So here is the deal - I like shopping for shoes and offer no apology for this. It might be seen as a shallow pastime but I don't care. Not that I am particularly stylish or have a vast collection of expensive ones or anything but buying a new pair (very much like buying a handbag) is always a pleasure. Walking in any heel higher than half an inch usually isn't but that is another tale entirely. In my life the two men I share it with (husband and son before anyone thinks I'm a polygamist) both hate shopping and have no interest in shoes apart from as a practical item to stop their socks getting wet. They both have approximately three pairs each: trainers, smart ones (school or in husbands case weddings, funerals and interviews) and walking boots for any other occasion. When these have worn or been grown out of obtaining a new pair requires very much the same approach for the six year old and the forty year old. It must be done in superquick time, minimal browsing allowed (buy the first pair that fits) and sometimes has to be followed by a reward for patience such as a small toy, comic or an ice cream (yes husband loves a Beano and a 99)!
With child number 2 being of the girl variety I had hoped shoe shopping would be something that would be a bit more enjoyable. At the grand old age of 18 months she is already taking an interesting in footwear with her favourite word (after Daddy) being shoes - 'That's my girl' I say 'Lets go shopping'.
Today husband was on a day off with son at school and just small girl in tow and we had gone into town to deal with some boring bank business. After a very rapid pub lunch I suggested that small girl could do with some summer sandals. We have had two days without rain this week so I was feeling a bit optimistic that they might be required. With the suggestion of a shopping trip husband was off in a flash muttering an offer to do the school pickup and let us girls get on with it.
Now what I should have done was immediately head to the sensible shoe store (you know the one) but hang on there was a slight problem the city centre store's children's shoe department is in the basement and there's no lift. Bit of a hassle when you have a pram with you and also I was really after a cheap pair knowing full well that they would be unlikely to see more than a couple of outings so I decided to look elsewhere. Big Mistake, Huge (to quote JR in PW).
What followed was an hour of hell not because of the shoes (although I drew the line at flip flops for an under two) but because of the shops and in particular the location of the children's departments which are never ever on the ground floor. I'm no Mary Portas but I do wonder if the decline of the shops on Princes Street that they are always waffling on about might be to do with their layout. Don't they realise that parents are busy people - when shopping for children's they either have them along and will generally enter full moan mode after about two minutes in any shop unless its full of toys. Or they are snatching a bit of free time possibly in their lunchhours or when they have childcare (and could be having a coffee/pint/five minutes to themselves) and don't want a 'pure mission' sprint up four flights to buy some socks. No wonder supermarket ranges do so well as to a flustered mum like me lobbing some school shirts and vests in the trolley with the cornflakes and loo roll is a godsend.
I was quite shocked at the prices in some stores as even in the 70% off section its unlikely I am going to pay ten quid for a t-shirt which will be outgrown in three months and will spend most of its useful life in the bottom of the washing basket covered in food. From the tumbleweed that was blowing through Debenhams kids section and the fact that the two bored assistants seemed to be playing Candy Crush on the till I guess they aren't flying off the shelves either.
And then for pram users like myself there are the lifts - my particular bugbear about city centre shopping as they are generally a bit crap. They tend to be squirreled away somewhere difficult to find and seem to all run on clockwork so you have to wait ages for them which is a disaster if you have a bored toddler in a buggy and want to visit more than one floor. My other problem with lifts is the people that are in them (generally pressing all the buttons and holding my lift up). Now I am fully aware that there are many people out there who have health problems that are not immediately obvious and have to use lifts in shops but think there are a lot of lazy buggers in there too. Like the twenty something girls who shoved in beside me and giggled all the way up to the top floor loo. Or the young guy in workie boots who waited a full five minutes to heft his Greggs piece and builders bum to the first floor in H&M (they have a chuffing escalator which would have taken him 30 seconds tops).
I didn't even venture into Jenners (not that I can afford it) as getting round there even on foot and sans pram is like being a contestant in the Crystal Maze. After you have dodged being sprayed with 20 different perfumes and orange ladies tempting you to try spring eye colours (which on them looks like Lily Savage after 15 pints and a fight). Then there is a confusing combo of stairs, half landings and escalators until you discover that the section you were looking for has moved to a different floor owing to a special themed display (aka expensive tartan tat for the tourists). By this point you are tired, dehydrated and utter a few sweary words and have toddled off to John Lewis (they have great lifts btw and a sensible layout all hail JL).
