It’s December in Philadelphia.
Technically, it’s still fall.

And yet, there is snow on the ground and it is bone-chilling cold. February cold.

I want nothing more than a steaming hot shower and to curl up under my sherpa blanket on the couch. And stay there.

Meanwhile, my son leaves the house…
in a fleece.

SERIOUSLY?!

I’d heard this was a thing with teenage boys. Hoodies. No coats. Questionable judgment.

I even saw a meme that said:

“I hope my friends don’t find out I own a jacket.”
—Middle Schoolers

It must be true.

For weeks, he’s been asking me what he should wear.
On top of the quarter zip he wears to school every day, he adds a fleece.
That’s it. That’s the plan.

One day, at my insistence, he did wear a coat.

But it was “restrictive.”
Apparently, layering for survival got in the way of him playing football at recess.

Finally, after being asked one too many times, I said:
“Dude. It’s well below freezing, with a windchill in the single digits.
I’m in my winter coat. You should be too.
But you do you. Just don’t ask me again.”

And he hasn’t.

He continues to go outside…
in a fleece.

Honestly, I’m not even mad—my friend’s son would probably still be in shorts and a T-shirt if the school dress code didn’t require pants.

But this is teenage parenting: where you negotiate frostbite one fleece at a time.

Do you have a kid who makes questionable winter fashion choices? Share your funniest or most baffling stories in the comments—I need validation!