-Madonna
Obviously the original Material Girl has never been shoe shopping with four kids in tow.
This afternoon, I decided to take advantage of the day off school (It's President's Day for those of you who have wandered around in a fog all day) and brave the mall. You see, Payless Shoes is having their BOGO event. If you don't know what BOGO is, then you probably don't shop for shoes very often. BOGO = Buy One, Get One 1/2 Off sale. We take advantage of BOGO two or three times a year and believe me, it saves us quite a bit of money. You'd think kids shoes would cost less than adult shoes, but they just don't.
I thought ahead and called two girls from our church congregation to come along with us. The plan: I'd take one kid at a time into the store with me to pick out shoes. The other kids would play, supervised by the babysitters, in the play area conveniently located right in front of Payless Shoes. This actually worked really well.
As we shopped, I thought my kids' choices were quite interesting. I could see how they were each growing older and making more "mature" choices (and occasionally surprising ones as well).
Shoe Victim #1 : Isaac
Previous Shoes: Transformers
New Shoes: Spider Man
***It took us two years to get Isaac out of his Power Rangers mode. I thought for sure he'd hang on to Transformers a little longer. But alas, six months was it. I credit the change to Spider Man to his Aunt Cheryl, who bought him Spider Man Wall sticker thingies (which Isaac totally loves).
Shoe Victim #2: Rob
Previous Shoes: Disney Cars
New Shoes: Transformers
*** Rob has picked out Disney Cars shoes for the last year and a half. I was very surprised that he didn't want the new Cars shoes and instead voted for Transformers (which suspiciously look quite a bit like Isaac's former Transformer shoes). Rob's true colors shined through in the end - we also ended up purchasing a pair of Disney Cars Crocs.
I can't wait to see these fancy feet flying through our yard . . .
Shoe Victim #3: MJ
Ah, yes . . . MJ is my girly girl slash "I'm gonna beat your butt" tomboy. She's also a shoe shopping addict. It took her FOREVER to pick out shoes. Ever since she was teeny tiny, she's insisted on trying on every style of shoe available in her size before narrowing them down to about four or five pairs. Then she needs to try on those at least two more times to narrow them down to three . . . Repeat the process one more time and we've finally narrowed it down to one pair of sneakers and one pair of crocs. Whew! Once again, I attribute this to my sister (MJ's Aunt Cheryl). She was exactly the same. I still remember going shopping with her and my sister walking out with no less than six pairs of shoes per trip to the shoe store. She had rows and rows and rows of shoes. Hopefully MJ won't be that bad as a teen . . . (maybe I should say some prayers about that too!)
Previous Shoes: High School Musical
New Shoes: Champion Pink
*** When MJ chose her HSM sneakers, she had never seen the movie. The only thing she knew about HSM was that her friends really liked it and talked about it at school. Only just recently have MJ and I sat down to watch the movie (about two years after it came out!) This time, instead of choosing the popular fad, she decided to go with something she really liked rather than what her friends are all wearing.
Shoe Victim #4: Anna
Ah . . . the moment I know you've all been waiting for. Anna's first shoes! It really was fun watching her reaction to all the different shoes. I had fun just seeing the teeny shoes! Anna wears a size two - can you believe that? They look like a doll should be wearing them! We ended up purchasing three pairs - sneakers, dress shoes, and a pair Anna just wouldn't let go of!
Very cute pink camo sneakers.
I thought these would be darling with her church dresses.
These are the shoes Anna just wouldn't give back. Aren't they sweet?
While I wouldn't say that I had lots of fun, I do think the kids had fun picking out shoes and playing at the mall. And really, the two and a half hour trip wasn't all that bad - except for the cash register total at the end. I just about choked on my gum! Now I just have to be sure my hubby is half asleep when he reconciles our accounts later this week. :)
