Mildly traumatic day

[ailbhe]

I started running errands at about 14:30 and managed to achieve baby food, baby medicines, "eco-friendly" nappies, foodstuffs, a pair of trousers that had to be tried on in a fitting room with an open door because there wasn't enough space for the buggy and Linnea screamed when I closed the door - I hope the shop floor appreciates baby belly and cellulite - and Linnea's first pair of Real Shoes From A Shop.

I had already tried Clarks, and failed to feel satisfied that the person I dealt with knew one end of a foot from the other. I found a Start-Rite shop with trained staff, which was great, but they only had little girls' shoes in pink, or little boys' shoes in blue with Extra Tough Webbing or Super Camo Laces or Army Trim or similar. So I tried John Lewis. Her shoe size is 4.5 G, but sandals don't come in half sizes or G width, so she has size 5 F. That's ok, because sandals can be adjusted for width at the front and back independently, which she needs, because in ordinary shoes, I can get my thumb in beside her heel when the front fits the ball of her foot perfectly. Two people with extra-wide toes and narrow heels should not breed. The poor kid looks fine, but needs duck shoes.

She was really very well-behaved, considering, and I'd like you to consider a feisty, underslept toddler being made to sit still and have her feet measured three times in one day, and try on lots of shoes. Considering? Good.

So we set off for home and the skies opened, yea, and there was a crashing of rain and a lashing of hail and I was blinded and soaked while the baby slept on in her plastic bubble and my fingers went red-raw on the buggy-handle and I was gradually made to realise that the surgery wasn't as great as all that because when sufficiently cold and wet, I'm not as continent as I thought I was. Oh well; I was wet enough that no-one could tell...

Then I came home and someone on The Archers was having a baby and as soon as she said "Oh my god it's started!" I started to cry. Clearly, I am not as over this as I thought I was. (And why do people in soaps always say "Oh my god it's started?" or "It's time," or "The baby! they baby is coming!" then? Everyone in my antenatal group started off saying "Um, I think it might be..." or "This could be it..." or something similarly indefinite).

Comments

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Grace had similar shoe problems, for different reasons. Apparently, her feet are too healthy. She's got a nice high instep, very strong and thick, which will supposedly be great for avoiding fallen arches when she's older but nobody makes baby shoes for them because it's not very common. (Humans evolved to be able to walk on two feet; we did not necessarily evolve to be able to do it very *well*.) She also needed extra-wide. So there were all of two pairs of shoes in the shop which would fit her foot -- one basic white oxford, for girls, one basic brown oxford, for boys. I had a fair guess what my child would do to a pair of white shoes the first time she got them outdoors. She now owns the brown ones, I don't care if they're meant for boys.

And I agree completely about the indefiniteness of real-life labor pains. It took me about three hours to get from, "Hmm, that's interesting. Must've overworked myself a tad cleaning out the car this afternoon," to "Well, I'm timing contractions mostly for entertainment value, but I don't really expect to be lucky enough for this to be real yet." And I wasn't actually certain until I was examined at the hospital and they told me I wasn't leaving without a baby.

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

huggg

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

I used to sell shoes. If she wasn't screaming, running around, and being a total terror after 3 measurings and trying on shoes, she was an angel. And what is it with pink and blue shoes. Shoes should just be shoes, in whatever colors kids like.

And cold and wet sucks all the way around. Hell, in weather like that I'd have problems, so don't fell bad. I hope you're all warm and dry now.

[buzzy-bee.livejournal.com]

Hugs. There are always going to be, I suspect, times you are not over things. My view is that the best we can ask for is that those days are less frequent. I'm sorry to hear the surgery wasn't as successful as you'd thought as well.

FWIW I said "you know those PCs you were supposed to roll out this week, guess what. Get me a towel NOW".

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, I'm sorry you had such a sucky day. *big hugs* offered, and a request to the Universe for at least a partial refund, as you day was obviously faulty.