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Mar 29 2011

Fast Food Shoe Swap

Posted by Mugs @ 12:08 pm in Family Print This Post Print This Post

It started on Sunday morning with”Zeke put on your shoes.”

Zeke promptly went to the closet and proceeded to put on a pair of shoes three sizes too big. “Those are not your shoes,” I said. “Yes, they are my shoes,” he replied. “No. They are not your shoes. They look like your shoes, but they are too big,” I insisted.

And thus the great shoe search commenced.

Not having the time (Since I was already late to Sunday School because I had been taking pictures of snow blossoms) to look for his correct shoes, Zeke wore the shoes three sizes too big to church. On Sunday we looked for the shoes. On Monday we looked for the shoes. Admittedly, my house consists mostly of various piles of stuff in this room and that room, on top of this and under that, here, there, and everywhere: a mess that is seldom under control.

Gabe had organized the shoe closet on Saturday and made piles of extra shoes for people to take to their rooms. I quizzed him on the various shoe extras that he had observed. My brain was thinking that somehow an old pair of Gabe’s shoes had gotten into the closet and Zeke had grabbed them when he couldn’t find his own. I was determined that Zeke’s shoes had to be somewhere in the house or the van or the car or the garage or on the porch.

Zeke continued to insist he had the correct shoes. The fact that the shoes fell off when he ran was not proof enough for him, so Gabe tried to reason with him. “Look at the shoe laces. There is NO WAY that your shoe laces were ever this long!” Zeke had recently learned to tie his shoes and when he needed help, Gabe was the one continually frustrated by Zeke’s excessively short laces.

Last night, I became so desperate in the shoe hunt, I asked Josiah if he had seen the shoes. He remarked that he remembered seeing them somewhere odd, but couldn’t remember where. I made Josiah look in all the odd places he could think of. (Having Josiah look for anything is truly absurd beyond belief, but when you’re desperate, you go against your better judgment.)

I could not find them, so I prayed for God’s help.

This morning, I went back to the events of Saturday. Dale had taken Zeke and Gabe to the Barber and then to lunch at the restaurant that all Manrys love. “Did you take your shoes off at the Barber?” I asked. “No,” Zeke answered. “Did you take your shoes off in the car?” I asked. “No, I looked in Dad’s car, they are not in there,” he said. “Did you go into the play place?” I queried. “Yes, but all the spots were taken, so I put them underneath and I put them back on when I was done.”

This morning I went to the restaurant. “Did any shoes get left in the play place?” I asked. “Yes, the manager said, “I was wondering how someone left without shoes on.”  “Oh, my son left with shoes on. He took the exact same shoes, only 3 sizes bigger,” I replied. She handed me Zeke’s shoes and I handed her the other pair. “If the poor child whose shoes we have taken returns, please give his mother my sincerest apologies. I pray they didn’t have to go and buy new shoes,” I told her regretfully.

In the Sunday comics, we read a strip called Sherman’s Lagoon which has a Dad, Mom, and Boy Shark family as three of the characters. The strip on Sunday showed the Mom Shark giving the Babysitter Shark instructions on dinner and emergency numbers as she was getting ready to go out. After she leaves, the Dad Shark walks into the panel with the Babysitter Shark who asks in confusion if he is staying home too. The Dad Shark asks what time dinner will be ready.

Instructions for the Dad #2653 “When your child goes into a play place and takes off his shoes, make sure he puts on his OWN shoes when you are ready to leave.”

2 Responses to “Fast Food Shoe Swap”

  1. Aunt Robin says:

    That is hysterical.

  2. Chrissy says:

    too funny. I feel for the other child, whose mother I am sure was pulling her hair out looking for shoes.

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