This is the vision that I woke up to this morning.
Can you say chilly?
Bad mommy that I am, it’s with great delight that I reveal that it wasn’t my window but rather my daughter’s. She texted me the picture this morning. It was accompanied by the caption: “my window, eek.”
As I helped her move into the poky attic bedroom in the ancient three storey house, I know this window well. It’s the one that has the grungy wooden sill that I scraped and lined with shelf paper back in September. Frankly, I’m happy she can still see out of part of it. The glass is thinner than thin. I’d have thought the whole thing would be frozen over.
However, I’m not worried about M. She was born organized. At the age of five, when we’d go cross-country skiing, her backpack was the only one well stocked with lip balm, tissue, and extra candies. I’m pretty confident my 19-year-old has enough socks, sweaters and pants to keep her warm through April. I know for certain she has the proper boots to navigate the icy sidewalks of her campus town.
As for her brother? Well I’m not so sure.
It’s not for lack of concern on my part. When we all got together for a family reunion over the Canadian Thanksgiving, I specifically set aside time for us to get him a “decent pair of winter boots.” I knew he didn’t have any because I’d given them away the previous winter due to lack of use.
No, not these gems. These were the boots H wore in grade seven on his school’s overnight horse camp trip.
They are now the boots I wear for muddy dog walks.
Because I gave them away, I can’t show you a picture of the proper snow boots that in grade 12 he deemed ” too heavy to wear.” But I can show you what he wore instead.
Yes, nothing gave me greater peace than to see him shoot out the door into the deep slush wearing a pair of thin canvas running shoes.
Fast forward to today. He is now living in the land of true Canadian winters. No more west coast balmy 9 degrees celsius/42 degrees farenheit for him. A quick online search reveals that he can expect “…cold, snowy, windy, and, at times, icy weather, with a daily average ranging from −9 to −10 °C (16 to 14 °F).”
Excellent.
So, did we actually manage to get him some proper winter boots when I was there? Of course not.
“I’ll get them with my friends when I need them. They know what to buy.”
As the weather has been getting colder back east, I always think about his frostbitten toes I sometimes think about his shoes. Will he have a pair of proper boots come the first snowfall?
He sent me a text two days ago.
“I got a pair of Timberland ‘5 Eye Chukka.’ Google ’em. Last pair at the Bay. 64$$$$ OMMGGGG YAAAA.”
They retail online for twice that.
This afternoon we had a quick Skype chat and he assured me his new footwear performs well in the snow.
“I crush through it. The rubber sole just grips the ice too. And the best part? I don’t even need to wear socks. They are so comfortable!”
Well done H. Thank you for putting your mother’s mind at ease.
Perhaps we can revisit the sock issue when you get home in a couple of weeks…
That’s enough about me and my children’s boots. How about you? Have you got boot issues or other clothing battles with your kids? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.
19 Responses
No kids to have boot issues with, but my Canadian-born husband is still trying me to give up my Berkenstocks in the winter. Hey, I wear my handknit wool socks with them. Toasty warm for Southern California. 🙂
Oh Linda – love that you do this! And yes, you are so blessed to live in toasty warm Southern California!
I see I have my work cut out for me if you’re still having these battles because I cant get my boys to wear underwear most days!!! I don’t know what the fascination is with “goin camando”, but they loooove to swing free. Drives me insane.
I’m truly impressed anyone can tolerate the colder climates! Kudos!
Perhaps you could move to Scotland and the boys could don kilts…?
Then again, a less expensive option would be to borrow “Captain Underpants” books from the library … by the carload?
They love the captain underpants books! 🙂
Of course. My deepest sympathies. As with everything, wine helps.
I love Henry’s bright green high tops but I guess the desire to actually be able to feel his toes won out. The Timberline boots are pretty snazzy, too. Just looking at Meredith’s window is making me shiver and it is about 70 degrees F here in Southern California today. Brrrrr!!!!
See you tomorrow as we kick off our December fun!
Hahaha! Yes and the fact that his high tops are worn through. Literally. Yes, indeed see you tomorrow! So exciting.
My daughter is 33 now, but looking at any tags attached to clothing will always take me back to her as a young child constantly complaining that no matter what she wore it had tags attached. Every piece of clothing of hers was in the end result tag free. 🙂
Oh yes the tags! So annoying. I forgot about them!
Hi Kelly… Just found your blog through Mo. Cute post. My oldest daughter’s name is Meredith, as well. We are temporarily staying at a hotel until we close on our house. Last week they held the converse convention. Everyone was donning their new converse, including the hotel staff!
Hi Katie! Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. I love that they had the converse convention at your hotel and that the hotel staff got in the act. Henry, my son, would be so jealous. Sadly, his green pair have had to be tossed as he wore right through them. Am delighted to learn you also have a Meredith in your life… not to mention her name is spelled the same way. When she was little she used to wonder why there weren’t more Meredith’s around and could she please change her name to Kayla …
Baby steps. They come forward in baby steps. I was so pleased for you to see he bought real live boots and then had to smile, empathetically (as a mother of 2 grown boys) that he wears them with no socks. One baby step forward, a little step back, a baby step forward, and so it goes toward putting a mother’s mind at ease.
Before you know it he’ll be wearing the likes of Sorels.
Ah yes Barbara but you see the pair I gave away were Sorels. Just delightful, no?
Thank you for your comments. I shall take them to heart. Baby steps indeed. As the mom to two grown boys you will so appreciate the fact too that I got a text from him yesterday with a photo attachment. It was a pic of a used envelope with the original address label scribbled out and a new one printed above. Wondering if he could send it that way. I gently advised getting a fresh envelope. Baby steps …
Love the pictures on this post , especially the green high tops !! My only boot issues with my daughters seemed to be around wearing imitation uggs on rainy days in Vancouver ! Glad to hear that both Meredith and Henry will have warm feet for their cold winters in the East !
Bless your heart. Writing while you’re with your bff’s! Thanks Jane. Yes, Uggs, both imitation and authentic aren’t too conducive to our rainy days are they? Oh! We should wear them on our dog walks!
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!! “I don’t even have to wear socks” !!! Bwahahahahahaha. I almost spit out my coffee when I read that line. He knows just how to set a mom’s mind at ease. Oh, that’s awesome!! Boys. Whew!
I gave up the ghost on long pants with Bobby last year. He wears shorts to school every day…no matter how cold it is (unless it’s a dress up day where they have to wear khaki pants). Now, we don’t get Canadian style winters here, but it does get cold! It is winter!! I just can’t fight that fight. I figure if he’s cold, he’ll do something about it eventually. UGH!!
Lucy is far more reasonable!! (but she’s not battling that Y chromosome, so it’s easier for her, I guess! 😀 –Lisa
That’s the takeaway- “I figure if he’s cold, he’ll do something about it eventually.” Exactly.
So hard to sit by and watch though! My nails were digging into my fist that was stuffed into my mouth as I watched Henry slip up the sidewalk to school in his high tops. We went through the shorts phase too – now that I think about it, I don’t think we ever left it. Charming. Just charming.