A few weeks ago, I noticed that the little one’s first shoes were becoming a bit tight.
The thought of shoe shopping made me feel a bit nervous, and understandably so. Shopping is bad enough when the pair are confined to a trolley or buggy, but letting both children roam free somewhere without padded walls just seems like asking for trouble. Now that he’s running, it’s exactly what I imagine herding baboons to be like.
In order to avoid putting myself through this ordeal, I ordered a foot measurer online with the idea that I would just buy shoes from the internet, which is basically how I do 97% of my shopping now, but when the (correctly measured I’ll have you know) shoes arrived, they didn’t fit and had to go back. And so, over the weekend, with the promise of a sale on, my parents and I took the toddlers to a shoe shop to get the small one’s feet measured properly.
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| Buying his first shoes |
He’d gone up a whole size; no wonder the shoes he had were a struggle to get on.
I feel a bit mean because I’m sure the big one never had her feet squeezed into a pair of too-small shoes, but he’s barefoot most of the time anyway as they were too hot for the brief summer we had. He’d had them since he first started walking back in April, and at £26 for three month’s sporadic wear they didn’t seem particularly good value for money. Even when I buy cheap shoes I wear them to death; I’ve got a pair of £6 flip flops that are on their third or fourth year. Children are so bloody expensive.
We selected about the only pair of shoes in the sale in his teeny-tiny size (£20! Bargain??) and decided to purchase them. Job done. Let’s all go home and eat crisps.
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| Old shoes, new shoes |
But no.
The big one decided she wanted her feet measured and the nice shoe shop lady obliged (there weren’t many customers in…maybe they saw us arriving). Meanwhile, my son busied himself rearranging the shoes and climbing up the displays. To be honest I figured that a shop stocking shoes for toddlers would probably be fairly used to this and would at the very least have their shelves screwed to the wall so I let my parents follow him around, replacing shoes on their racks, whilst I oversaw the measuring.
To my horror, she too had gone up a size. What is it with children insisting on growing?
She had her sights set on some wildly impractical and ostentatious Frozen shoes, covered in glitter and a garish print. Actually I don’t need to describe them, here they are:
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| Lovely, no? |
Fortunately perhaps, they didn’t fit. They were too big and fell off of her feet when walking around. Phew – that’s that, right? Maybe pick another, more sensible pair that fit?
What about these ones? Look, they have ice creams on the side. You like ice cream!
Can I have an ice cream?
No, just try the shoes on. (They’re even £6 more FFS).
I want ice cream!
OK… if you try them on, you can have an ice cream.
I don’t WANT to. I want THESE ONES.
Look! These ones have little ears on!
NO! I WANT FROZEN SHOES. FROZEN SHOES!
At this point, she’s lying on the floor in the shop, red faced, kicking and screaming in full-on terrible twos mode.
Of course I don’t want to encourage this type of behaviour so I removed the shoes and took her out of the shop.
Just kidding, my parents bought them and she fell over her feet a hundred times on the walk back to the car*.
So, to recap; we left the shop with my screaming toddler in a pair of ridiculous shoes that didn’t fit, and my parents spent £14 for the privilege.
Still, everyone survived, and the small one got his shoes, so I’m taking it as a win anyway.
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| Happiness is a new pair of shoes. Even ones that are hideous and don’t fit properly. |
*This reminds me of once when I bought shoes off drug dealer. No idea what he laced them with but I was tripping all day.
Ha! The joys of toddlers. Actually it might be funny now but in another year I will be the one writing these posts and you can laugh at me 🙂 All the fun to come x #tribalove
Shoes and 'welly booooots' are a never ending delight!! To be fair I've never yet been ostentatious enough to use 'ostentatious' in a blog post but I will have to now!! Excellent post – obviously. #whicheverlinkyyouputiton
I love you for buying a shoe measuring device to use at home, even if it is crap. Damn children and their expanding feet. #tribe
Worst. Joke. Ever. I love it.
