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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

ro be PISSED OFF with this shoe shop behaviour

118 replies

PitysSake · 25/08/2009 13:45

ok so shop hEAVING.
mum comes in with a huge rucksack and then gets out every shoe her two kids own. battered old trainers, school shoes, even brings sprots socks for kids to try
then get the kids to try on every shit pair of shoes to get the assistant to say if they need new ones

this is NOT degree level science lady, you feel the toes and work it out. These people are not higher beings they are shoes shop assistants.

Meanwheil the rest of us were waiting and wiating.

THEN some annoying muj let her 2 year old walk SLOWLY down the stairs holding up one mum who was calling for a kid she htought had done a runner and me and another guy who wanted to get downstairs AT SOME POINT

OP posts:

wotzy · 25/08/2009 20:03

pootle09 children's feet and their little bodies grow at extra speed in the summer (must be the rest and the sun). dd has gone up a whole shoe size, so I can't send her back to school in her old shoes.

pootle09 · 25/08/2009 20:06

Thanks wotzy, and wow, really?! I never knew that - must be all the extra vitamin D.

So, there's no avoiding shoe hell then. Bugger.

ElieRM · 25/08/2009 20:14

pootle- when the time comes, get there at 9 am. quiet shop, unstressed assistants.

wotzy · 25/08/2009 20:20

..and don't leave it to the last week before they go back, it's so depressing, when they are all out of 'that' style or size.

Last year I bought them both a cheap pair of pumps (flats) knowing that I'd get a least 8 weeks out of them and then have to 'do' the whole school shoe thing later.

It is important to have good shoes if you walk to school in the rain.

raffyandted · 25/08/2009 20:59

I am tres, tres smug because I bought 4 pairs of Start-rite shoes online in the sale about 2 weeks ago, £9.60 per pair reduced from £32. I checked the fit at home using their online guide & they were fine. Two pairs are next size up (to grow into)and I know his feet may have altered by then, but if so I shall sell them on Ebay. at the price I paid I'll probably get my money back. And they were nice ones too, not vile like you usually get left at the end of the sale. They're still selling them now in Start-rite, back up to £32.

I did mention this in another thread about shoes as well, I just wanted to have the satisfaction of saying it again because I am tres, tres, tres smug

Rachmumoftwo · 25/08/2009 21:36

You are right to be smug- well done you!

I am lucky that both DD's shoes from last term are fine (I bought them at half term). This means we can skip shoes and buy boots when it gets cooler and wetter. Yay!

I also live near Clarks' Village so am doubly blessed.

soopermum1 · 25/08/2009 22:45

Did the Clarks seventh circle of hell this afternoon and it was pretty much as GetOrfMyLand describes. A family in there had a toddler who's screams nearly made my ears bleed, DS teeters on the edge of a meltdown over the only school shoes in his size being toy-less and I came out nearly £80 poorer.

ravenAK · 25/08/2009 23:03

I have the answer (if you insist on being tucked up by Clarks).

Buy acceptable shoes, now, which fit & which dc is happy with - from horrible Shoebox type place, or, if that's a step too far at this stage, from Next.

Then go into Clarks at the back end of September to buy 'properly fitted' shoes. It will be quiet & you may even hit a sale.

Get dc to alternate ghastly & approved shoes (good practice not to wear same every day anyway). Ask dc, a few weeks later, which is more comfortable. They will not even understand the question, as both pairs will be well-worn & they'll have long since ceased to give them a moment's thought.

Consider yourself liberated! Go & buy dc some entertaining wellies for a fiver to celebrate.

(NB do not give in to anything with sequins or toys or you will skew the results).

shockers · 25/08/2009 23:10

I had my son's feet measured 10 days ago and he was 3.5... had them measured today and one of them had grown to 4... maybe summer does promote a growth spurt!
(I did feel toes and do the "walk up the shop" thing...both times!)
They didn't have the shoes I thought were appropriate the firat time ( althought many HE thought were!)
However... I think we all have to be patient during the 'school shoes for sept' month...
as we expect patience for ourselves during this 'difficult' time

raffyandted · 25/08/2009 23:18

I like Raven's approach. It is at times like these I'm glad I don't have a girl and therefore can't be pestered into buying anything (gulp) pink or...can I even bear to type the words...Lelli Kelli.

Lelli Kelli adverts irritate me beyond belief. The whole idea that shoes that appear to be made of canvas and plastic tat can be sold for that much money-gah!

crankytwanky · 25/08/2009 23:30

Smugarama here too!

Found a brand new pair of DMs in a charity shop for £6in DD's size! They're black but with girly bits. I'll get her some pumps too from Primarni or some such too for warmer days & parties.

No clarks hell for me this year, oh no.

crankytwanky · 25/08/2009 23:31

Too many toos. And I previewed.

leenasmom · 26/08/2009 00:43

oh i hate shoe shoping for this reason.. I mastered it this yr by taking dc in there last school shoes(ds were in excellent nick) and got him re-measured- he came up a really narrow fit and then the lady asks me to choose the style we want... I suggested to work the other way around-what have they got in this weird d/e fitting in stock or available in the next delivery...a quick check revealed ony two designs...much easier than have ds like a pair only to be told that they dont come in his size...

leenasmom · 26/08/2009 00:43

CarmenSanDiego · 26/08/2009 00:58

YANBU. I thought this weird shoe-shopping/school shoe business had gone out in the seventies.

This is one of those things I'm glad I don't have to deal with over here - the kids mostly just wear trainers to school. Job's a good'un. I used to like Skechers sandals for both me and DDs but found we were walking inwards too much. Trainers are great though and so easy for them running around in the playground. They don't change for PE either... because really at this age, what's the difference between PE and general playground games for sweatiness?

lljkk · 26/08/2009 08:13

Pootle09, I think some people just like the idea of their DC looking prim and proper and fresh and new for the first day of September, hence the big rush on buying new school shoes this time of yr.

All of DC's shoes from last year are still fine to wear. Scuffed up, but they don't care, and would be wasteful to buy new just for the sake of new. Plus, most schools are relaxed enough to let the kids wear sandals (especially if weather is suitable). PLUS, some schools won't really care if kids have trainers on in the first week. August rush on shoes is truly unnecessary.

I don't know why MNers get het up about toys in shoes. I haven't actively avoided them, but only one of DC has ever had shoes with a toy in it; it was the only pair of trainers that John Lewis had that they reckoned would fit her.

Original poster

PitysSake · 26/08/2009 19:24

god yes re toys in shoes if your kids is THAT spoiled that he cant accept a " no they dont fit"
then sheesh

OP posts:

HerBeatitude · 26/08/2009 20:07

Ha my mother bought dd those last year. She wore them for 3 weeks and grew out of them, having lost the dollies after 2 days.

Grandmothers.

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