THIS IS WHAT I POSTED ON WED:

I bought him a pair of Nike's when school started, and I let him pick, well, he already had them picked before I took him.

Yesterday, I noticed there was a big tear in the material, and he said it was due to playing basketball at school. I told him the tear will just get bigger as time goes on.

Told him we'd stop by the Nike store and "look" and the most wonderful salesperson, said he could turn in those shoes and they would replace with another pair. Well, they didn't have the color in that particular shoe and he would not exchange for another kind of Nike.

I told him I'd buy him a second pair if he would exchange the one with the tear, that way he'd walk out of store with two brand new pr of shoes for the price of one.

NOT, he didn't want to give up the torn pair and refused to look at any others.

TOld him it was his loss and we left.

Glad things turned out for you ok, but I probably would not have done it.

I'm a little confused but if you are happy, great! It is always a pleasure to have a store be cooperative and easy to work with.

Why not? Let him wear shoes with a tear? He doesn't have an abundance of shoes, and will wear a pr everywhere until he wears them out.

I just could not let him wear the shoes out socially with shoes that had the material torn, when he could have multi pairs to wear.

Nike was nice enough to exchange(their suggestion), plus he was able to get another pair discounted and went home with two pr of new shoes.

Sounds like a fantastic store with great customer service! Not sure what message grandson got from all of this, but both of you are happy, so all is good... I guess...

Elisabeth

A mother would have "TOld him it was his loss..." and been done with it, OR, they would have made him exchange the shoes whether he wanted to or not.

Ah, but grandmothers are just different than mothers! That's what makes being a g'ma fun!

Why would you buy him a second pair if he could exchange the one with the tear for another pair? He should have waited for the replacement shoes to be delivered.

"NOT, he didn't want to give up the torn pair and refused to look at any others" - spoiled. And as generous as you are with him, he doesn't appear to be very appreciative.

No he's not spoiled. And he is very appreciative of what I do.

I'm the only grandparent that does anything for him.

Circumstances are that I want my grandson to look nice and I do what my heart tells me to do.

Don't knock me, you don't know everything and I'm not inclined to divulge.

His parents are divorced, he lives with his mother, and what he wears is the least of her concern.

He now has two pr of shoes to wear instead of one.

I grew up having more than one pair of shoes to wear, didn't you?

I do what I feel is necessary.

Glenda, my confusion was to how he got another pair at no cost, not criticizing anything! I you DGS saying that the shoe was defective? I still don't quite understand how you got another pair and kept the original, although it really isn't crucial that I understand as long as you are happy. That was what I meant in my original post.

Having more than one pair of shoes isn't the issue. Of course I had more than one pair of shoes growing up. But I wouldn't have if I'd been 'picky and hard to please.' (Your words). How he came to acquire them, demonstrating spoiled behavior and causing an extra drive and gas, wouldn't have gotten me another pair of shoes.

Just sayin'.....

Nike, from what I found out, has a great return policy.

I noticed gs had a tear in his shoe, and he said he tore it in the gym, beginning of school.

I was going to buy him another pr, and take the shoe with the tear to the shoe repair UNTIL the Nike employee said he could exchange it for another pair. No cost.

The shoe he was wearing, was the most confortable shoe he has worn and loved it. When they didn't have his size or color, he didn't want to give up that pr of shoes, no matter the condition.

Nike was going to let him exchange along with me buying him a second pr. GS has only one pr of shoes to his name.

We walked out due to the fact that we could not come to terms with eachother.

Today, I on my own went back to Nike, and they further explained their willingness to let him return the used shoe, they in turn ordered him the same shoe that he loves, and I let him pick out another pr.

The identical pr will be delivered to me next week.
So he has two pr of shoes instead of one.

During the process, the shoes were on sale, so I got a credit on them, and that was deducted from the cost of the new ones he walked out of the store with.

I thoroughly understand :o)

So it sounds like you ended up with a good deal! Nice!

Thanks sephia!

No, I only had one pair of shoes growing up.....and if they wore out or I outgrew them, I had to wait and wait until my mom could save up enough money to buy new ones.
Glenda, I am happy you and your grandson get to spend time together.......he will always have the memories of how kind and generous you are.

I just could not let him wear the shoes out socially with shoes that had the material torn

You are so sweet! My DS is crazy about his shoes - they have to be sparkling clean. I am afraid I was the one who started that though. I always washed their shoes when they were little and would scrub the sides of the soles so they stayed nice and white.... guess he took it to heart - lol!

DS and DD wear Nike Free's for their running shoes (err..they are most definitely NOT free - each pair was $100). They are SO amazingly light! It feels like nothing when you pick them up.... DS got his old pair of regular Nike's out a while back to wear into the creek and we couldn't believe the difference in weight!

Now what do his JEANS look like? HA! Now that is something else... I was trying to figure out what the percentage of the price was per hole/rip/shred/whatever when I bought DS his school jeans this year. His work jeans are regular jeans, but the "good" school jeans are more stylish... or should I say $tyli$h - :)

We had excellent customer service from Nike when the bottom of one shoe started to come apart - they were fairly new too.

Did your GS really only own one pair of shoes? Then he's double fortunate to have you around - and Nike!

maire_cate, to answer your question, YES

LOTS of children only have 1 pair of shoes, and I'm sure there are plenty of children that have never had a named brand like Nike. Sad, yes.

I think it's awesome he now has 2 pairs of shoes. I think you're an awesome grandma. I think he wasn't being spoiled or ungrateful, he was being SIXTEEN.

Teenagers are a strange animal. What they feel is life or death important we couldn't give a rat's butt about.

And there's no reasoning with them......sometimes. That's when you step back and give it a day, an hour, whatever...be the adult......then take care of it later. If it's not dire or harmful, if it's say, about a pair of sneakers.

When push comes to shove, the adult is the boss, but they have to be the adult. My mother told me many, many times, you can't put a 40 year old head on a 16 year old body.

Once again, she was right!

Sounds like your DGS is a typical teenager and you are the average grandmother. You only have one so why not spoil him if you can afford to. I think giving him things brings you happiness and that's a good thing. Life hands out hard knocks and having a loving grandmother is wonderful.

It is nice to be able to indulge grandchildren from time to time. In this case it seems especially important, since the boy doesn't seem to have anyone else willing/able to provide him with necessities, like footwear.

Elisabeth

I hope someday to have the same relationship you have with your grandson. I have nine grandchildren, but Aiden is special. His father is not in his life due to alcohol abuse and last year, my DD (34) and I went to court to have me made Aiden's legal guardian - she is an addict and while she is clean and sober right now, she is and always will be an addict - he lives with us - has always lived with us. He has been tested and is not ADD or Autistic but he has been affected with choices made by others - at 67, I am a mom again. We stumble along and make decisions based on love and necessity. Aiden is a beautiful child and I hope he turns out as well as your grandson, Glenda. Grandchildren don't make you young, they make you tired... But I wouldn't have it any other way...

Hugs to you grandmas who have more patience than me...don't think I could do what you do without having a breakdown. :)

I remember I was a total pain in the behind at 16 and, IMO, if this shoe situation is the worst behavior he ever displays, everyone who loves him is very lucky.

Normal teen IMO. Somedays you love them so much it hurts. Other days you want to tear your hair out! LOL