**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR ENTERING**
CONGRATULATIONS TO:
Brought to you by Nuffnang and Williams & Mathers
You know how they say moving house and
divorce are two of the most stressful things life can throw at you? Well I
kinda think they should add shoe shopping with kids to that list because MAN I
could have boiled a bunny with my blood pressure this weekend just gone.
It started with the waking of the teenager….
At 10.30 am.
“Kai, time to get up” the husband called
out gently … to no response.
“KAI, TIME TO GET UP” he tried again with a
little more force.
Nothing. Nada. Crickets.
“KAIIIIIIIGETUPRIGHTNOWORYOULOSEYOURPHONEFORAWEEK”
I screamed.
“Whaaaaaaaaaat, whyyyyyyyyyyy?” came the
grunting from upstairs as he appeared at the landing “Geeezzzz Youdon’tneedtoyellatmeya’know
”.
I didn’t know what to bang my head on the
wall over first; the fact that my sweet precious boy has turned into this alien
type of life form that sleeps all day and grunts instead of speaks or the fact
that the only way we can convince him
to spend a morning with us shopping is by threatening to confiscate his beloved
phone.
After 10 minutes we finally coaxed him
downstairs, but once we told him we were going school shoe shopping we were met
with over exaggerated eye rolls and a whole lot of “errrrr! Ohhhhh! SHOE
shopping???? Trek!”.
See what I mean? It’s a whole new language
I am learning here people.
Clearly we were not off to a good start.
The other two weren’t much better. In
between bloodcurdling screams from the sting of the mutual horse slapping they
were engaged in, they too let out a few disgruntled moans.
Now school shoe shopping for my kids is not
high on the list of things I want to do on a Saturday morning. In fact, it
doesn’t rate at all. But come on… it’s not THAT bad!
It is
a necessity and luckily I have learned a few lessons along the way;
DO NOT take kids shoe shopping later in the
day when their feet are hot and smelly and pungent enough to wipe out a whole
shop with a single whiff.
DO NOT take kids shoe shopping later in the
day when they are tired and cranky enough to inflict irreparable damage to your
sanity.
DO choose a shoe store with professional
fitters that can get the job done fast and efficiently. In and out wins in this
game.
DO NOT leave this job to the last minute
and attempt to take three kids shoe shopping in the last few days of the
holidays when everyone else is taking tired cranky smelly feet shoe shopping
too.
DO use bribes if you have to.
DO NOT under any circumstances let them sit
next to each other when the poor staff is trying to fit their shoes or you end
up with this.
Ahhh yep, this happened when I was
distracted and before I remembered the
separation rule and promptly sent them to 3 separate benches.
Thankfully the school shoe Gods took pity
on us that day as they bestowed upon us a gorgeous angel in the form of Alison
– a trained fitter at Williams Shoes.
Alison had those boys eating out of her
hand.
I kid you not.
After a quick chat with me about our shoe
requirements, she had their full attention and they were following her around
the store like a trio of doe-eyed puppies as she showed them their options.
The boys quickly made their choice; Clarks’
lace ups for the older two and Velcro Rocs for the youngest. Alison measured and
laced them up and all without a single moan, eye roll or change of mind from any of them.
There was not a single sideways swipe,
horse slap or Chinese burn.
There were even smiles!
It was nothing short of miraculous.
All three pairs of feet correctly measured
and fitted and we were done and dusted in under 20 minutes - an all time record
folks!
Alison set the boys up with a back to
school kit and a promise from them that THEY will clean their shoes regularly
(could I love her any more) before giving them a smile and wave and a couple of
light up bouncy Lynx balls (free with every Lynx purchase in-store until 3rd of Feb, 2015).
They
smiled like the cherubs that they so were not
only and hour earlier and bolted off happily to another
store to check out video games.
Cheeky buggers!
Who owns them apples?
With the kids now occupied elsewhere, it
gave me a chance to chat to Alison about some of the special Back to School
deals available for you guys when you have your kids’ shoes fitted by the
professional fitters at any of the 150 Williams and Mathers shoe stores around
Australia.
From now until the 3rd
February (2015) Williams and Mathers are offering 20% Off All Clarks School
Shoes in-store and online. That’s a
whole lotta savings when you have a whole lotta feet to fit.
But the deals aren’t just
limited to Clark’s shoes.
No siree, you can also score a
second pair Half Price on all Lynx,
Colorado and ROC School Shoes in-store and online and nab a free flashing Lynx ball with every Lynx purchase (in-store
only).
Mathers and Williams stock a
HUGE range of school shoes so you are sure to find a pair that both you and the little people can agree on.
Download this voucher to redeem a freeWaproo School Shoe Polish Kit valued at $14.99 when you purchase shoes in
store - valid until 28th Feb, 2015
But wait, there’s more and no we are not talking about steak knives ‘cause steak knives and kids in a shoe shop?
Yeah, just wrong.
The fabulous folk at Williams and
Mathers have given me a $250 voucher for one of you guys to win so that you can
fit the little feet in your household in some very comfy shoes… or squirrel it
away for yourself as a special shopping treat when they head back to school.
Whatever, we won’t judge you ;)
All you need to do to enter is
leave me a comment and tell me two things;
And, tell me what is your number one tip for getting the kids ready to head back to school?
The competition is open now to
Australian residents and will close at 5pm February 3rd 2015 AEDST. The winner
will be notified via email and announced here on the blog.
GOOD LUCK!
