Week 4

As the parent of a teenage girl, my life is beset with worries and doubts.  Questions remain unanswered, the daily concerns of who is she with, where is she going, what is she up to, and why wont she wear a coat ?

A friend who has come late into motherhood and is now having to cope with the tantrums of a three year old regularly asks me when does it get better. I tell it doesn’t – enjoy it now, this is the good bit. A three year old  normally wakes in the morning and greets you with a loving smile; she might sulk for five minutes if she doesn’t get her own way, she will stamp and scream, or go rigid when you try and strap her in a car seat, but ultimately you are still in control and she will put on a coat.

Am I the only mother in the land who has seen her teenager heading off outside in recent weeks, with temperatures well below zero degrees, in several inches of snow, minus a coat?

I could dismiss it as being out of practice, after all, three years in California  and we’re not used to wearing coats. Even in the height of winter, a coat was not a necessity. Day time temperatures would regularly reach that of an English summer and the most that was usually required in the early  morning or late evening would be light jacket, or an extra layer. The teenager would trot off to High School proudly attired in her cosy school sweatshirt, which incidentally she was more than happy to wear at home and on days out,  sporting her uniform with as much aplomb as if it were Jack Wills.

Naturally on our return to the UK I deemed a winter coat a necessity, after all although she only has a short walk from home to the station, and a short walk from the station to sixth form, she was going to be out in all elements.  Not expecting a nearly 17 year old to wear the same coat that had remained unworn in the UK since she was 13, cash was generously given at the beginning of autumn with the specific instruction to "choose a coat you will wear."

Has it been worn? No.  As temperatures in the UK plummet the new coat remains in the wardrobe. She layers up in two pairs of tights, several cardigans and an old shirt.  

I, meanwhile, have been wearing a selection of coats indoors reluctant to remove any item of clothing when I return from a rare venture outside.

It must be a generation gap thing.