Shoe Mission

Now that Jackson is walking all over the place, the time has come for shoes. Especially when we're out in public places. Those fat feet aren't so sweet when they're black and covered in dirt. I've avoided putting shoes on Jackson up to this point, for a few reasons:

1. His legs are really short, so they look funny on him.
2. His feet are really chubby which makes finding a shoe for his foot really hard.
3. He's a little bow legged and shoes seem to make it worse.
4. There is something about bare feet that's just too sweet to cover up with shoes!

So after Jackson's nap on Sunday afternoon, we hit the road in a mission to find shoes. The first place we went to never measured his foot. The young sales girls were just guessing on the size of his foot. First they tired the Perfection walker made by Jumping Jacks. I have to say that these shoes had great grips on the bottom, but they were just too orthopedic looking. Not to mention, he could not walk in them, at all!

Next we tried Angel Baby walkers. These were half the price of the Jumping Jacks, but weren't wide enough for Jackson's foot. Bummer!

Then they brought out the Footmates walking shoe. These were my favorite of all the white walking shoes. Unfortunately, they did not have the correct size. Another bummer!!

Before we left this store, I had them try a pair of the Pediped shoes. I really liked all of them, they have so many styles. However, they didn't give Jackson very much support. If I would have put Jackson in shoes earlier, these would have been perfect.

Meanwhile, I had my eye on the Keds Graham Hook & Loop shoe. They are truly a classic, white leather, velcro shoe. Exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the girls told me they didn't carry the wide Keds shoes until the next size up.

Seriously, back to my #2 reason for not buying shoes. His feet are hard to find shoes to fit!

Needless to say, we left that store empty handed and went to the mall to look for the Keds. Another failure! I really miss big city shopping in situations like this. By this point, the heat was getting the best of us and it was getting late. Mission aborted for the day...

I did a little research on Monday and found out about a local store that specializes in kids walking shoes. They measure their feet and try every kind of shoe to get the perfect fit. So after work, we made our way there. To my surprise, Jackson measured as a size 5 extra wide {which meant that I would have been able to get the Keds I wanted at the very first store. Those girls had guessed Jackson was a size 3.5 or 4}.

The lady was very nice and tried on a half dozen shoes. Not one sandal was wide enough. The only Stride Rite shoe they carried in his size was the cruisers which were just too funny looking with his play shorts and t-shirt. Not too mention, expensive for a shoe that he'll grow out of in a month.

Jackson and I went to two more stores looking for shoes in his size. I was ready to just give up when I remembered a friend recommending Payless. I thought what the heck, let's give it one more try. Wouldn't you know, a pair of size 5 wide, walking shoes where on the rack just waiting for us. I wrestled Jackson {he was so over trying on shoes} and got the shoes on him and he took off. He didn't trip, he didn't fall, he ran! So 100 pairs of shoes later, Payless saved the day for only $14.99!

Mission Accomplished...well almost. I went back to the first store on my lunch break on Tuesday and got Jackson the Keds. Now he has a pair a walkers for his dress clothes and casual Keds for everyday wear. I got both shoes for the price of the Jumping Jacks shoe, so does that count as BOGO:)