It’s raining, it’s pouring, you and the kids are … abhorring another Portland downpour? Wet weather need not precipitate an indoor deluge of boredom and lethargy. Yet, we parents habitually shoo children inside when those familiar, grey, nimbostratus-saturated skies show up. Have we forgotten the impermeable truth? Kids are waterproof! After all, didn’t each of them spend close to nine months amphibiously submersed?
My children are fortunate enough to attend a school where daily, all-weather outdoor excursions are integral to the curriculum. Their classmates actually clamor for condensation since puddle stomping and mud-sliding are pre-approved, rainy day recess revelry. This unhampered (later-headed-for-the-hamper) fun is engineered through a simple, slick trick – head-to-toe raingear.
Hooded raincoats (sized to fit over winter coats/layers/hats for warmth); rain boots; and the rain belt’s best-kept fashion secret, rain pants, allow comfortable play without soaking up showers. Bargain, quality raingear can be found at Columbia Sportswear Outlets, Next Adventure, Andy & Bax, and REI, plus the many kids’ consignment stores sprinkled liberally around our fair, damp city.
Easy to wash (or just leave outside on the porch if it suits you), full body raingear can have parents and kids singing, not snoring, on rainy days. What if those rascals get soaking wet anyway? Don’t panic. Cozy cocoa and soothing soup are cure-alls!
Submitted by Kandy

November 20th, 2008 | Category: Metro Parent