Totally NON flyfishing related, but too funny not to pass on.
I took my just turned 8 year old granddaughter shopping for school supplies yesterday. All went well (da*n specific list that must be complied), till we got to the shoes. She found, and instantly fell in love with, a pair of what we used to call tennis shoes; cute things, graphics on the side, neon green bottoms, sparkely things here and there. $50.00! Yep, $50.00 for a little kids shoes!! I told her I was sorry, that I just couldn’t afford shoes that cost that much, especially as she’d be outgrowing them in hours. How 'bout these cute plain ones for $27.00? Melt down. Tears. Pouts. How could Grandma be so mean?!? Then the ultimate … “If you’re not going to buy me these shoes, you can just take me to a foster home and drop me off, because I know you just don’t love me”. Smitten out on the floor!! Did she get the shoes? Nope. Foster home? Nah. The greatest part of grandparenting? Returning them to their parents!!
i dont know abough mean. shoes for me thouse one that were cheep
would not work . had kangaroos they held up to kids abuse.
then i moved on the better one. cheep shoes sore feet
cheep shoes last a week. i learned that if u take care thay last.
50 bucks is cheep shoes here now.
I love the part where you give them lots of sweets , run them ragged till they are almost beyond control then you anounce loudly to their parents. Well poor old Grampa’s tired, I’m going to bed . Leaving said parents to handle their wired for sound kids. Grandparenting is the best revenge!
When I became a single parent my kids were just starting high school. I made the mistake of giving in and buying a $250.00 winter coat that my daughter “just had to have” . The first day back to school after Christmas holidays She returned home with a different coat. Upon questioning her I learned that all the girls traded coats. The one she came home with was a $40.00 coat. In about an hour or so all the mothers phoned around and undid the switch much to the girls dismay. It took a while but I finally got the hang of saying no and meaning it.
OMG!!! Don’t tell her about the skate shoes!! That’s what she wanted, and asked every clerk in the store if they had them!! She’s 8 years old, and goes to a parochial school! They have such strict guidelines, even the shoes have to meet certain restrictions! She couldn’t have even worn the shoes she wanted to school, and I wasn’t going to pay $50.00 for her to tromp around after the horses and pig. (can you say, “phew”?) It was the “just drop me at a foster home, because I know you just don’t love me”, that really got to me. What a hoot!! You want to box their ears, but that’s hard to do when you’re laughing so hard!!!
With 4 brothers, my parents PRAYED that we would ask to go to a foster home just to reduce the food and clothing bill. A new coat for me was one my older brother outgrew. Waste not, want not. When we did get something NEW it was a real treat, and we appreciated it. (There I go showing my age again.) I’ve carried those values thru my entire life, and did not spoil our kids even though we could have.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Betty,
Your day brought back memories. When Heather was 9ish she is now 30) we were living in Southern California and the “Big” thing was “Vans” Tennis shoes about $50 a pop compared to “Converse” at $25 or “House” brand $10, she had a fit and Jeans Mom told us we were “Cruel” for making Heather wear the house brand (However Betty(Jean’s Mom) didn’t offer to buy them for her). Now the Mother of 4 kids we hear the complaint “You won’t believe what Andres,Correen,Davey, or Juanita got to have”.
Our only comment is “PAYBACKS Kiddo”.
Bill
My daughter hauled me around all the stores so we could pick out that “perfect coat” I kept trying to suggest the reasonably priced ones but was always overruled by My daughter the princess. So I came to know pretty well what the costs of the different brands were. One of the mothers laughed at me and said It was not unusual for the kids to trade clothing and shoes at the start of the school year, and that next time I needed to shop for My girl to give her a call so she could take my daughter with her.
She also said that they had to trade back coats the year before also so were not suprised that it had happened again.
I never had those kinds of problems with my son. As long as it fit he was happy.
One day my daughter came home with one red sock and one white sock. They had all traded a single sock so they could look cool. ha ha after a while you just learn to roll with the punches .
Ps. That very helpful Lady is now my Wife of 22 years.
