They say that as you age, you revert back to babyhood. I can see this. I was pretty hands on looking after my grandmother from her 90th to 103rd year and there are a ton of similarities with Will and the Moomster. Aside from the obvious inabilities to control their bowels, there is the picky eating, the cranky when tired, the always thinking they’re right and the not listening. (Okay my grandmother was deaf…and Will is just male but still!)
But the one that came blazing through for me this weekend? The hell that is buying footwear. HELL I tell you. There is sweat, complaining and tears. And that’s just from me.
When my grandmother needed shoes, I used to go to Sears and choose four styles and buy three different sizes of each. I’d drive them over to her place, see which fit and return the rest. Pain in the ass? Yes. But easier than lugging her and her wheelchair to the store and listening to how all of them were terrible. How expensive they were. Or my favourite? “Don’t bother dear, you never take me anywhere so I can just wear socks.” UGH.
Saturday, after a cold-footed bawling session at the Santa Parade, Will and I went to buy new boots. The Bay didn’t have kids boots. The kids shoe store was no longer in the mall. So, back to Sears. I sat him down, took our coats off, rolled up my sleeves and proceeded to crawl all over the floor looking for sizes. (Apparently, they just throw all the boxes of kid boots into one area…it’s like the godforsaken Hunger Games!!) After the third, ‘they don’t fit’, I was losing it. This woman, also crawling around, and I were bemoaning our situations. I asked how the EFF we were supposed to know if they fit! She gave me the hint to take out the insoles and try those on. Cue the angels! Amazing. But still nothing in his size.
Finally yesterday, I ditched the kid and hit a store on Queen. Success. Take them home, try them on? He hates them. Yeah kid. Well what do you hate more? Cold feet? (And why yes, I did actually say that).
This week, when it cools off again, he’s wearing those damn boots. And I will pour myself a vodka and tonic and toast my granny who will no doubt be laughing her ass off somewhere in her silent solidarity with the kid.
They better fit for five years.
*picture taken approximately 10 minutes before the MY FEET ARE COLD hysteria…
Oh, Sarah! I have so BTDT. Before I go on, you must go to The Shoe Company for kids’ footwear needs. They have helpful staff, quality brands, good prices and some logic to how and where shoes are located in-store (i.e. no crawling around on the floor looking for sizes). I go there three times a year: late August for indoor shoes, November for winter boots and June for summer sandals, etc. Highly recommend!
Anyway, the worst cold feet situation we ever had was when we went to Carnaval in Quebec City a few years ago. Charlotte wore her Uggs (knockoffs, of course) on the plane instead of the real winter boots I had put out for her. We didn’t realize until next day that she had no ‘real’ winter boots with her! It was actually colder that week in Quebec than it was back home in Alberta (and in late January, that is a pretty big accomplishment!) – hovering around -45 during the day. We were on a press trip and had outdoor activities planned for us by our hosts from sun-up to sundown every day, and then more stuff in the evenings. After the first day when her boots got snowy, melted in the van on the drive from the Plains of Abraham to the Ice Hotel, then FROZE SOLID on her feet at the Ice Hotel, we spent a painful hour scouring the streets of vieux Quebec trying to find a shoe store that stocked kids’ sizes. In the end, I had to buy her boots at the Croc store! Not very warm, but at least the foot part was waterproof. What a fiasco!