Shoe shopping and pecking ducks

I have a sign on my bathroom wall that says "Raising kids is like being pecked to death by a duck". Today, my little ducklings and I took a trip to the mall for the Buy one, get one 1/2 off shoe sale.

Normally, I am a Payless Shoes kind of mom. Not personally. I buy good shoes for myself. But for kids who grow out of them every other week, or lose them, or decide to color them purple with a "washable" marker, cheap shoes fit the bill. But not this year. This year I can afford to buy nice shoes. So we went to the expensive shoe store. I'll probably regret this next week when Handsome can't find his left shoe.

Once I entered, I realized my first problem. I had brought four children, but was only buying shoes for three of them. I felt the tension in my neck before the first whine came out of little Sunshine's mouth.

Secondly, I had three children that all wanted me to play shoe salesman with them. "What is my shoe size, do they have these that will fit me, can I try these on" was a chorus blaring through the aisles. Little Sunshine took his shoes off in anticipation of trying on new ones, and he wasn't getting any.

Somehow, without any over-the-counter medications or hair pulling, we found shoes and an extra pair for Boobear, who is away at camp. We made it to the cash register. The salesperson assured me that I could get Boobear's shoes ordered in her size and shipped to my house, all for free. But when checking on the computer, she found out that she couldn't get me "these shoes". So I headed back to the aisle for a different pair.

That's when my littlest girl duckling followed. I don't remember what she was asking for, but it flowed in a never ending string of words. I just remember the feeling, that pecked-kind of feeling. I lost it. I wasn't kind. Couldn't she understand the stress and frustration at having to walk 20 feet to get a different pair of shoes? Didn't she know the anger and inconvenience that was raging through my mind? Okay, maybe I was having a moment. I realized it and chilled. It was only shoes, after all.