These boots are made for walkin'

Last week, I received the weekly e-newsletter from Claire's preschool in which there was a note warning parents that the kids' playground behind the school turns into a mud pit after the snow melts and that we should strongly consider sending our kids to school with a pair of rubber rain boots. This seemed like a reasonable request, not to mention a suggestion I very much appreciated. You see, Claire's been wearing snow boots to school, and she's been getting them increasingly muddier as the snow slowly melts. Plus, now that it's been raining and pretty much all the snow is gone, mud reigns supreme. And as far as I can tell, the only thing that enjoys rolling around and playing in a mud puddle more than a pig is a 3-4 year old toddler. So I started shopping for rubber rain boots for Claire last Friday. But what I didn't plan on was having all the local department stores conspiring with all the local retail shoe outlets to make sure I would NEVER find any boots for Claire. Following is a list of stores I visited on Friday, Saturday and Monday:

Super Target - Chaska
Kohls Department Store - Chaska
Kohls Department Store - Eden Prairie
Payless Shoe Source - Eden Prairie
JC Penney - Eden Prairie
Sears - Minnetonka
JC Penney - Minnetonka
Lands End - Minnetonka
Payless Shoe Source - Minnetonka
Old Navy - Minnetonka
BabyGap/GapKids - Minnetonka
Gymboree - Minnetonka
Macy's - Minnetonka
Lands End Inlet - Minnetonka

Maybe I wasn't paying attention during Shopping 101 of my Stay-At-Home Dad training, but is there a reason why stores wouldn't be selling rain gear alongside all the spring apparel currently on their racks? Does it not rain in spring time? Does melted snow not turn into water that - when mixed with dirt - creates mud? I'm no rocket scientist - or rain boot manufacturer for that matter - but I was an award-winning seller of high quality furniture at a modest price, and it makes sense to me that now would be a good time to sell rubber boots! Luckily, the last stop on my Monday afternoon boot hunt, Little Feet Children Shoes (Minnetonka), resulted in finding the only pair of boots in the entire store in Claire's size - a pair of $15 pink-orange boots marked CLOSEOUT - NO RETURNS. Originally Claire wanted some gray boots with little red Farmall brand tractors on them because her grandpa only buys red tractors (because John Deere blows), but they didn't have her size.  But I know she really likes her boots because she used one as a drum on the ride home from shopping. And Claire only pretends to drum on items that she truly loves.

A nice sales clerk at JC Penney also suggested I head to Mills Fleet Farm if I didn't mind the drive to Lakeville (about 30-45 minutes one-way from Chaska). Honestly, I should have thought of Fleet Farm right away. It's my favorite store of all time, plus I'm sure they sell rubber boots year-round. This place has everything from horse tack to lawn games to anti-monkey butt powder. It's like heaven on earth for a cowboy who loves to play lawn darts after a long day on the trail... or a blogging horse enthusiast who spends way too much time sitting in front of a computer when he's not in the backyard practicing croquet strategy for the upcoming Karl Invitational Croquet Tournament later this summer (when I will finally experience the sweet taste of victory on the croquet court). But I digress...

Here are a few pics of Claire wearing her new boots. And being the diva she is, she insisted upon my signing a rider before any photos could be taken. The rider allows the following:

1) The model shall not be required to wear her new rain boots while the orange inner-lining is in place because said lining [quote] "makes (her) feet hot!"
2) The model shall wear her stocking hat and mittens for as long as she deems appropriate. The photographer has no authority over model in this matter.
3) In regard to Item #2 above, the same goes for the model's insistence upon holding her new Cars-themed umbrella that she selected because [quote] "I want an umbrella like Salil's" (Salil being a friend from school).
4) The model has final say on what outfit is worn with her new boots. For today, that outfit will be her new spring-summer pajamas that come with shorts because the long pants that also come with the PJ's [quote] "make (her) legs hot!"
5) Finally, the model will not allow any photographs to be taken unless she is wearing her new pink ladybug rain jacket.

She's a shrewd negotiator.