I pick "pulling teeth" !!!
Shoe shopping for Blake is an absolute misery! He has been complaining that his feet hurt. He has been wearing this old pair of Nike's for almost two years now, they look terrible and are too small, but he refuses to wear the newer ones, because they all hurt....he literally cries and throws his shoes across the room out of frustration before school, because he can't get a shoe to "feel good"! Needless to say, I couldn't take another tantrum, so out we went to the mall to find him some comfy shoes.
I have to admit, my kids wear second-hand clothing and shoes...I love yard sales and consignment shops, so I dress them really well, in an affordable way. I am proud of that, because I find great deals, and with me being a "stay at home" Mom, every penny counts! I started thinking... this school year, I was amazed at how cheaply I got by...thanks to some great sales, I purchased all of his school supplies (and it was a ton of stuff) for less than $20.00. He was happy to use an older backpack and lunchbox. He didn't need any clothes, just some new socks. Can you tell that I am totally trying to justify spending $$$ on shoes?!? Anyways, I decided that we would just go to a shoe store, have his feet measured, and buy him some NEW shoes!
Billy called and offered to go with us, I tried to warn him that it would not be fun, but he said, "It can't be that bad...buy him some shoes and get outta the mall", YEAH RIGHT!!! See, the problem is....Blake doesn't care if he gets new shoes, he begs to NOT have to go shoe shopping. Thank goodness for some super-patient sales clerks:
The clerk would say, "How does this one feel?"
Blake answers, " It doesn't hurt all that bad"
Clerk: "What do you think of this one?"
Blake: "It kinda feels okay."
Clerk: "Do you like this style?"
Blake: "Na...not really"
Clerk: "How does this shoe feel?"
Blake: "It feels kinda good, except at the toe."
Clerk: "Does this shoe hurt anywhere?"
Blake: "Not too much, just the toe, heel, top of the foot, and the bottom."
Clerk: "Oh, so you mean, it hurts your WHOLE foot??"
Seriously, I know this is sounding like he is a smart-mouth punk kid, but he is trying really hard to describe what the shoe feels like on his foot. Throughout four different stores, fourteen pairs of shoes, and several threats from Billy. (at one point, Billy threatened to buy him neon pink high-tops, lol!) We finally found some shoes that looked like LEGOs. He wasn't going to try them on, but the young sales girl talked him into it, he gave in and actually ran around the store, cracked a little smile and kicked his heels together in mid-air....I think we found the pair! As a matter of fact, I KNOW we found the pair, because we bought them. and he is stuck with them, because there is NO WAY I will go back into a store with him for a long, long time!!!
