Ruby's shoes

The other day, we took my small grand daughter, Ruby, (now unbelieveably aged three) to get some new shoes.

This was the second attempt. First time, about three weeks ago, she had been fine in the car and doing the rest of the shopping, but turned into the Troll From Hell the minute the lady in the shop tried to get her pink converse trainers off her feet to measure them. She screamed, waved her fists in the air, went bright red in the face and sat determinedly on her feet so that we couldn't get at them. No matter of cajoling, crossness and then downright brute force could entice her to cooperate. I think she was worried they were going to take her manky pink converses, which are filthy having seen her through the winter along with a pair of wellies, away and never bring them back. So we gave up, and went for a coffee in Costa, whereupon she became angelic again drinking her Tropicana and eating shortbread, smiling at everyone else as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

So this time we were a little concerned we would have a repeat performance. Her mother gave her a talking to, we talked to her about what was going to happen, and she was under no illusions that if she wanted that packet of chocolate buttons I had in my bag, she was going to have to behave.

Well, you would have thought it was a different child. There was a queue, which made me think "Oh, no" and that there was plenty of time to throw a tantrum. But no; she picked up the measuring gauge, played with it, tried to walk round the shop wearing it and generally entertained herself to the delight of all the yummy mummies and shop assistants for about 15 minutes. Then she sat like an angel while her feet were measured, politely asked for red or pink shoes to try on and then allowed the lady to try them on her feet with no bother at all.

There was a slight disappointment when the shiny, patent leather purple pair wouldn't fit, but she was won round by a slightly metallic pale pink StartRite pair with flowers and sparkly bits and a velcro fastening. Good choice, and she obviously takes after her nanny in her tastes!

So I am £36 poorer, and at least she has a decent pair of shoes now for a few months. I quite enjoyed the shoe buying experience by proxy - I can't afford new shoes for myself at the moment so I have to satisfy my craving by buying them for her, as obviously it's important  that children have good shoes which fit, and of course their feet grow so fast you have to renew them regularly.

Perhaps in a month or two she will need summer sandals and we can do it all again. What fun!