Being the Mommy

Arrow has a thing for shoes. I am yet to figure if the thing is love or, hate. He has never liked wearing shoes. Initially we let it be, relying on socks alone but, a thing for socks developed too and the thing was not love or, liking or any synonym of it. He keeps taking his shoes off. It is okay if it is in the sand or, grass. Gradually I even began accepting the fact of he doing it on the path way of the society. But when you are in the middle of a store, a party, a mall ... it gets annoying, nasty, gross and the list continues.
I go from "put your shoes on please". I try doing this without grinding my teeth. I seriously try and then try not to loose it by counting. "Mumma is going to count to 5. And I want you put them on before 5" And I give the look only to see innocent pair of eyes stare back. Eyes that have just learnt that 4 comes after 5.  The procedure goes from politely asking Arrow to, "put on your shoes please", to counting, to forcibly trying to get those feet at which point he starts wailing like I am cutting off his pinky and then proceeds to just toss them off again. Like a sack of potatoes under my arms, I carry him out of the store, leaving a fabulous impression to all those eyes staring at me about the quality of my parenting skills. 
However, I decided to will win this little shoe game for, I am the MUM DAMIT. I take him to a shoe shop and let him go astray at the store. Lucky me, the sales girl is a girl not more than 19 who apparently had no clue about what a bad idea it is to take a kid off on her own. She immediately hands me Arrow back. 
I am going to add duct tape to my list of must have in your handbag. 
Arrow finds a red shoe with a yellow bunny strap meant for a six year old. I try to explain, "it is too big for you" But he wears it and parades the entire shop. "Can you please try these on Arrow?" NO "See it is the exact same one in a smaller size." NO "Baby those shoes are too big. Try this." No
I end up buying the large shoe, thinking it would come handy when he is 6 and buy both the shoes. Now he neither wears the huge shoe, nor the correct new shoe but roams around bear feet.
And it is during such phases I see people post the mumma-baby pics with captions like, "Mumma's hero", "My angle."