Shoe Shopping

With the seasons threatening to make a permanent change to spring-like weather, I decided the kids were really needing some new shoes. Well, that and for practical reasons like their shoes were getting well-worn holes in them and feet were growing faster than the shoes.

So I was feeling brave a couple of weeks ago and decided to venture out with the three kids in search of shoes.

Olivia is pretty easy to buy shoes for - or so I thought. I packed up the three kids and we headed to Wal-Mart. To the shoe section we went. Olivia was VERY excited! We first saw the nice Disney princess sandals that Olivia believed she would die without! But I kept looking - quickly - Maddie was starting to get impatient with the "slow" shoppers (which means we had stopped moving for a period of longer than 2 seconds). After a few minutes and several try-ons Olivia and I settled on 2 pairs of sandals: one pretty dainty white sandals with little heels on them and another more practical pair that are lavendar and have butterflies and flowers on them. So I put them in the cart and Olivia decided that was the time to really get into shoe shopping! She ran down the aisle and started grabbing at other sandals: Mommy, I need to try these on too! I want these! Clearly, I am going to have to have an Olivia-shoe-account someday sooner rather than later!

Then the next day the kids and I headed to StrideRite for Zach's new shoes. We have to buy his shoes there, probably always will, because his feet are so wide. So we went in and - they have great service - we were met with someone helping us out right away! Just tell them what you want, and they measure the feet and bring out 5 or 6 pairs of shoes to try! Well, they brought the shoes out and I helped Zach pick out a pair to try first, and those were the ones he fell in love with! Of course, having "tractors" (dump trucks) on them didn't hurt much either!

So since then, Zachary has maybe worn his shoes once because I won't let him wear them in the sandbox or run through the mud in them yet, and of course, he is a creature of habit and really prefers the old ones yet! And Olivia has worn her white sandals every single day since then! The purple ones not so much yet. This morning I woke up and found the brand-new white sandals in the garbage. So I asked her about it, fully expecting that it had been the work of the "very helpful" Madeline, when Livi tells me that she threw them out and that she needs new white sandals because those were "dirty." Looking at them, I think I found a spec of dirt on the sole of one of the shoes...

Maddie got to tag along on the shoe-shopping adventures, but no "new" shoes for her. She gets to wear Olivia's old shoes and sandals for now. Sorry, Maddie, but they're so cute! We just had to "shop" for new shoes in our basement, and luckily I found a pair that fit pretty well. And she really likes them - they're comfortable!