these Texans who bundle up their babies the moment the temperature drops below 80. My first winter here I was scolded on several occasions for not dressing Adeline properly, at the same time, I was wearing a skirt and short sleeves. I don't think I wore a jacket that entire winter, and everyone kept saying how it was an unusually cold winter. For one week in November it did get chilly, the highs were in the upper 40s. On Friday that week we decided it was finally cold enough to turn on the heater. But when we turned it on it didn't work. We were still in our apartment and it was after the office had closed for the weekend, so the maintenance crew was gone. No problem. We tossed on an extra layer and put a space heater in Addie's room at night. When I called on Monday to let them know about the heater they seemed shocked that we were able to survive 3 days without a heater. I was informed that if this were ever to happen again that I should immediately call the emergency line. Right-o. I hardly consider 40 degrees an emergency, but okay.
Anyway, that was the old, April Conaway. Today it was 55 degrees and I wanted to take the girls to the park. I dressed them in pants and long sleeves (the thickest I could find). I put on their heavy coats. Then I started to look for hats and was shocked that we didn't have any winter hats. Okay, I guess they'll be fine, their coats have hats that they can wear on our bike ride, they'll survive without hats at the park. But I did put hats on a mental list of things to buy.
In my defense, I only wore a sweatshirt and not a coat. Do I get points for that?
1 year ago
4 comments:
You think that's bad? The other day in Austin I saw a woman with a 10+ month old in one of these, completely zipped up so you couldn't even see him: http://www.babygiftusa.com/sfd-csca620.html. It was no less than 50 degrees!
You know, if I had a new baby I would have probably used that today. Oh dear.
Heh heh. We went through the Northerner-in-the-South thing in Florida. Granted, the humidity there can really put a freeze in the air without the temp being all that bad. But as soon as it got to about 65, out came the coats. 'Course, you'd also see teenaged girls and college girls with heavy down coats, scarves, mittens, hats, giant fuzzy boots, and short-shorts...
On the other hand, when I lived in New Mexico, I used to be shocked by the rampant exposure of infants to sun and wind. No hats. No seat shades. Babies sitting in the hot, hot sun... And then later - after I moved, in fact - I realized that most of them are of Mexican descent, meaning a lack of ridiculously pale and sensitive Scandinavian skin, so it probably wasn't a big deal. That is one of my favorite parts of living in other states - the realizations that life can be so different based simply on perception.
You need to come visit me for a week and you will get toughened up. It is so stinkin' cold here in Buffalo.
Post a Comment