Shoe Shopping with Immelda

After Sunday's hike, it was apparent the Magster's shoes were too small.  So, we headed to the mall for a little shoe shopping.  Sure enough, the Magster's feet grew a size and a half since our last foot-focused mall foray.  La Nina's feet grew only a quarter of a size.  That means the girls are now only a half size apart in shoes.  It also means the need for non-matching foot wear reached a new level of importance.  

In Stride Rite,  the first store we walked into, the Magster pointed to a pair of sneakers, tried them on and loved them, within about four seconds, she was a happy camper wearing new shoes.  With her taken care of, I refocused the salivating La Nina from the glittery dress shoes to more athletic models.  She, of course, went to the shoe rack, fell in love with the pair on Maggie's feet and proceeded to whine to high heaven that she needed those shoes more than food and water.   Alas, the store didn't have her size.  So she tried on eight other pairs in her size and she found some flaw in every pair.  While disappointed, it was sort of okay because her shoes were not too small yet.  

Of course, I lost that argument faster than you can say, "No, you're not getting the pink cowboy boots ever," and we headed off to the Nordstrom's shoe department for kids.  Luckily, they had a television on, and the Magster seated herself in front of the tube, while La Nina examined the shoes.  Of course, the athletic models bored her as bad as her sister's dance lesson, but when she realized the pink sandals with rhinestones and two inch heels were off limits, the sneakers became more appealing.  

By the time La Nina began trying on shoes, we'd been shoe shopping for nearly an hour and a half and the Magster was actually laying on a couch watching television and whining for her blanket.  Of course, La Nina was in her element.  She had a salesman doing her bidding and she was surrounded by shoes, it just didn't get any better.  And she proceeded to try on every freaking pair of sneakers Nordstrom had in her size.   On the last pair, it was nearly 5:15 and we'd been their two hours, we hit pay dirt.  The salesman and I nearly embraced and wept for joy.  

I headed to the cash register and nearly choked on the total.  In my starved and exhausted haze, I thought I heard him wrong, but I didn't.  The child didn't pick out the most expensive shoe, but she came within a couple of bucks.   I'd invested so much time, I had no choice but to hand over the cash.   

The good news came out of her room wearing them at 6:30 the next morning, so, at least she likes the shoes.