I have learned the hard way. I have taken my kidlets to shoe stores that are known for, shall we say, their affordability. Note to self: There's a reason those shoes are cheap. You get what you pay for, and in this case, that's certainly not much!
In the past, when going to a store I shall dub "Cheapskates," we have received less than stellar service. The one employee visible in the store is running him- or herself ragged darting from one group of customers to another and then up to the register. Invariably, when I make the request for the employee to check what size my kidlets need, it is done improperly.
Cheapskates employees always ignore widths, and make up an answer without checking when asked. In one case, we were told Rooster absolutely did not need wide-width shoes, and at the next visit, the same employee said she absolutely needed them. Those two visits were a whole whopping two weeks apart. (One time had no sale, and the other had one of those buy one, get one sales.) It's not like my kidlet's feet suddenly expanded. We've had the employees only measure one foot occasionally, too. I seriously doubt they've had any training about how to use the silly metal tool they are using to size my kidlets' feet. Cheapskates employees also tried to convince us to purchase regular width shoes simply because they were out of stock of the wide-width ones. The key word here was "tried." With my mega-wide boat feet, I am fully aware of what happens to one's toes when one tries to cram them into shoes that are too narrow. Darned if I'm going to do that to my kidlets because someone failed to stock Cheapskates properly.
And don't get me started on the horrible choices for my kidlets. There are almost no practical shoes. Seriously, when do toddlers in a size eight shoe need to wear heels? We are lucky if we have two choices from which to select in the size we need for any given kidlet.
This morning, when Pig Jr. put on his sneakers prior to us taking his sisters to school, he said his shoes were too tight. Sure enough, they were. I had just checked his toes in them a short while ago, and he still had some room left then, so he must have hit a foot growth spurt. I decided since I had him home for a doctor's appointment today anyway, we would hit the mall on the way back home and I would splurge on some decent sneakers from "Expensive Shoes R Us."
Upon entering the store, the employee very carefully measured my son's feet, including the width. He made sure my son was standing properly on the measuring thingy and double-checked each foot's measurement. His pronouncement was that eleven wide was the size my son is currently wearing. Pig Jr. gleefully stared at all the shoes on the wall while I discussed which ones came in wide sizes. After giving him the option of five different sneaker types (Wow...choices!) from the row I selected that looked as if they would hold up to our daily walk to and from school, Pig Jr. picked one. I asked the employee to see if they had any in an eleven wide, and he suggested we look at the half-size up, to give my son's feet room to grow. Wait. Employees care about a kidlet's feet having room to grow? Huzzah!
After successfully locating the desired sneakers, the employee put them on Pig Jr. and had him stand to feel where his feet were inside the shoes. He had my son both walk and run around the store while wearing the new shoes. He sat my son down to wiggle the sneakers back and forth in all directions to see if they fit properly. He asked my son questions about how the new sneakers felt on his feet, and asked me if it looked like he was walking and running comfortably. Wait. An employee is actually trusting my opinion about my kidlet because I have spent more time watching him walk and run than he has? Bonus points to him!
I might have just shelled out fifty bucks for a pair of sneakers my son is likely to outgrow before he starts kindergarten in September, but it was worth it to receive that level of service and to know my son was being treated properly when it came to being fitted for shoes. Expensive Shoes R Us, where have you been all my life?
I foresee as many visits as possible to that store in the future.
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