Outdoor Comedy

Just wanted to share a little glimpse into our outdoor time this morning as I'm sure you can all relate:
Took 15 minutes to get children dressed to go outside. Finally ready to run into the backyard and child A has his boots off and one mitten in his mouth. I rectify situation. Now ready to go outside.
Get outside, child B falls within seconds. Cries for about three minutes. Starts playing. Child C has lost a mitten. I rush around looking for mitten and put it back on. Child A has his boots off again and is walking through the cold mud in his white socks. Find boots and put them back on.
Child B starts crying because with all the outdoor gear on he cannot get onto the little car he wants to ride. I stand back and use encouraging words. He gets it all by himself!
Child C has both mittens off now and is chewing on a plastic toy that was sitting in the mud. Find mittens and put them back on. Take toy away and wash mud off face.
Child B has hat off, one boot off and is sitting on the ground crying, defeated. Comfort child, put clothes back on.
Child A has boots off again.
15 minutes have passed since we got outside and I call it a day and round everyone up to go inside.
Child B, who has been crying since we got outside is now crying again at the news that we are going inside. Child A runs away.
Child C takes mittens off again.

I am exhausted.

and you have had your exercise for the day!

Oh, I feel your pain. Just be grateful you didn`t have a child D and E:D

LOL!!! That pretty much sums it up. Too funny!

Lol !!! Sometimes I wonder if we should tape ourselves and watch it on fast !!!! I do the same thing here !!! Although the positive is when I check the clock I'm excited to find its lunch time already ??!!! Yay !!!!

LOL...yup the story of our lives!

I love that most of the parents send mittens on a string....really cuts back on looking for it. Altho, I must be a mean dcp, I get them to find it if one falls off lol.

Not sure if you are wearing ski pants yet or not but I make sure to put their ski pants over their boots to cut back on boots falling off. It helps in the middle of winter when there is deep snow and the chance of boots falling off is more likely to happen.

lol.

I must be a meanie because my kids would never even try to take off their boots or hats once I put them on! They know that is not acceptable. I do have trouble with mitts falling off though. I have 1 that has strings on her mitts.

Oh I hate winter wear.

It last around 6-7 months here !!!so winter wear is here for awhile at least here ��

That is enough to give you nightmares tonight. I so detest this time of year. The kids get so little "exercise" out of going outside as they can barely move - look like but do not function like a weeble doll - they get down and do not get back up.

I have 2 words to add to this conversation...mitte n clips! I got mine at Kiddie Kobbler and I attach them to the shirt sleeves before I put on the jackets. The mittens fit really close to the end of the hand and are difficult to remove.
I had a similar experience when I had 3 little girls all about 3 yrs old last winter. They REALLY wanted to go outside and play so I spent 20 minutes getting them ready, sent them in the backyard and not 10 minutes later I got "we're cold" can we come in. Needless to say that was the last winter day I did that. Now I wait for spring :)

Last year the kids lost their boots so often it made me want to cry! I had two crawlers who could not keep their boots on. This year I mad it very clear that parents need to choose boots that fit properly and STAY ON or I might ask them to replace them. So far I find that snowsuits with the booties that clip on to snow pants are the best, but they have to wear warm wool socks under them too usually. I have my older son to take to the bus stop so I have to get them dressed twice per day. :(

Same here, I have to get my son to the bus stop as well. Thankfully I only had two plus my dd today. I got everyone ready when dck #1 pulled off his hat, got it put on again and put him in the stroller. Turn around to get dck #2 and he's pulled off his mittens and flung them. Put them back on, load him in the stroller, and as I'm buckling, he pulls them off again :(

How old are these children .... I agree with Micky .... My kids would not attempt to take their boots off .... And for mittens I ask the parents to supply the ones that go half way up their arms and i put on before the jacket so really they can't get them off and if I have a young one that can get them off and doesn't listen when I say "leave your mittens on" then i tape them ; ) I hate winter and I'm not running around like an idiot putting all their stuff back on

The first month of winter for sure catches us off guard because it is the first time for everyone and there is no way of knowing if they are a winter stripper or can't stand snow on their face or have no sense of balance once the bulky coat goes on. We all get the hang of it eventually and then it is Spring and a whole new set of issues. My favourite part of winter is when it is really cold and icy - no one expects me to take the kids out because it isn't safe so we can just stand at the window and watch the birds at the feeder.

