It’s hot and humid in Hong Kong, and that is a direct contrast from the dry and mild climate of Sweden.  This has made for some interesting adjustments in what is “hot” and “cold” (and I have to laugh at what I now consider “hot” after living in Sweden for 3 years!)

Regardless of how you define cold, cool, warm, or hot, one thing remains: babies can’t handle heat like adults do, so you’ve gotta be careful.  And above and beyond that, you’ve gotta be careful about the sun.  So what are we supposed to do then?  Can’t sit at home all day, right?  We would both go crazy with that plan.  So, after seeing that the forecast was 27 degrees (about 81 degrees f), I thought this was a good opportunity to try out my theory of “mornings outside afternoons inside”.

We went for a nice walk route through some parks at 8:30, and I was hot.  HOT!  I was wearing my fancy Dad Jeans instead of shorts, so I learned my lesson, but it wasn’t that hot anyway, I think it was only 23 degrees when we were walking.  But there were 2 things that killed me: the sun and the humidity.

How did the little guy do?  He was just fine.  No sweating, no discomfort.  I suppose that’s because all the work was being done by me, he just sat there like a little king on his throne enjoying the floral breeze of the Hong Kong parks.  In addition to the breeze, we have a sun umbrella that I have started using when we go out during the day, even if it is cloudy.

Additionally, I am very good at finding the shady side if the street (the advantage of being in a big city with tall buildings), which is just as much for him as it is for me – no need for either of us to experience too much sun.

The sun was taken care of, but not the humidity, and the only thing you can do is just get used to it and make sure you are hydrated.  But the little guy is different – you can’t give him a glass of water to rehydrate so you must be really careful about him not overheating.  So I make sure I don’t overdress him, and keep the shade up and the speed up, and supplement any trip outside with going into the many malls there are in Hong Kong, and we are set.

In the afternoon we went to the outlet mall at Tung Chung, which was absolutely packed with people – weird for a random Thursday.  It was so loud that it was like walking on the street in central Hong Kong, did to the many mainland Chinese shoppers, who speak loudly to one another.  So it was not really a peaceful shopping trip, and we didn’t buy the little guy any tiny shorts for the summer, but from the perspective of dealing with the heat, we were in good shape.

It’s difficult to balance going outside and being active and staying inside and doing those important activities at home for his development (playing, reading to him, etc.).  With the climate as it is, it forces a bit more “blocked” use of time, which I try to make the most of – the balance is not easy, but I am doing the best I can.