Parenting is full of potentially life-altering, important decisions. Today I am faced with one of those crucial, everything rides on it, can’t take the pressure I need a drink kind of decisions.
Thing 3 needs new shoes. His current ones, Spiderman sneakers that light up, are worn and have holes in the front. People are going to start thinking we don’t care about the well being of his feet. Or that times are tough and we can’t afford new ones.
No, we are just avoiding the inevitable struggle that happens when we get him a new anything. Thing 3 is not exactly easygoing when it comes to change. He refuses to drink milk out of any cup but a blue one with an orange top. And this weekend he watched the same DVD a dozen times in a row. So you can imagine what getting new shoes is like.
I know what you are thinking. Get him the same exact shoes he has now. Duh. Well, a trip to Target didn’t find them in stock anymore. And not surprisingly he didn’t find anything else to his liking. Although, he wasn’t so polite in his refusal. It was more like “Nooooooooooooo!” followed by a face down in the middle of the store episode.
On to Plan B – order them online. Surely some store must have Spiderman light up sneakers in toddler size 9? Not so lucky. The only ones I can find are in size 7.
Now I’m left with one of those life altering decisions. Do I get a different Spiderman sneaker that doesn’t light up? Do I go with similar light up sneakers but with a different character? If so, which one? I found a Batman shoe that looks a lot like the Spiderman one but I don’t know how he’ll react to Batman. What about Toy Story 3 sneakers that light up? Sure, he loves, loves, loves Buzz Lightyear but for some reason refuses to wear a Buzz shirt. Lightning McQueen? Touchy subject around here.
What to do? What to do?
Goodwill or a consignment store.
After nearly an hour online searching I made an executive decision to go with the Toy Story 3 light up sneakers. He has to learn to accept change some day, right?
We had the same issue a few years ago with Spiderman boots, that cousin 2 wore everyday for months. After finding no replacements, we eventually went to the shoemaker to fix the inside soles that were worn down. After that, the season ended and he forgot about them. He might surprise you! Good luck!
I was going to say just get it for him and let his talk about it in counseling 10 years from now.