Shoe Shopping

One of Tyler's more amusing quirks is his intense affection for shoes. He's loved shoes since the day he started wearing them. Seriously. There must be a shoe gene that he inherited from his mommy, although I have to say, his affinity for shoes far surpasses my own. Tyler received bags full of toys, games, and puzzles for Christmas, but the single most exciting gift he opened was a pair of blue and gold sketchers. Currently, Tyler has 5 pairs of shoes in size 8. He has a pair of shoes to match every outfit in his closet. I actually just put all of his shoes in the top of his closet because he kept getting them out of his chest of drawers and changing shoes every few minutes throughout the day. I got tired of constantly seeing shoes all over our house.

So....a friend of mine mentioned that this little boutique in Plano was having an 80% off sale on their winter clothes. I decided to take the kids to check it out to see if I could find anything for next year. I found lots of cute things for Tyler and paid only pennies for them. It was invigorating! I love sales! Tyler, on the other hand, has no use for sale prices. Tyler decided to forgo the cute little playroom that most children enjoy while their mommies shop and headed straight for the shoe section. He was in Tyler Heaven, surrounded by shoes all made for little boys just his size. So I shopped the sale while Tyler admired the shoes. He found some blue and white Ecko sneakers with a rhino on them. (He loves rhinos too...another little quirk.) He promptly took his own shoes off and replaced them with the "rhino shoes."

After I finished checking out, I went to let Tyler know it was time to go. Usually, he's all too ready to GO when Mommy's shopping, but not today. I told him to take the "rhino shoes" off and put his sketchers back on. You would have thought I had just slapped him in the face. He looked at me in horror; his little hands started shaking as he pleaded, "no, mama" in the most pathetic voice I've ever heard. "Ok, decision time," I thought. I had no intentions of buying a pair of full-priced shoes, but Tyler was so broken-hearted about leaving these shoes behind. (I can totally relate!) By this time, he was sitting on the floor, holding onto the rhino shoes that were still securely on his feet, crying big crocodile tears.

I am not one to give into any kind of fit. It sets a very bad precedent, and in my book, throwing a fit automatically guarantees that you absolutely will not get your way. But for some reason, this was different. Tyler was honestly broken-hearted about leaving those shoes. I bent down holding Tyler's little hands and asked, "Tyler, do you want to take these home?" "Hokay," was his shaky reply. I took the empty box to the register and paid way too much for a pair of shoes for my 2 year old. When I turned around to leave, Tyler gently hugged my leg and said, "kank you, mama," in his still teary, shaky voice. The slightly sick feeling I had about spending too much money suddenly slipped away as I felt a peace of mind wash over me. I had made the right decision.

This took place on Saturday, and the only time Tyler's taken off his "rhino shoes" since then was to take a bath. He's played, eaten, and slept in his new shoes....he wears them 23 1/2 hours a day. Precious boy.