Earlier this week, Kyle needed a new pair of dress shoes so after supper we ran up to the mall to grab a new pair. This was my first mistake - what in the world was I thinking taking my 4 year old out at 7:30 at night?!?!
Anyway we get to the store, pick up a few other items I was looking for for Evan and then we head to the shoe department. I picked out a new pair of shoes for Kyle. He liked them - that was a plus. The clerk was able to find the shoes we were looking for in a 9 1/2 just as I had requested. I immediately said "SOLD" and wanted to check out. The clerk said "These shoes run a little big, so I think he should try them on". Well since they run big I guess we should. Kyle runs over to the chair and immediately takes his shoes off. Oh. my. goodness! I have NEVER seen so much dirt come out of his shoes! It went everywhere! Dirt was on Kyle's pants, the chair, the arms of the chair, the floor.... it looked like a small dirt factory exploded! The clerk said "whoa, did he bring all that with him?" I honestly have NO idea how he was even walking. I was very embarrassed and started trying to brush all of the dirt out of the chair but then realized I was just making things worse because little piles were starting to form on the carpet. I reached over and put the new shoes on Kyle's feet. The clerk was still standing there frozen - I think he was in shock at how much dirt we just unloaded onto his chair and floor. And of course as luck would have it, we realized the shoes, in fact, were too big. So Mr. Clerk went to retrieve another pair of shoes. This time he brought out the 9.
By this time another shoe department clerk joined us. He noticed the HUGE mess we had made. He told us that he too had children and understood the mess. (Thank goodness for small favors)! The 9's fit better. Good - let's go! Not so fast....new Mr. Clerk 2 said " is he going to wear them with socks?" "No", I said so I started to take off his socks...honest to goodness his feet looked like he had been walking bare footed at the beach. His toes were caked with dirt! I think my face turned three more shades of red but I hurriedly shoved Kyle's feet into the new shoes before Mr. Clerk 1 and 2 could see.
Thankfully the shoes fit! I was so embarrassed and did not want to run the risk of them seeing just how bad his feet looked that I let him wear the shoes out of the store. Kyle was estatic because he got to wear his new shoes. I paid and once again apologized for the mess and we got out of the store as quick as we could.
So I learned a valuable lesson that night....always always always check my boys feet before going to look for shoes because I never know what surprises they may have hiding for me!
