Treasuring New Experiences

The beauty of childhood is essentially living in the moment, rejoicing in the immediate and riding the chariot of spontaneity right on into the sunset. I’ve learned over the years that I cannot control new situations or how my children respond to them, but I can try to keep the basics consistent and predictable-something they expect and thrive on. Growth comes from within new experiences though, so it’s my job to create a buffer so that they retain the best parts and accept whatever it might be that removes them from their comfort zone.

Weather plays a big part in our days. When the temperatures would dip or peak while we were living in New York City, it would absolutely dictate our schedule; Rain, snow or extreme heat would mostly keep us indoors unless it wasn’t avoidable. It just wasn’t worth the stress on them since we’d be walking to and from our location in any case. Bundling up became a major effort every day during winter, sometimes creating a struggle that would ultimately wreck our plans entirely. That’s life with toddlers and small children, though. I was a little concerned about traveling back to the city during the late fall/early winter with them because they’ve really become accustomed to very mild temperatures in the Bay Area.

We planned on sitting on the steel benches for hours the morning of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Knowing it would be very cold and possibly even wet, I prepared well, packing hats and gloves as well as down jackets that I found at St. Bernard Sports. If I can trust a brand to keep them warm and dry as well as looking nice, it’s one less thing I have to be concerned about. As a parent, that kind of thing is hugely important and I’ve compiled a mental roster of go-to brands and retailers for situations like this. Double bonus if there’s a resource where I can find something for the entire family like I did at St. Bernard Sports online.  Jack and Zoe are quite particular when it comes to outerwear, so the fact that they love their Kjus jackets so much is a major win; The jackets are incredibly warm and not bulky, they look great and the kids are happy to wear them (even here in our California 60 degree weather, they only want to wear these coats). Beau also loves his puffy North Face jacket, the baby is cozy in her Patagonia suit, Justin is warm and looks awesome in his Descente jacket, and I’m positively beside myself in love with this Moncler beauty.

I don’t pretend to know everything about outerwear, but it’s something that I will absolutely invest in (and buy a size up for the kids to last two seasons). I try to be savvy about children’s brands, and being introduced to them is often courtesy of the store or site that I’m shopping in-so I make sure to have a trustworthy roster. St. Bernard Sports has been around for 37 years, has three stores in Texas and offers free three day shipping, free returns and attentive and helpful customer service. For me, it’s a personal boutique experience with the advantages of a major online retailer, and those are both hugely important when investing in outerwear for children especially.

Our moments were memorable because we were all happy and warm and the kids weren’t fussing about wearing a ton of extra clothing-both hugely critical factors in coordinating a successful outing with small people! While we don’t have to worry about our weather all that often, we do make sure to visit Tahoe as often as possible and these pieces will absolutely come in handy then, too.

Discount and Giveaway:

I’m excited to be offering a 15% off code for my Momma’s Gone City readers: Enter GOCITY15 at checkout AND I’m giving away a $500 Gift Card to St. Bernard Sports to one of you!

To Enter Giveaway:

Follow @stbernardsports and @mommasgonecity on Instagram (mandatory), and leave a comment with your favorite item from their site. For extra entries, share this blog post over on twitter and leave the link in a comment.

Contest ends and winner will be selected on January 2, 2015.

The giveaway holds no exclusions, however the discount code does exclude the following:
Spyder, Obermeyer, Canada Goose, Never Summer, Arc’teryx, Ugg, Southern Tide, The North Face, Bogner, Yeti, Go Pro, Moncler, KJUS, Barbour, Moncler, Yeti, GoPro, Spyder, Southern Tide, Obermeyer, Tommy Bahama, Lafco, Beats by Dre, Hunter Rain Boots, Maui Jim, Bogner, Sorel, Toni Sailer, Rossignol, Dry Tunes, Outdoor Tech, Zeal HD2, Marshall Speakers, Mountain Force, Simms, Burton, Volkl, Dalbello, Full Tilt, Marker, Capita, Thirtytwo, Nike SB, Salomon, K2, Rossignol, Armada, Blizzard, Tecnica, Apex, Union, Kastle, Pinch Provisions.

Thank you to St. Bernard Sports for sponsoring this post, and thank you for reading.