Flashback Friday: Winter Coats Aren't All Alike

It’s getting colder out and that means it’s time to break out the winter coats and gloves. For us, it means making sure we have coats with sleeves that can roll up. That’s because when Jordan is wearing her helper arm, she likes the sleeve rolled down. But when she isn’t wearing it, the sleeve needs to roll high enough so a little bit of her arm can stick out. We learned this is something we have to check in person. We  can’t buy coats online even if it’s the cutest coat in the world. In 2011, I bought a really cute coat that just didn’t roll well (that’s the pink one in this photo). So I had to buy a new one at the last minute. Funny thing, this coat is what Jordan is still wearing this fall. But it’s time to track down a new one. I always get a few strange looks when I walk around a coat section rolling sleeves up and down. I also focus on the coat zipper. It needs to connect easily and not get caught when you zip it up. Jordan can zip on her own, but those little hitches can make zipping take a while. (Which is another reason why I was so excited with Under Armour’s announcement of the MagZip last week.)

I’ve had many people in the Born Just Right community ask me to share stories about how we manage clothing. Funny thing, I’ve searched and searched. I turns out, I don’t write about clothing often. So I should offer more insight into how we stay warm.

First, be sure to check out how Born Just Right reader, Jessica Peter, alters gloves for little hands. She offered a really great step-by-step guide. That’s helpful for little hands, but keeping little arms warm can be a bit trickier. We have tried a lot of things. We’ve even had readers knit little arm covers with marching scarves. It’s really cute but Jordan is a little picky when it comes to keeping her little arm warm. She requires covers that don’t have holes. So we usually use baby and toddler mittens. They fit because her little arm isn’t very wide. She wears waterproof toddler mittens if she plays out in the show. We have also tried small socks.

I’d be curious to hear if anyone has tried other ideas. Our system may not be perfect but it’s awesome to know when we lose one glove or mitten, we can use the other instead!