You tape their mittens on? (no judgement, just asking!) :)

I am starting to think more like you playfelt! I used to feel like I needed to take the kids out every day because that is what we did when I worked in a centre. This will be my 3rd winter and I definitely don't feel like that anymore. Getting 4 kids of varying ages outside on any given day can be difficult but in the winter you can times that by 10 lol. I now only go outside on nice days and if we don't make it out due to our other activities I don't feel guilty anymore. I do a lot of structured play, sensory play and art daily so I feel that the kids get more out of our inside time anyways. I aim for at least once a day outside in the winter but I'm not gonna kill myself over it anymore. This group of parents is totally fine with that as they all hate winter too lol. My last group was an outside winter lover group.

I bought a small little tykes trampoline this week so they will burn a lot of energy on that!!

We roll large exercise balls in the house - kids love it and I bounce them on them, they push the large fisherprice buses around and around but I have one of those houses that flows from room to room. As I was joking with a dad this morning as earlier arrivals were using the trucks I spent all summer saying ok guys put the trucks away and stop running around the house so we can go outside and stand at the sandbox for the next hour. And really that is exactly what was happening. I open the window in the playroom when I first get up and leave it open from 10-30 minutes depending on time of year to refresh the air in the main playroom and kitchen so figure that helps. No vitamin D benefit to outside play in the winter since only about a 3x6" piece of skin - ie the eyes shows. It can be such a miserable time for a 12-18 month old. Three and up love it and benefit from it and 2 year olds can go either way. I like that my parents don't really care too. I love it when they forget snowpants. My daughter who loves to play in the snow comes over two days at lunchtime and takes the older kids out.

Yes I tape the mittens if its a child that constantly takes their mittens off because once the mitten is off inevitably they fall and now their bare hand is in the snow and them they are bawling then the snot starts .... So much easier to tape it on and then the kid actually has fun outside.

I can SO relate to your post!
I have 4 toddlers plus my own son all aged 13-20 months old. Exact same issues with the mittens and the boots not staying on. Aye aye aye! I put them back on once then leave them. Most of them don't even notice or care they are too busy. I do tell the parents at pick up "xx didn't keep their mittens on so their hands are a little red" or same thing with boots thats why their socks are dirty.
I have asked over and over for snow pants or splash pants and I parent sends them. So frustrating when we all come back inside and I am changing everyones clothes!
Oh... and don't even get me started on after bundling the kiddos all up and going outside I smell a poop coming from one of them:blink:

Haha! This whole post (& threads) made me smile!

I have also been known to use packing tape to keep mitts on. I got Snowstopper mitts for my own kids this year, and included my dc parents in the order too since I had to order them online. So we will see what they are like once all the snow comes, but atleast I know that most of them will have mitts that can't come off or get snow inside the cuff (only one parent didn't buy the mitts, unfortunately she has the one thaf won't keep her mitts on - so I will definitely be taping them on).

huh, I can't say I have ever heard or even thought of taping mittens on lol.

I do the same as another poster(I think it was crayola kiddies?), put the mitts on first and then the jacket and this helps. I have a few kids this year that don't have long mitts though so I will be asking them to buy better ones.

I made elastics one year for mitts. Bought a package of sewing elastic and made loops - then that goes over the cuff - tight enough to hold everything in place but not tight enough to cut off circulation. We have smaller ones we use with bells on music that can go either on wrist or ankle (they love to dance with bells on). I liked the reusable part of the elastics

I refuse to take the gang outside, come in and change everyone's clothes - not my job. Parents either provide proper outside gear or we don't go.

wow, I had a "duh!!" moment today!!!! This thread was in my mind as I was getting them ready to go out. I was helping a child put her mitts on and the handful of times she has worn these ones I have always noticed a black elastic and wondered what it was for and cursed it because it was always in the way. Today I decided to check it out better and it's like the elastic I'm assuming playfelt is talking about!! I put the elastic loop around her wrist and then put the mitt on....so if the mitt falls off, it's still attached to her wrist. Brilliant!!

I felt like a real idiot!!! LOL

Had to make my own of course years ago - back in the days of wearing two pair of grandma made knitted mitts, lol. What a great idea to have it integrated - if you wouldn't mind taking note of the brand that would be great.

Playfelt...all gloves/mitts designed for skiers and snowboarder have those, even the adult ones! My girls have Kombi brand.

I will try to remember to check on Monday!! I told mom about my moment and she laughed and said she has put them on but they still fall off. She said she is going to sew the loop a bit smaller and see if that helps.