Off Target

Last Monday Nick's teacher told me he needed waterproof gloves. When buying gloves for this winter I glanced at the poofy, warmer, more expensive gloves, but opted for the strtchy knit kind because 1 - they are less expensive 2 - the kids never seem to want to spend more than 10 minutes in the snow anyway and 3 -none of my kids can keep a pair of gloves together for more than 20 seconds, sometimes loosing a glove before we even get into the car.

Nevertheless, the teacher explained that at school they spend 45 minutes outside, and once Nick's gloves get wet he is cold and uncomfortable. So Friday, my shopping day, I set out to Target to get some. It was Nate's birthday, and a very cold day. When I left the garage, the car gave the outside temperature a balmy 25 degrees. By the time I pulled into the school parking lot, it read -6.

That's NEGATIVE SIX, people. BELOW ZERO.

I swept the two younger kids back into the car and drove us to Target where I expected to find the gloves I was looking for. After all, I had SEEN them there before. However, once I got there, all I could find were the stretchy knit ones we already had. Apparently they took them all down to make room for the swimsuits and easter dresses. Yes. Here in New England, in January, I can browse through five different racks of swimsuits. But GOD HELP ME if I want to buy a pair of MITTENS. in NEGATVE SIX DEGREE TEMPS! Stupid me. I guess I was supposed to buy everything back in September, when they first set them out, and I was looking for shorts.

Am I the only one who wonders what Target, and other chain stores, are thinking? I mean, who needs swimsuits now? Put out a couple of racks for vacationers, if you must, but what kid doesn't loose a glove? What about the rest of us who need to buy things we need NOW instead of things we might need FIVE MONTHS from now. I mean, the earliest we might possibly use a swimsuit here in New Hampshire is May, and that's four months from now. And it just keeps getting worse and worse. I suppose, if I wait long enough, they just might start putting out NEXT year's winter stuff NOW, getting so far ahead of themselves that they lap the seasons and it starts making sense again. But for now, since the business decisions aren't being made by people, but my business executives who keep their gloves in their ski chalets, I've got a five year old with no gloves.

My frustration only increasedwhen I went to checkout and there were ten people waiting for the one register that was open. Apparently all the other employees were busy pulling the winter items off the shelves.

So I went online to buy the boys gloves. I went to LL Bean, and I consoled myself by telling myself I could buy myself new winter boots. I need them, as I'm still wearing the same ones I got in 1995. I told everyone I needed some for Christmas, and then at one point it seemed as though I might get several pairs. I must have mentioned this to several people because I didn't get any. So I went online to look up the boots I wanted. Guess what? Et tu, LL Bean?

I ordered the gloves anyway. They should get here early next week. Which is good, because we have six inches of fresh snow, and counting.