I'm sorry Walmart

I owe Walmart an apology. I talk crap about it all the time. I say it is ghetto, dirty, understocked, the isles are too small, it has horrible parking and mostly lazy workers (except Erika...I look for her line every time I'm there.) I groan when I have to go and I avoid the place on the weekends like the plague. BUT I honestly do not know what we would do without it. It is because of Walmart that we have been able to survive off of Ben's income. Even the Target out here is more expensive and has too many temptations for me to shop there much.

Last week I spent a whole day shopping for Colin a new pair of shoes. He had been wearing a pair of Converse we'd found at the thrift store and had started complaining that his foot hurt really bad. Come to find out his 2 pairs of shoes are both 3 sizes too small!! (when you count the half sizes) Poor kid. I felt like a horrible mom. Then I felt even worse when we went shoe shopping and the ones he really liked and picked out we couldn't buy...they were $62!! So I shopped and shopped for a pair I thought he would like that wouldn't wipe our bank account clean. I came home with a pair similar to the ones he had wanted that were half the cost, which was still a lot for me to swallow but he said they felt funny so I returned them. I was so frustrated. Frustrated he wouldn't go shopping with me, frustrated kids shoes have gotten so expensive, and frustrated at being frustrated. Then I went to Walmart and a heavenly "Tender Mercy" landed in my lap when their nike look a like tennis shoes (for his PE class) were on clearance for $5! and there was a pair of cool looking skate shoes for $13. I bought them and prayed on the way home he would like them. He LOVED them. Said they felt really good on his feet and are more comfortable then the Nikes I had tried before. So, Thank you WALMART!! And thank you my child has yet to care about brand names :)

BUT the shoes weren't the only thing I found on that shopping trip. Every year when Easter comes I dream about buying my boys Easter sunday outfits. Cool ones that you'd see in a GAP ad or something and every year I go shopping, buy something, and ALWAYS return it b/c 1. my boys don't care and 2. I just can't justify the cost. So when I was shoe shopping in the mall I couldn't help but check out the easter clothes. I tried the cutest little outift on Evrett at Old Navy that had a little tie and sweater vest....but it would have been $40 so we didn't get it. When I was at Walmart I decided to check the clothes and found a nice shirt and sweater for Evrett for $7 and new shirts & tie sets for the boys for $10. Not quite a cool looking as GAP but nevertheless they were able to have something new, clean (does anyone else's kids get filthy at church?), and springy looking and I think they looked pretty dang cute :)

Now with all that said I am very grateful that Ben does have a job and these were my worst frustrations of last week. I'm not complaining about our situation or anything and know we have a lot to be grateful for :) And right now I am very grateful for Walmart.