Shopping For Soccer Shoes And Other Traumatic Experiences

I took the two younger kids to get some soccer cleats for the upcoming season. They really did need them, as their feet continue to grow each year.:) Go figure. So, being the loving and dedicated mother that I am, I told them I'd take them this afternoon. ( I must confess that I had put it off as long as I could considering their soccer clinic is this Monday.) I drove through traffic as thick as fleas on an ol' hound dog. (Don't you love those quaint southern expressions?) Stop. Start. Stop. Start. That is west Knoxville traffic for you on a Saturday afternoon. As I approach the destination I begin to resemble a Kamikaze pilot circling around, and around the parking lot until I spy an open spot. I'm going in!!! A Suburban is moving in on me,fast! He looks at the spot. Oh no you don't! My little Camry is not scared of your big Suburban.....besides, I can squeeze into that space better than you can! At this point it is a showdown and (the crowd's cheer!) Dawn wins the coveted spot. Chalk one up for the crazy soccer mom on a mission!
The kids and I got out of the car and made our way into the sporting goods store. It was jammed packed with frenzied parents shopping for equipment for the upcoming Fall sports season. The parents were a case study in how to lose one's sanity in 1 hour or less. The moment I stepped over the threshold I too was one of those parents with the glazed over eyes asking for different sizes of shoes for my kids to try on. One of the young men working in the shoe section went to the back room to retrieve the shoes in the sizes we needed.....he was gone for so long I thought maybe he had passed out back there or something.....that maybe I needed to send someone in for a search and rescue. Just as I was seriously starting to worry, he emerged with shoes in hand. He said, "it's a mess back there, sorry it took so long." I felt for the guy. He had the glazed look. I patted him on the shoulder....then I pointed at another parent waiting for shoes. He heaved a sigh. I said, "ya gotta go back in. Sorry."
After a good hour or so of trying on shoes, walking around in them, squeezing to see where their toes were at, lacing and re-lacing, we escaped the store with goods in hand. A little poorer mind you for the struggle, but victorious none the less. Wait.......is that theme music from the ROCKY movie that I hear??? Or is that just the music I hear in my head occasionally?