A Not So Thrifty Moment

As you know, I get great satisfaction from finding a good bargain.  I clip coupons, search the internet for the best prices, never pay retail for any of my clothes, etc.  Unfortunately, you can't always find a bargain when you want/need one.  Which leads me to Meg and her newest pair of athletic shoes.

Meg's old tennis shoes were worn, dirty and very stinky (and I mean very stinky!) so a new pair was in order.  We've always had good luck at Sports Authority so that's where we headed.  Unfortunately my daughter can no longer fit in anything in the youth aisles where I've had some success in the past with decent shoes for decent prices.  (Meg has flat feet, is pigeon toed, is a super underpronator and with her CRMO she needs a GOOD SOLID pair of shoes.)

As we searched the women's aisles I had a deja vu moment.  The only argument/battle I ever had with Jay while growing up was over shoes.  That kid always wanted the latest, greatest, Ken Griffey Jr/Frank Thomas/Michael Jordan model...and trust me, there was no fooling him.  We did buy him one pair when he was young and after that he was told that if he wanted them so badly, "we'd buy the right shoe but he'd have to buy the left shoe."  It was always a battle of stamina.  Inevitably, after hours of shopping and the realization that Mom was NOT going to give in, he'd decide "that this year's model" wasn't worth his money and we'd end up buying "last year's model" with Mom footing the entire bill.  And last week with Meg, I could see those days returning.

I won't say how much these set me back but I will say that it's triple what I normally pay.  I told her the whole story with Jay and laid out the ground rules. I'd buy her one pair and after that, it was 50/50 if she insisted on having expensive shoes when there were similar ones available at significantly lower prices.

So these are the shoes...

*sigh*  Gone are the days of pretty, sparkly, light up sneakers.  Also gone are the days of petite feet.  This one is going to be a tall one.  At 10.5 years of age she's already in a women's size 9 athletic shoe...an 8 in regular shoes. (Her mama is an 8.5 in regular and a 10 in running shoes.)  At some point there will be an overlap, she can wear mine and I'll get my money back on these, right? LOL!!!