How to get a 5-year-old to love plain black shoes.

This is Matilda. She is almost five.

Matilda has never, ever worn a pair of black shoes.

Matilda’s shoes are pink. They are sparkly. They are decorated with twinkles, and ribbons, and pictures of mermaids. She’s, you know, a girl.

Matilda doesn’t do black shoes. Until now.

Because Matilda is starting school in a week. And school requires black shoes. Black shoes that she will be wearing five days a week FOR EVER.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by The Athlete’s Foot. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

So I don’t need to tell you that, I, Matilda’s mum, was a bit nervous about taking her school-shoes shopping. Because, you know, TANTRUMS. IN PUBLIC.

So I made a plan. One of those elaborate parent plans that are probably doomed to fail – Matilda and I would make it AN EVENT. A DAY OUT. MUM AND DAUGHTER QUALITY TIME.

It was going to be great.

Shopping. Dumplings. SHOES.

What’s not to like?

“Do they really have to be BLACK, Mummy?” Oh yes, there it is. That’s what not to like.

“Yes, sweetheart. All the kids have to wear black school shoes.”

She wasn’t buying it.

And I was imagining the worst. Crowds and drama and a million children fighting over the least-black black shoes in the rammed shoe shop.

So we went to The Athlete’s Foot. And suddenly, Matilda came around to black shoes. For one very simple reason.

Bec Sparrow wants to kiss this man and so will you.

She felt special. I’d like to say that the magic of a mum-and-daughter day finally kicked in, but actually, it was mostly down to Greg and The Computer.

School is a big deal. There’s a lot of be scared of. There are a million things to worry about. Things I haven’t done, things Matilda hasn’t done, things that, let’s face it, will never get done.

But Greg is a man who gets things done. And first up was making sure that whatever the black shoes might not be – exciting, sparkly – they would fit like a glove, with enough room in them to make sure they lasted a while, and still give Matilda support.

As soon as my Matilda had a man at her feet measuring her painted toes, and getting her to catwalk across a very speccy computer that checks out exactly what sort of support these little tiny feet need.

Over to Matilda:

‘Well, I’ve seen the other kids wearing them, so I know that’s what you have to wear to school.”

“These ones are a bit tight.”

“These ones are really, really comfortable. I can run and run in them. Faster than a cheetah.”

What runners are right for me?

Clarks have been sending kids to school in their shoes since I was going, and The Athlete’s Foot stock them. But although the two pairs of shoes that she tried in various sizes looked almost exactly the same to me – black Mary Janes, substantial, comfy – Matilda had a very clear preference.

The ones that made her dance.

These are Ascent, which are like a sportier, more “technical” school shoe. Turns out they are exclusive to The Athlete’s Foot, and so we had literally come to the right place for M’s special shoes.

Thanks to Greg, we have one less mission to achieve before Big School begins. We have the comfiest school shoes that Matilda can not only run like a cheetah in, but tap dance through the playground, should the mood take her.

And no tantrums. 

This calls for dumplings.

Turns out, shoes don’t need to be pink to make my girl happy.

What’s your favourite (or least favourite) part about shopping with kids?

The Athlete’s foot are giving you the opportunity to win a $100 gift voucher. To enter, click here. 

 The Athlete’s Foot is Australia’s largest school shoe retailer. Our exclusive Ascent school shoes are designed with sports shoe technology and our Clarks range is NOW 20% off! Visit one of our 137 locally owned stores and have your kids fitted by the experts at The Athlete’s Foot.