Monday 24 August 2015

Jimmy Shoes (Adventures of L-Plate Gran)


Little G is now 18 months old and has just got her first pair of shoes. They are size 3, purple with sparkly bits and velcro fastenings. You must be mad says they will stabilize her and encourage her to start walking. As I know nothing of these matters, I remain silent.

When I was Little G's age, you had to be actually walking properly before you were shod. Then you stood on a platform thing, with your feet in a box thing and had them X-rayed to ascertain the size. Looking back, I'm not sure this was a good idea. Nowadays, you rock up to the Clarks shoe shop and they have a chart.

Sadly, Little G was not convinced by the chart, nor the kind assistant nor initially by the shoes, and had a total meltdown in the shop, so it was a case of guesswork all round and You must be mad was relieved to escape. So were the rest of the customers.

However Little G now loves her new shoes. She spends a lot of time peeling and sticking the velcro straps because it makes a satisfying sound. She has adopted a strange straight-legged crab crawl to get herself around the house as she adapts to wearing shoes. She also likes 'pushing the buggy' round town - something she wasn't allowed to do before because of sockage wear and tear.
We take ages and ages to get anywhere.

I reassure You must be mad that the baby will eventually let go of the floor and start walking properly. Then I remind her that from shoes to Choos is only a short step. So she'd better start saving.

To be continued ...     ........




13 comments:

  1. Aw that's a lovely post, Carol. You brought back memories of my three getting their first shoes. Of course, my little girl is now at the 'make-up' stage, and I'm sure the Choo train (couldn't resist) will be calling very soon. :-)

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    1. YMBM is a 'shoe' collector ... it WILL happen ..G is already eyeing them up...

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  2. Bless! And now the start of almost unbearably slow walks around town - necessary, and it does pass, but can take more patience than you ever knew you had!

    My granddaughter is into all things pink, and had a comparable hissy fit in a shoe shop when we had to get black shoes for school (she was only just four). Did she want a sparkly black butterfly pattern or a sparkly black flower pattern. I WANT PINK!!!!!!! We got there in the end, but it was not a good day!

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    1. Oh, we have all this to come...what is it about little girls and PINK, YMBM is determined to bring up Little G as a-coloured as possible. Doesn't work..she drifts towards pink and cuddly..if offered two T shirts by me first thing, she chooses the more 'feminine' colour! .

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    2. i don't get the pink thing - she's the most tolerant parents who encourage expressions of all kinds (father a sculptor so she's very happy with clay!), but still wants pink glittery wellies, pink glittery sunglasses ... maybe you should blog the pink thing ...?

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  3. although I love reading your posts, Carol, its all a bit like being a mum all over again (for the umpteenth time) and not sure I could do it all again... not at my age.

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    1. It is somehow different when it is a granddaughter..trust me on this...

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  4. Daughters have to learn these things for themselves. They just won't accept that we've been there and know how it's best to do things. *shrug*

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    1. I'm dreading when the baby is coherent enough to say 'yes I had an ice cream and some cake with Grandma'..Ulp!

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  5. This is just so precious. Brought tears to my eyes. Charts and measurements are not designed for Little Gs. Bless her. Thank goodness for velcro!

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  6. I'm so pleased she eventually liked her shoes. My two are into the pink sparkly thing too but I do find it a bit boring sometimes. I've just bought them trainers that light up and they love them. I also remember the x ray foot thing. I only recently found out that it really was an xray of your feet. What about our health and safety? I had many chest xrays as a child and as there is a safe limit I don;t think I should have been getting my feet xrayed too.

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  7. Loved the post and made me recall Clarke's as a kid. :)

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