The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway

I read somewhere last week that you can get frostbite in as little as 10 minutes with a wind-chill of -60F.

By the way, that’s 10 minutes, not 10 seconds. Yeah, it was cold last week (cold enough to do this awesome trick), but I don’t think we got anywhere near -60F. christmas-story-5

So when dropping off my two-year old at daycare, it’s with curiosity, and a bit of judgment, that I see kids piling out of cars looking like Randy from A Christmas Story.

Are they worried about frostbite in those 10 seconds from the car to the door? Is it a fear that the cold causes the ‘cold?’ Is it plain old southern frigophobia?

Judge me all you want, but when my 2 year-old and I race across the parking lot, he may or may not have his coat on.

He definitely doesn’t have it on in the car.

You see, I feel very good about my son surviving the 10 seconds of cold from the parking lot to the door. I don’t feel very good about him surviving a car accident with his winter coat on in the car. Simple as that.

Here is a great video illustrating why. If you want to bundle your kids up like Randy outside of the car, be my guest, but I’ll tell you, my two-year-old and I have raced inside by then. Sure, expect a few mean looks from folks at the entrance of the supermarket etc. Just do as Taylor Swift does and shake it off. You’re being a good parent. More resources here.

Dr. Tony GiaQuinta, MD

@IndyPedsDoc

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