Boots for Boys

The rain has arrived, and with it, hours of joyful play for the wee man.

Yes, he has discovered puddles.

Marching to his wardrobe, he held up his wellies triumphantly and - shouting 'these shoes, Mummy' - insisted that I help him put them on. Which I did, and which then unfortunately led to howling as it turned out that (as I probably should have realised, being as he got them for Christmas) they were a bit on the small side. Not to worry, said I, rooting around the cupboard - for I recalled that he had also been given a pair of wellies as a random Easter present.

BUT NO! Those wellies were two sizes too big!

So, following ruination of a pair of canvas shoes and several pairs of trousers due to his enthusiastic need to thoroughly explore *every*single*puddle* in the local vicinity, we decided to go welly shopping.

First stop - a large, well known supermarket, which I recalled as having had an impressive array of children's boots. And I was correct, but with one small problem - the impressive array of boots consisted only of boots for girls. 'Noooo, noooo' shouted the wee man as he looked upon row upon row of pink spotted boots, ladybird themed boots, purple and pink stripy boots and camouflage (but pink of course) boots.

So, on to Next, who I also recalled as having a comprehensive footwear section and who therefore must surely have boots.
Of course they did. And of course, once again, they were all for girls.

Second supermarket - no boys boots.

Marks and Spencer - no boots at all.

The Factory Store - hooray, boys boots. But wait - no size 6's! In fact, they seemed to only stock ridiculously large or small sizes. Clearly, toddlers with average sized feet have either already raided the boot supply, or do not require boots. I am not sure which.

And this trend continued. Rows and rows of girly boots, more girly boots, girly boots coming out of your ears!

Eventually, being that the weekend had ended, and there was unlikely to be a further need for boots for a few days, exhausted and weary, we gave up.

And then, passing Mothercare on my way to work, and seeing a display of raincoats, I thought 'one last try'.

Of course, there they were. The rows and rows of girls boots. Of course, there they were not - the boys boots. Despairing, I was about to leave when a shop assistant asked if she could help.

'I don't suppose' I said, pessimistically 'you might have any size 6 boys wellies in stock?'

'Oh!' she said. 'I think we might have a pair in the stockroom'. And they did!

But why, I ask, were they hidden there? And why, given that from my experience, all small boys seem to demonstrate a massive affinity for water, mud, water mixed with mud, and any liquid or gloopy thing that generally might cause them to become filthy in the quickest time possible, are there no boys wellies out there? It's not because they've all been bought, as most of the shops said they didn't have them begin with. Its a mystery!

And don't get me started on the hunt for the boys summer raincoat!