Will Work for Shoes

Or trade pacifiers for shoes...if you're Cate!
There's not much my Buggy loves in this world more than her paci. It's been her best friend since she was a 5 pounder coming home from the hospital...and even then, the smallest paci they make covered half of her face because she was so tiny. I promised myself I'd break the habit before her first birthday. But she had a rough first year with two surgeries, and it became more of a security thing for her on top of being something to pacify her. Maybe, just maybe, I'll admit that a little part of her being 2 1/2 years old and still having a paci is because she's my baby.

But there is one thing that she likes almost as much as a paci.
Shoes.
She walked before she could talk and when I'd get her out of her crib in the morning she'd go straight to her closet, find two shoes that matched, and bring them to me. Even though she couldn't say a word, I knew what she wanted. And to this day when her feet hit the ground running bright and early, she's headed right to her closet for shoes.

The other night Bethany, Towns and I were at Target and Towns thought her world would come to an end if she didn't get these...

If you saw the ridiculous amount of shoes the girls have, you'd understand why I said no. But that's where big sisters come in...on our way home B pulled out a box and handed it to Towns. You can guess what was inside! Well, when Cate woke up the next morning her radar detected new shoes in the house, and she was less than thrilled that they weren't hers!

That's when it hit me.

If you want shoes bad enough, you pay for them with pacifiers.

She was all over that idea, and we talked it up for a couple of days just to see how serious she was. She wasn't forgetting about those gold shoes. So last Friday morning we prepared for Operation Paci Swap. Signs were made, pacifiers were gathered, and with camera in hand we set out to complete our mission!
Buggy checked to make sure she had the goods in her purse...

Gotta love the white pique bubble with B's brother's tennis shoes that were so sweetly handed down to us! She loves them and will wear them with anything. And you can tell by the look on her face she was pretty excited about what she was about to do...

Wait, am I sure I'm ready to give these things up??

No second guessing yourself now, Bug!
There's that smile again, she was ready to rock and roll...

On the way, we stopped at Oak Park for the last time ever so that B could turn in her science book...

She's officially a high schooler! And she almost killed me for that. I suppose I'll be sentimental til the day I die!
I let Cate break the rules and enjoy her final moments while we waited for B to get back...

But she was ready to put it up and shop for shoes in no time flat, and she checked for the 10th time to make sure she had all of them in her purse...

And straight to the shoe section we went. After all the fuss, she ditched the gold sandals and opted for something totally different...

She made sure they fit, and then my heart started pounding. It was time. I honestly didn't know if she would hand them over to the cashier when it came down to it. Part of me wanted her to keep them and say forget the shoes. I wasn't quite ready for it.
But with her cheerleaders behind her 100% of the way, we headed for the check out line...


Yes, we're crazy. Who makes signs for stuff like this? Probably no one else on Earth if I had to guess!
Towns was overly excited about it...

And she rode to the front of the store just like that, but she was holding the sign as high above her head as possible. Bethany was literally dying. She begged and pleaded with Towns to put it down to save her from embarrassment. No such luck though!
She said her goodbyes one last time...

And I have mixed emotions about it, but I can tell you that she followed through!

The Target lady was incredibly sweet about the whole thing and played right along. We were there right at lunch time which is always busy, so I was a little nervous as to how they'd handle Cate. Or rather how they'd handle me backing up the check out lines by taking a million pictures. But this was a huge deal for my baby girl, and no one was raining on her parade if I could help it! Turns out it was the complete opposite. The whole front half of the store stopped to watch the entire thing.
But all Cate could watch was the lady pretending to put her pacifiers in the cash register and put her new shoes in the bag...

No need for a bag, though.
She sat down right in the floor and put them on while the cashier secretly passed me a bag full of pacis...

And this sweet lady will always hold a special place in my heart for helping my Buggy give up the one tangible thing she held near and dear to her little heart...

Friday will be a week of being paci-free and one pair of shoes richer!