Awesome joke! For a m8 ute I was like 'why'd she buy shoes from a drug dealer'. Those shoes are exactly the type the Child would pick – can you tell me the shop they were in so I can avoid it!
Very funny. I can really identify with this having two boys who grow out of shoes every 3 months.Joy of joys
Oh the immediate shoe attachment is very familiar…and heightens the dread I feel going into the shoe shop, which I try to do very very infrequently, partly because, as you say, how much!!!? #fridayfrolics Lucy at occupation: (m)other
Hahaha! I actually can't face it when we have to buy a new pair for Gabriel or get his feet measured. It's totally unpredictable, sometimes it's normal but the last I had he was screaming and kicking and creating a scene in Next just to get him to try a pair of sandals for summer!! I am still shaken by that trip!!
Shoe shopping for toddlers – dread it! But I guess there's always a silver lining, eh, like this witty blog post (and a pair of hideous shoes that don't fit, to remind you of the joys of parenting)!!!
#FridayFrolics
Oh I am not looking forward to shoe shopping but I'm going to have to get him some within a few months I think. Waaaa. They are extortionate! Loving the drug dealer joke aha. #FridayFrolics
I too have felt the pain of both kids needing new shoes at the same time. My eldest has very slow growing feet. Only normally needs one new pair a year. However karma well and truly bit me with my youngest. We are on our 4th pair this year. Thanks for linking up to #FridayFrolics
Bahahaha to your drug dealer joke. Oldest has gone through pairs of shoes this year as her feet insist on growing. I mean that is just rude. It costs a small fortune though. Why is they are always drawn to the one pair of shoes that make you think "never in a million years". Why?! Thanks for linking up lovely lady! 🙂 #FridayFrolics
Original comment remains, this is still mildly humorous. Well done. Thank you for linking to #effitfriday 🙂
"Mildly humorous" – you flatter me 😉
You can borrow the foot measurer thingamy… Maybe you'd have more luck!
It was Jones, Clarks shoes. Basically the only one there is and impossible to avoid. Bah.
You could take the ugliest monstrosities in Clarkes, stick Elsa's mug on it and Flump would want them. Before that it was anything with Peppa Pig- gahhhhh! She's desperate for Leli Kellies for school, sure- £65 for a pair of patent shoes you're going to ruin after one day in the playground, purely because you get a 'free' sparkly lipgloss, have 2 pairs!
I didn't mind shoe shopping with my 2 (apart from the ridiculous price of kids shoes) until they started having an opinion!!! #effitfriday
I dread having to buy two pairs of shoes on a trip to Clarks my purse is never gonna cope. Still least the toddler will grow into hers so they should last her a while ha ha X #kcacols
I laughed far too hard at that joke, seriously, it was kind of embarrassing.
What is it with the kids and their growth? My son has gone up 2 shoe sizes in the past 2 months, and it's getting a little ridiculous. At this point, I think he's better off going barefoot all the time. #KCACOLS
With each of our three, we had sudden growth spurts where they shot up a shoe size within the space of a month. We started buying shoes on eBay instead – in many instances we bought shoes at half the price of new ones that were virtually unused. Definitely the way forward #KCACOLS
Every toddler has begged for a pair of shoes that don't fit! Hope she grows into them soon! #KCACOLS
ah the joys of bloody shoe shopping ey! I laughed out loud when I read your flip flops are on their 3/4th year!! mine too! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next Sunday 🙂
Haha – this is how all outings with my two toddlers go! We've recently been shoe shopping too – it wasn't great, two toddlers running, inside.
Thanks so much for linking up with #FridayFrolics. Hope to see you again next week.
