The GGA Project -- Day #290 "Wouldn't Have Been *My* First Choice, But..."

As Mamas, especially of children as young and my son, I think we pretty much always think we know what's best for our kids...at least we think we know better than they do, right?  I mean we should.  That's why we're the moms and they're the kids--so that they have somebody around to show them the way, right?


Monkey is just shy of his 2nd birthday.  Up until now he's expressed very little in the way of opinion about pretty much anything.


Lately a line has crept into his repertoire and quickly become his favorite.  "I no like it!" he declares.  He'll say it about anything from a song that's just come on the radio to a food he loved just yesterday to a one of the apps within the kids' phone app I installed for him on my phone.  Half the time I really can't tell if he's sincerely disliking something or if he just likes gauging my reactions to his saying it.


So.  Today my Ma and I took the boy shoe shopping.  I was looking to find him some shoes for cooler weather that weren't as complicate to tie as the two pair of high-top Chuck Taylors he's got.  We really struck out with that, but while we were in the aisle I was trying other shoes on him just for fun: a pair of firefighter galoshes, some fake Crocs with a camouflage print.  He liked those okay but he didn't love them.  And he didn't need them either, so that was fine.


But suddenly he looked across the aisle and caught sight of a pair he just HAD TO HAVE.


Today's New Activity: Shoe Shopping, Monkey in Charge


"Monkey new shoes!" he said and he implored me to help him get them on.  "Monkey!  New Shoes!"  He was so excited I just couldn't pass them up.  It helped that they were on sale for $5.  But even more than that, I was just thrilled to see him have an opinion about what he was wearing.  And they were a little dorky but a decent enough choice.  They'll go with enough of his clothes, and if he LOVES them, I mean really....isn't it just the best thing in the world to see your child so happy about anything at all?

So we bought them.  And I was *that* Mom in the store who asks if she can borrow scissors to cut off tags so her child can just leave on the thing they are so excited to be wearing (the shoe store equivalent of letting the kid bust into the cookies before you've paid for them at the grocery store.  Yep.  Guilty of that one, too.  I never ever thought I'd be that Mom).  But you should have seen the look of pride on his face strutting out of the store.  It was the story of the day.  Everywhere we went he made mention of his new shoes.  And he was a super sweetheart all day, too.  So I was happy to have indulged him in a decent fashion choice.