Today, as the weather turned to sun, heat and all things cancerous, our family headed down to the city's most excellent hat shop to buy a protective hat for Franklin.

The criteria: a long visor, protection for the back of his neck and ears, breathable, light-weight, and most of all absolutely treasured by the wearer.

With articles like this and this, the availability of hats which follow the first two rules are easy. Surprisingly, the second two are a little more difficult. Roberta's Hat's has a pretty good selection though - but get there soon if you're looking. I find that the variety of stock diminishes quickly and it takes time for more to come in.

D and I found about 3 hats which we thought would be suitable. The nice thing about Franklin getting older is that we don't have to worry about his hat falling off all the time. He's fully capable of putting it back on if he needs to. Therefore, no under the chin strings. I hated those things.

Of course, nothing is that simple. Giving Franklin the choice between these 3 hats was another thing altogether. He knew the toy shop (aka "The THOMAS SHOP") was next door. He wasn't interested in a hat when there were trains to be coveted.

I tried to make trying on hats fun,

"Look Franklin! A Dr. Suess hat! Cat in the Hat!"
"Wow, Franklin! A Big Pink Furry Hat! I'm a Big Pink Pussy!"
"Franklin!!!! A Birthday Cake Hat!!!!"

Nothing would change his mind. He did not want a hat. Well, more accurately, he wanted his lobster ball cap, the one which fit him last year but now just sits on the top of his head like a yarmulke.

Finally, the store was closing. The door was now locked to prevent more customers from entering the store and my "Franklin, choose-a-hat-and-then-we-can-leave" ultimatum started to carry a little more weight. He relented.
What parenting skills I have, eh?

Thank Abraham, a closer inspection of a particular foreign legion, winnie the pooh hat was deemed acceptable, if not utterly fantastic - especially once a beautiful, tall, nice smelling woman enlarged it to make room for his curls..

In fact, it was hard to get it off of him this evening
Cutie.