The more I read about your toddlers, the more I dread the toddler stage. Haha. I dread the public tantrums. #chucklemums
This is exactly why I've been avoiding taking the Popple to the shoe shop. She's actually never had a pair of proper walking shoes, even though she's been walking for months, because her tiny feet didn't fit into the smallest size – though I suspect that's changing now. She'll probably fall in love with some hideous and horribly expensive pair. #chucklemums
Luckily Baba has no say in his clothing so far. Let's hope he is like his daddy and doesn't care about fashion. I don't know if you noticed but I like being in charge anyway… It was worth the tantrum in my opinion. Those Frozen shoes are gorgeous #chucklemums
Frozen shoes indeed. My child would be beside herself!! These stores TOTALLY see us mums coming!!! #chucklemums
I bought not one but two pairs of shoes online for my little darling. Turns out they're way too big despite having measured his feet, measured his current shoes and read the sizing guide on the website three times. Bollocks!! #chucklemums
Thank you – this makes me feel a lot better about my shit shoe measuring abilities!
Haha I disagree, but even if they were… they don't fit 😉
Ha I think you might be right! It is summer after all…
Oh my!!You have my deepest sympathies. We had the opposite prob when the youngest was little. I traumatised her by getting her feet measured once and after that every time she passed a shoe section in her buggy she had a complete meltdown!!#chucklemums
Urgh, I'll look forward to that battle soon! Just popping back to leave #chucklemums.
Just popping my head back around the door for #chucklemums…you know it makes sense.
Well I certainly had a chuckle throughout this. I can always rely on you for your dry – arid even wit! Totes hilaire observational humour. Love shoe shopping me, esp now my son is a 'big' size 4! We're talking 're-mortgaging' when we go shoe shopping now! #chucklemums
Oh gosh I don't miss those days, shopping for shoes with toddlers. And it gets worse – eventually they have feet that are big enough that they can borrow/steal yours. Plus you still have to buy them shoes. #KCACOLS
Oh gosh, this made me laugh. Thank goodness we have now passed through the Frozen phase – but we still have a house full of badly made but very expensive merchandise/clothing. But I agree we need to pick our battles wisely, so I 'Let it go'… (sorry) #chucklemums
I have THE fussiest daughter when it comes to clothes and shoes! Buying what I think is cute is totally disregarded by my 3 year old.. 3!!!!! I am so pleased you found what you needed !! My daughter had the same shoes except in Par Patrol… Sheesh… What we go through!! 🙂 #chucklemums
Oh god, shoe shopping is hell! I used to have to get my daughter a cookie so she'd behave and now it's become a bloody tradition! I too have fallen victim to the insistence of the purchase of ill-fitting shoes (and also succumbed).
On another note, my son had the same first shoes as yours! They're so cute, I'm gutted he grew out of them!
#chucklemums
If anything is going to give me a nervous breakdown its my son in Clarks..we went to get his school shoes and he decided he wanted the girls shoes..then wanted to lick some..then freaked out at the measuring tool. The lady then got cross at me for asking to buy half a size bigger than his feet were measuring..she got really huffy until I said fine put on the exact size shoes and make him walk..he screamed the place down they were too tight..may have put her off kids..#KCACOLS
Haha noo they are absolutely adorable, I would wear the frozen shoes! Did you get the ice cream too? 😉 #chucklemums
Great joke! Thanks for the chuckle. But I feel sobered by hearing how expensive children's shoes are. Mine can't walk yet, but I never buy shoes that expensive for myself! Her father is going to be horrified. #ChuckleMums
Wow those really are quite hideous shoes…
I hate shoe shopping for my kids. In fact they will probably both end up with deformed feet from being squeezed into too-small shoes, because I put it off so long. Hey ho.
#chucklemums
For the love of God can someone tell me if they've seen my brain anywhere? I can't believe I read the last bit about the drug dealer about 5 times with a mixture of 'oh my God she didn't!' and confusion and got it on the 6th read. Doofus. Really laughed at your parents buying them and her falling 100 times. #FridayFrolics
You know what a grandparent is, don't you…?
Someone who scolds you for scolding your children, the way they scolded YOU!
That joke at the end is brilliant! And those shoes, well they're just beautiful! x #KCACOLS
I'm glad someone liked it 😉
Omg she is looking so happy in her new shoes. I want to buy a pair of these shoe for my daughter too.