He, She, They, We!

Friends, Followers…I might have been mentioned a time of two that I have a thing for shoes.  I admit it.  I have a bit of an addiction to them.  Let’s face it.  When you aren’t a size 5, 7, or even a 9, 12, or 14… shoes and accessories can be a girl’s best friend!  However, I think that I have created this same kind of thing in my son!  Well, it’s in the beginning stages, but I might be in trouble!

K is growing out of things at a lightening speed rate.  He went through about 3 pairs of shoes (either trashing them at school or outgrowing them before he got to trash them) in about 9 weeks.   Since summer is on the horizon and he will be spending a significant amount of time barefoot—I didn’t want to go hog wild on some tennis shoes.  However, with Payless’ BOGO happening right now, I knew we could swing that!

I had visions of a nice pair of sandals that he could wear to church and to nice places on the weekend with a pair of school shoes.  Sadly, once he saw the Avengers flip-flops, he could NOT be persuaded to look at ANYTHING else.  He literally, put his foot down and made a statement, “Mommy, I want these and don’t try to change my mind!”  Um… ok, but…  I just sort of stared at him and must have made a face because he continued with, “I love these and I don’t want the baby ‘slip slops’ that have the strap on the back. I’m your big boy, not a baby!”  I tried to explain that he would have to “learn” how to walk in them and he didn’t seem to care.  While my goal/vision/intention was to get a nice pair of sandals and a pair of tennis shoes, I was clearly outvoted by the sassy guy I am raising. 

When I tried to take them off and have him even try on something else, he THREW a FIT.  Now, some of you out there may say, “Just make him do it!”  Um… Mom’s of toddlers, can I get an amen to my response of, “YEAH!  RIGHT!”  When we are heading to Def Con 1 territory, it’s a slippery slope.  Public meltdowns are NEVER great.  You are either judged for handling them or NOT handling them!  I don’t like rudeness, but there are some battles that aren’t worth it.

Twenty minutes of negotiating and tears and concessions later, K-man walked out of Payless wearing his Avengers “slip slops” and me holding the bag with his ratty/broken shoes and the new pair of Lightening McQueen tennies!  Not quite how I had envisioned it to go, but hey, we both got a little something we had wanted!