Kids waiting for mom to order up pretzels and drinks after a successful attack on the mall!
I took 8 kids with me to the mall on Saturday morning with one task in mind: school shoe shopping. Happy to report that we got 'er done! Sam (8) and Lucy (1) stayed behind with John, while the rest piled in the van with me. (I had just picked a new pair of tennies up for Sam mid-summer, and Lucy probably needs shoes, but not today.)
Anyhow. Our first stop was Penneys where we found two pairs of sandals (for next year) that were on summer clearance for 7.00 each. With the remainder of an old gift card I was carrying
around in my purse, we got both pairs for $4 total. Perfect. Next stop was Payless to take advantage of their "Buy One Get One 1/2 off" offer. We usually do well here for the younger kids, but unfortunately I find the need to spend a little more on a couple of the older kids who wear their tennis shoes out too quickly. Anyways, I was fortunate to get an incredibly helpful sales woman, who despite the crowds, measured everyone's feet, wrote their sizes on a sticker and pasted it to the front of everyone's shirt without batting an eye. She was incredibly efficient...LOVED HER! Alice and Emma were also really helpful in shepherding the younger kids to their size and helping them to choose/try on what they needed. I just checked for toe room, and nodded a final approval for a couple of them. So nice to have the older ones able to help out now! I believe we were in there less than 1/2 hour to get all but 2 fitted and finished with new sneakers. On to Sears where we scanned the shelves quickly, and didn't find what Emma was looking for (in my price range). Off to another shoe store, where we lucked into a couple of really reasonably priced shoes for Emma and Grace. We stopped back at Payless a second time as I decided to pick up Sam a second pair of tennies...if I didn't, in a month I'll wish I had. Things had gone so well, we back tracked to the food court and shared some pretzels with cheese. One final stop to Walmart for a couple odds and ends while we were out, and home again we go. It was exhausting, but productive. 15 pairs of shoes (several of which were clearance sandals/flip flops for next year) later, and we called it a day. So grateful that we don't have to shop like this often!
