Cold Enough for Ya?

As the weather changes, I have a hard time deciding how to adorn Abbie. The other morning, I went rummaging with the tot, and dressed her for the occasion in long sleeves, long pants, and socks, but no coat. When we arrived at the first sale, I realized I probably should have dressed her a little warmer. The temperature was in the mid-50’s and pretty humid; a little chilly, but nothing terrible. I didn’t get too concerned because a) she likes the cold, b) she hates being bundled up, c) I only planned to make two stops, d) we wouldn’t be outside for more than a few minutes per stop, and e) I was wearing short-sleeves so I figured I’d get cold before she would.

By the time we disembarked at the second sale, Abbie had kicked her socks off. I decided not to bother fighting to reattach them since we would only be out for a couple of minutes, and marched over to the throng of women furiously examining the variously stained clothing. As I perused the merchandise, a couple of women noticed us.

“Ooh,” one of the women scolded, “you’re taking your baby outside without socks. She’s gonna catch a horrible cold.” I guess I missed the studies showing a direct correlation between contracting crippling head colds and spending brief periods outside in slightly chilly weather without socks.

“She did have socks,” I responded, “but she kicked them off.”

“Ohhhhh,” they agreed in unison. The rule I discovered is babies should always be warmly dressed, unless they manage to remove part of their clothing, then it’s okay to not want to struggle with them. I can still call myself a good dad.

“We won’t be here that long anyway,” I added.

“I heard that.”

Darn right.