Laura called me on her cell phone from a shop right down the street where she had stopped in because she needed winter boots. She knew... she knew... she knew she was in over her head - she knew I was going to be uncomfortable with the boots the lovely ladies were showing her... cute fashion boots that really have nothing to do with snow, slush, or warm feet. So I invaded this adorably cozy retail environment with my practical-mom energy, and one lady actually tried to look up some cute little boots on the manufacturer's web site to see if they were waterproof.... Sure they are waterproof, lovely lady, kind of like your head is waterproof... it will dry, but you'll walk around with wet hair for quite a while.
I struggled to handle it right, to not completely humiliate my poor teenage daughter, who would like to vaporize in a huffle-puff of Harry-Potteresque magical mist in moments like these. I could see that these lovely ladies wanted to help my daughter. And I like this shop - I have been in there before, and they carry very nice shoes that are meant for women to have fun and be comfortable and feel good, and you know I'm all about that.
Finally, completely blundering, at some point I loudly blurted out the obvious : "But you need SNOW boots!!"
Abracadabra: I had said the magic words. (Huh??) A lovely lady instantly said, "We have snow boots!", and produced - yes, actual snow boots, made of sturdy practical materials, insulated, and - actually, incredibly - kind of cute. There were two versions. Laura tried them on. She liked them. The style she liked better, they had in her size. The lovely lady gave me a 10% discount. I think she was trying to make up for the misunderstanding.
When in doubt, Mom, just make sure you have really asked for the thing you really need.
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