Shoeless Miles

Back in January I told this shoe story, which was definitely a humorous event that I'm sure I'll retell even when Miles' children are older. Little did I know that I would soon have another shoe story to share. Thankfully, the fault in this one falls more on my wonderful husband Casey (who is also a wonderful father).

Friday night at our house is 'date night.' That usually means that once Miles is in bed we are free to watch a movie or TV show, or play a board game, that we've been saving for that particular evening. Another thing about date night is that Case and I take turns each week, meaning that if it's my turn I pick the show, movie or game. What I say goes. And when it's his turn, he picks.

This past Friday was Casey's turn, and he decided that we were going out to eat -- with Miles, but that was okay with us. He does well in restaurants, so it's not like we dread taking him. I wasn't told where we were going, just that we'd be driving a while. Being that we live in a not-so-large college town, there are only so many affordable eating places we can visit before we are looking for something different. And if we're visiting a favorite place, the drive is worth the while.

We arrived at our destination (Texas Roadhouse, one of Casey's favorites) and began getting out of the van. Case went to get Miles out and I heard, "Uh...oh."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I forgot to put Miles' shoes in the van."

My eyes widened, but I turned to look at a shopping center nearby and said, "There's a Payless! We can run and get some shoes there real quick!"

Casey's response (which frankly surprised me) was, "Are you kidding me?" to which I wanted to say, "No...are you kidding me?" Instead I explained that I was not taking my four-year-old child into a restaurant shoeless. A one-year-old...maybe I could get away with that. But four? No.

Since we had called ahead and would have a table waiting, we agreed that Casey would go in and get the table while I drove Miles to get the 'restaurant shoes.' It was probably the longest I've taken finding him a pair of shoes -- which turned out to be camo flip-flops -- not to mention the longest Payless line in history with one cashier working on a semi-broken machine. While she was answering the phone.

It worked out in the end, and the time I imagined us taking was not that long after all. Casey was in our booth waiting, and we were able to start our appetizers soon after that.

Oh, and the shoes? Miles said they were too tight. Well, of course they were!