Four or maybe five shops in I finally found what I wanted although by this time small girl had fallen asleep with the boredom of it all (I just hauled her socks off and tried em on anyway I am a cruel mother) I gratefully headed home. When she woke up on the way I took out her new sandals and put them on and she was temporarily very excited by them. That was until two minutes in the door she ripped them off and went off to fetch her wellies. I think this educating daughter to love shoe shopping process may take a bit of time.
With child number 2 being of the girl variety I had hoped shoe shopping would be something that would be a bit more enjoyable. At the grand old age of 18 months she is already taking an interesting in footwear with her favourite word (after Daddy) being shoes - 'That's my girl' I say 'Lets go shopping'.
Today husband was on a day off with son at school and just small girl in tow and we had gone into town to deal with some boring bank business. After a very rapid pub lunch I suggested that small girl could do with some summer sandals. We have had two days without rain this week so I was feeling a bit optimistic that they might be required. With the suggestion of a shopping trip husband was off in a flash muttering an offer to do the school pickup and let us girls get on with it.
Now what I should have done was immediately head to the sensible shoe store (you know the one) but hang on there was a slight problem the city centre store's children's shoe department is in the basement and there's no lift. Bit of a hassle when you have a pram with you and also I was really after a cheap pair knowing full well that they would be unlikely to see more than a couple of outings so I decided to look elsewhere. Big Mistake, Huge (to quote JR in PW).
What followed was an hour of hell not because of the shoes (although I drew the line at flip flops for an under two) but because of the shops and in particular the location of the children's departments which are never ever on the ground floor. I'm no Mary Portas but I do wonder if the decline of the shops on Princes Street that they are always waffling on about might be to do with their layout. Don't they realise that parents are busy people - when shopping for children's they either have them along and will generally enter full moan mode after about two minutes in any shop unless its full of toys. Or they are snatching a bit of free time possibly in their lunchhours or when they have childcare (and could be having a coffee/pint/five minutes to themselves) and don't want a 'pure mission' sprint up four flights to buy some socks. No wonder supermarket ranges do so well as to a flustered mum like me lobbing some school shirts and vests in the trolley with the cornflakes and loo roll is a godsend.
I was quite shocked at the prices in some stores as even in the 70% off section its unlikely I am going to pay ten quid for a t-shirt which will be outgrown in three months and will spend most of its useful life in the bottom of the washing basket covered in food. From the tumbleweed that was blowing through Debenhams kids section and the fact that the two bored assistants seemed to be playing Candy Crush on the till I guess they aren't flying off the shelves either.
And then for pram users like myself there are the lifts - my particular bugbear about city centre shopping as they are generally a bit crap. They tend to be squirreled away somewhere difficult to find and seem to all run on clockwork so you have to wait ages for them which is a disaster if you have a bored toddler in a buggy and want to visit more than one floor. My other problem with lifts is the people that are in them (generally pressing all the buttons and holding my lift up). Now I am fully aware that there are many people out there who have health problems that are not immediately obvious and have to use lifts in shops but think there are a lot of lazy buggers in there too. Like the twenty something girls who shoved in beside me and giggled all the way up to the top floor loo. Or the young guy in workie boots who waited a full five minutes to heft his Greggs piece and builders bum to the first floor in H&M (they have a chuffing escalator which would have taken him 30 seconds tops).
I didn't even venture into Jenners (not that I can afford it) as getting round there even on foot and sans pram is like being a contestant in the Crystal Maze. After you have dodged being sprayed with 20 different perfumes and orange ladies tempting you to try spring eye colours (which on them looks like Lily Savage after 15 pints and a fight). Then there is a confusing combo of stairs, half landings and escalators until you discover that the section you were looking for has moved to a different floor owing to a special themed display (aka expensive tartan tat for the tourists). By this point you are tired, dehydrated and utter a few sweary words and have toddled off to John Lewis (they have great lifts btw and a sensible layout all hail JL).
Four or maybe five shops in I finally found what I wanted although by this time small girl had fallen asleep with the boredom of it all (I just hauled her socks off and tried em on anyway I am a cruel mother) I gratefully headed home. When she woke up on the way I took out her new sandals and put them on and she was temporarily very excited by them. That was until two minutes in the door she ripped them off and went off to fetch her wellies. I think this educating daughter to love shoe shopping process may take a bit of time.