I took my son to the mall to do some school shopping the other day. He did not seemed to be thrilled at all with the prospect and dragged his feet as if we were on our way to a funeral. I was getting pretty discouraged with the whole idea and ready to take him back home and let him escape his misery, when we strolled past a shoe store. His eyes became glued to a pair of Vans Skate Shoes in a checkerboard electric blue. This was the first interest he had shown in anything, so I decided we would go in to the store and try them on. His mood improved significantly once he had them in a package firmly under his arm.