We found a lovely shop called Trotters in Chiswick that was really helpful with sizing her up and suggesting a suitable first shoe given her resistance. Of course in the shop she was good as gold, tried on two pairs, walked around with my assistance, then we kept the favourite pair on her. I walked with her out of the shop, still seemingly liking the shoes. Then I put her in the car and Hyde turned into Jekyll! She had the biggest tantrum while I tried to strap her in and she tried her best to pull off the shoes. She has such strength they came off without the need to unbuckle them. So much for the “lovely smiley child” I had in the shop !!
So the shoes stayed off for a few hours at home. With her endless amounts of energy, I thought another walk before bedtime routine in the shoes outside would tire her out. So we didn’t even get to the door and the tears started, but I persisted and with a lot of encouragement we were on the pavement for a walk to the shop. We had a few pitstops, one to look down at the shoes, another to try and chase pigeons. We were eventually at the front door and were met by our friendly shopkeeper who took Isobel’s free hand and helped me walk her around the shop. Back outside and after a few steps, the knees went to the floor and she gave a look up to me that said “help me mommy”. So I carried her on the way back (With the weight of her, I’m lucky the shop is less than a 5 minute walk).
The minute we got in the door the shoes were once again pulled off with force!
First shoes
