A walk to the pet store turns into an hour-long shoe tying session at Ross. (Page down fast and it's a flip book!)

On Monday afternoon Fiona really wanted to go and see the animals at the pet store.  Her warm weather hating mama sucked it up, put on sunscreen and a long sleeve shirt, and we headed out for our walk to Petco.  She especially liked the ferrets and we got to watch a couple of dogs being groomed.  We also did some wishful gazing at the brushes (me) and toys/beds (Fiona) we'd like to get for Tucker and Felix.

 On the way back we pass a Ross Dress for Less and Fiona asked if we could go in and look around. I said we could, but we couldn't spend money. (Our car won't start so who knows what will be happening around here financially.)   She agreed and we went in.  I believe this is the first time she's ever said "Let's go look at the clothes that are in my size."  So we looked at clothes for a while and then started looking at shoes.  I realized that she probably will need shoes in the next few months, almost certainly before winter sets in, so I looked with her for a bit.  There was one pair that was quite lovely and that had velcro but it seemed too small in a 12 and we couldn't find a 13.

Then Fiona found this pair and they seemed to fit quite well and were under $20.   However, Fiona has not yet learned to tie her own shoes.  In general, I don't think this is a big problem but I thought that having her main shoes have laces might be a bit frustrating for everyone involved, Fiona included.  

 So we spent quite a bit of time sitting on a padded leather coffee table, each with a pair of shoes, and practicing the many steps involved in tying one's own shoes.  We must have worked on this for at least half an hour, if not an hour.

She didn't quite get it today but she made lots of progress and she said that she would like to keep practicing and, when she has it down, go back and get that pair of shoes. 

 Learning a new skill isn't always easy or fun and I was proud of how hard Fiona worked.  It was a good day to be a mama.