How I Keep my Kids Warm in Sub Zero Temps

This 2010/2011 winter season, my girls (10 and 8 years old) already have 25+ days of skiing under their belt. They started the season in Big Sky Montana with a ski camp the week of Thanksgiving. As I was getting the girls ready for 6 hours plus outside, newspapers declared "Temperature records fell all over the state Tuesday in what has shaped up as a miserable holiday week." I fretted and layered them up wondering if we should cancel, but they had a blast and stayed warm. I thought I'd share how we did it!

The first layer of their layering system is a base layer of Smartwool or Icebreaker Merino Wool - leggings and a crew neck. Thin, warm and breathable! We follow this up with a mid layer of more wool. The Icebreaker 260 weight sweaters are wonderful. Next is a race suit, but if your kids are not racers, I would do a layer of the Patagonia Micro-D fleece. It fits a little looser so it is easy to layer over the top of the wool.

The Patagonia Down Sweater has become an essential in our outerwear closet.  It is lightweight, warm and comfortable, and slips easily under a jacket. If the girls get too warm, the jacket compresses into their backpack - although, now that they have it, I've never seen them without their down layer. Finally, they have a Spyder jacket with 140 grams of insulation and Spyder pants with 100 grams of insulation (Montkid.com recommends trying to determine how many grams of insulation are in your kids outerwear selection before buying - not all brands are the same!). Ski racers need to be nimble and agile on the ski hill, so even though this may seem like a lot of big bulky layers, it is not. Those girls can move!

Also extremely important is keeping their head, hands and feet warm. On their feet, we use either Smartwool socks or Spyder socks along with foot warmers on really cold days. Unless it's race day, the girls always wear mittens with hand warmers stuffed inside. We like the Spyder Astrid, but one of Montkid.com's most popular mittens this year, were the Burton Heaterpack mittens featuring a zippered compartment for the hand warmer. Finally, on their head they wear a POC helmet which helps not only with protection but also warmth. Under their helmet, they have a balaclava, which unlike a neck gaiter, does not slip down off their cheeks. I also like to have them wear a neck gaiter that they can pull up over their nose for the ride up the chair lift. But, sometimes, this is the one item that they say is just too much! So, I make them put an extra in their backpack because if the first neck gaiter or balaclava gets steamed up from their breath, then frozen, it doesn't do much good! 

We've had extremely cold weather this season in Montana, but the girls haven't missed a day on the hill. Call us or visit our web site at www.montkid.com if you need additional help picking out items for your winter activity!

Winter Begins December 21st This Year.

I think here in Bozeman, winter started this week. I can tell because I was frantically searching for winter coats for my girls Monday morning. The snow in our backyard had accumulated to 8 inches overnight and was still falling!  Luckily, the snow stopped the next day and we will get a little breather before we are forced to make our final decisions on which winter outfits to purchase.

This procrastination got me thinking, "Why do I wait to make sure my children have adequate winter gear?"  Am I alone? I don't think so. The Montkid staff can watch a US weather map and guess who is going to be calling us on any given day. Snow hits New York and our FedEx Overnight Bin is overflowing!


Montkid.com has tried to take the pain out of winter outerwear shopping. We've got brights, neutrals, tie-dye, plaids, embroidery and everything in between. And we love to help put together outfits!

Here is an awesome outfit we helped MacKenzie put together yesterday. Mackenzie is a tall, twiggy 13 year old and the Burton Teen sizes fit her perfectly! The Burton Jr. Shayla Pants are so flattering. They feature a nice and long inseam, a slim cut through the thighs and they sit a little lower on the waist than some of the littler kids sizes.  The matching Burton Jr. Maria Jacket is a sweet pink with a bright yellow interior.  The Green POC Skull X helmet with the Anon Majestic Goggles make for a perfect day on the hill and apres ski, MacKenzie plans to put on the Nana Beanie which ties everything together. Find MacKenzie's outfit and more options for girls outerwear and boys outerwear at Montkid.com!

Mother's Day May 9th, 2010 Honor Youself

Since I'm positive the only one's reading the Montkid blog are mommy's, it doesn't do much good for me to suggest some mommy type gifts that daddy and the kids can give to you. So, how about something for you to give to yourself?

On a side note, why is the red or white carnation traditionally associated with this day on which mother's are honored? Even Emily Post agrees they are not the prettiest flower. The Libra in me, tells me not to be so prissy. I should be lucky to get flowers at all! But seriously, the carnation? How about a Peony?

