A Date with my Boys

Because you know that any date that involves a sassy red pair of shoes and dessert has GOT to be good, I thought I'd share.

I had me a date with my boys on Saturday. It was so much fun to go out with just the two of them. P Doodle and I needed a new pair of shoes each and Payless was having their BOGO sale, (which I've decided isn't that great of a deal by the way...when you can get cheaper kids shoes at Kmart or Wal-Mart.) so we left the girls home with Dad and went to check it out.

P Doodle was hilarious. The kid is so worried that he's going to walk out of the store with nothing that he latches on to the first pair of shoes he tries on and won't consider trying on anything else until Mom pulls down from the shelf......TADA! Buzz Lightyear. And they light up. And he can run really fast in them. SOLD!

Now, are there any other moms out there like me who have to fight the inner urge to be a control freak and not tell him about the Buzz shoes so I can pick the pair I want him to have? I want my kids to be independent and make their own choices, but at the same time, I want them to look good too. And I hate character shoes and clothes. But, when I thought about how happy these shoes would make him, I was able to let go of what I wanted and give in. And I'm glad I did. The excitement over this dang pair of shoes was worth it. He, of course had to wear them out of the store, wouldn't take them off when we got home, (not that I even tried to go there) and had to sleep in them that night. In fact, he's only taken them off for the bath and church since we got them.

Now what about Babycakes, you ask? Because this was a date with my BOYS. Poor, poor, Babycakes. He didn't need shoes. And mom didn't want to spend money on something we didn't need. But he's 3. He doesn't understand that. As soon as he saw P Doodle trying on shoes, he sat down and quick as lighting pulled off his "lellow shoes" and had on a new pair before I knew what was happening and could avert the coming crisis. So I let him walk around in them for a bit and bask in the fun. When it was time to go though, I took them off and put them on the shelf. And we had a meltdown. Until Mommy said the magic words, "Show me happy." Too which he predictably replied, "I wanna show happy." And as soon as I said, "Okay, let's do it," he did. And you bet your buttons that he had to get in on the fun of sleeping with a pair of shoes on, so he slept in his "lellow shoes" too. Whatever.

After the shoe-shopping, the boys good-naturedly followed me around a couple of clothing stores, and then we hit McDonalds for a $1 ice cream treat. I wish I'd taken my camera. Babycakes can't just eat an ice cream cone. He has to wear it as well. And he usually has to take a bite or two out of the cone before the ice cream on top is gone. It was messy, but too cute to bother about it. Let's just say it's a good thing it was a date with Mom, cause Daddy doesn't do messy. ;)

The best part about a date with my boys? The look on their faces when they just voluntarily look up and say, "Mom, I love you." cause we're having so much fun.

I LOVE MY KIDS.