coats and boots

I'm checking out at the grocery store yesterday and the poor girl ringing up my groceries was just trying to make conversation not realizing she was about to ruin my day. She started talking about the cold front coming in and how it was going to be in the 30's tonight. Huh? Cold front? I really need to start watching the news. You see, this is Texas. I moved here to get away from these cold fronts and anything with the word cold in it. So I pulled up the weather on my phone and, sure enough, it was going to be FREEZING out tomorrow. I know the girls' winter jackets from last year weren't going to cut it. Because last year, I was in denial and refused to buy new winter jackets. I made them wear their L.L. Bean ones from the year before. These things are still in great shape. I probably could have passed the older two down and just buy a new jacket for my oldest and be done. But then I run the risk of "that's not fair" and "I HATE this color" and I wasn't in the mood for that. No time to order new ones from L.L. Bean so I now had to figure out where in Texas I can buy cold weather clothes! So there is this store called Burlington COAT factory and I decided to give it a try. WRONG! It should be called Burlington-entire-store-is-one-big-clearance-rack Factory. I don't have the time nor the energy to pick through racks and racks of coats to try to find one that fits my kid and isn't hideously ugly. Oh and did I mention that their coats at the COAT factory are conveniently located next to the toy section? So my kids were just NOT interested in the coat thing. I couldn't do it. I packed them back in the car and headed to the mall where I feel more comfortable. Here is where I learned that everyone in Texas is pretty much in denial when it comes to the cold weather. It was difficult to find a store that had coats that would keep my kids warm AND weren't made of PLEATHER from the 1980s. During our travels, my oldest finds these boots that she just HAS to have. I was quick with my response. "I'm sorry sweetie, I would totally have bought those boots for you, but we already got you some remember?" These boots were $60. Back in August before school started, we were walking around the PX at Fort Hood. In the 100 degree summer heat, I found these ADORABLE winter boots on the clearance rack for $5! I bought a half size up for each of the bigger girls. They didn't have anything that would fit the little one. I was good right? wrong. The oldest remembered this morning that I had told her about the boots and wanted to wear them with her new jacket. They don't fit. In less than 3 months, her foot has grown a full size and nothing I bought her at back to school time fits, including the $5 boots. Damn. She's a smart one too. Her immediate response was "Well at least now I can get the boots I saw at the mall!" CRAP. I should have thought up a better excuse. Anyway, my littlest found her coat within 5 minutes of walking in the first store. The other two, however, visited nearly every department store/kids store in the mall before finding their coats at Macy's. And they were cheaper than the ugly ones at Burlington Clearance Rack Factory. I didn't send my kids to school this morning freezing. I guess that's a win for Mom.