Now, that we’ve been in business for several years, I’ve been thinking about how we got started in the children's outerwear business. Initially, we wanted to keep our kids in touch with nature so they would respect our planet and care about its future. We thought by providing a resource for high quality kids outerwear, clothing and gear, we could help others do the same. However, I recently put the baby in the kid carrier (I'm trying out the Sherpani Rumba) and took my 6 year old for a walk on a nearby trail and discovered the true and completely selfish reason I love spending time outdoors with my kids.

Walking with my kids, they start talking - really talking. My daughter and I had a wonderful chat that would have been missed had we neglected to get outside that day. She looked at me and said, “Mom, I’m not sure what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe I’ll just do nothing like you.” And the way she said it, was so sincere and genuine and filled with pride that I stifled my laugh and choked down my urge to list the 100+ things I do every day, and I told her she could be whatever she wanted to be when she grew up. And then we started dreaming of the possibilities.

This Mother's Day, get a gift for the family at Montkid.com, get a mom-tested, mom approved Child Carrier. And from now until May 9th, enjoy 20% off all non-sale items (including child carriers) with the coupon code: mom20.

Risk Free Shopping with Montkid.com

We realize shopping online with a vendor you haven't used before can be a bit stressful as you try to determine whether it is a legitimate site or not. We've been working hard to upgrade montkid.com to ensure you have a safe shopping experience.

Our first bit of major news is that we now accept Paypal! Paypal is undoubtedly the most popular online payment service on the world wide web. With Paypal, you can be in more control of your personal data.

We've also improved our Return Policy. We realize how difficult it can be to shop online without the benefit of being able to touch, feel and try on an item for size. Therefore, Montkid has a generous 100% return policy.
Please use these guidelines to determine if you qualify for an exchange or full refund:

• Return your item(s) within 30 days from the date on your invoice.
• Return your item for any reason in new condition with tags attached.
• If your item is returned due to the result of our error, we will refund any Shipping and Handling charges.

We are also, as always, partnered with the globally recognized certificate authority in online security - Thawte. If you have further questions, you can always pick up the phone, give us a call and talk to a real person.

Rolling Out Shop By Size

We are so excited to introduce Shop by Size on Montkid.com! Now, it will be even easier to assemble the perfect outfit for your little one. Find a jacket you love in a size 10, then see all the choices for matching snow pants in a size 10!

Choose any category from the Montkid.com Home Page: Baby, Girls or Boys and select the size you are interested in from the drop down box next to Search By Size. To get even more specific, choose a category such as girls outerwear or baby footwear before you begin to search by size.

Right now, our inventory is heavily depleted after a great winter season. The Shop by Size feature will help you filter through all of the children's outerwear currently on deep discount and find exactly what you need quickly and conveniently.

Please, Send us your Photos

We admit it, we love hearing from our customers. Of course we love it when you sing our praises :
I love your website. Your clothing is different from all the others. - thanks Nicole!
Thanks a million - you are great!!!! - thank you Tamar!

But we also love hearing about you! We love hearing about your children. We love helping you find the perfect outfit for your needs. We even love those of you who just want to chat and find out what the weather is like in Bozeman, Montana (if you want to save yourself the phone call, it's cold and snowing).

What we especially love, are customer photos! Here is one from a Tel Aviv customer taken while they were on vacation in Courchevel, France. I had to immediately research Courchevel, France and now I am pretty sure I need to visit! It looks like an amazing ski resort. The baby stayed toasty warm in her Patagonia Baby Down Sweater.

Submit a photo during the month of April of your little one sporting some Montkid outerwear, clothing or swimwear and we'll send you a coupon code good for 20% off your next order. You'll have 30 days to use it so get your shopping list started!

Billabong Spring 2010 Boardshorts Are in Stock.. almost!

At long last, montkid.com's board short selection is about to be replenished! With design inspiration from surfing giants Andy, Taj, Parko (and more), the spring 2010 collection from Billabong is one of our favorites of all time.

Colorful, original designs dominate such as the Dom1nate from Joel Parkinson (from the Gold Coast of Australia and ranked 2nd after the worldchampionships in 2009), better known as Parko. The boys Dom1nate is 19" in length and kids Dom1nate is 15" in length. This is our favorite pair for the year, so we're already placing a second order!  Even so, the popular sizes sell out fast so don't wait. Email info@montkid.com to pre-order. They should ship out next week.

Along with your boys board shorts, don't forget a rash guard,  sunscreen and hat for extra protection against harmful UV rays.