Go wild with Next at London Zoo

I've got a confession to make. One which might affect Little Miss C's political aspirations unless I declare it now. About a year ago she tried to shoplift a pair of shoes from our local branch of Next. There we were looking for a new pair of pumps for summer when I suddenly realised that she was no longer at my side. I had that panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach as I abandoned my quest for pumps and instead started shouting her name and running around the shop like a mad woman. 

As I happened upon the area full of seats for people to try on shoes I found a very determined looking Little Miss C sat on the floor having taken her own shoes off (something she'd not done before) and trying to buckle up a pair of red party shoes. She was completely oblivious to my panic and just kept saying over and over again "I need these shoes!" As I tried to convince her that red party shoes weren't exactly appropriate for nursery and the playground she was having none of it. I found the shoes pushed into my changing bag later on and when she spotted me taking them out and putting them back on the shelf she grabbed them from me and made a dash for the door – much to the amusement of the security guard who was watching by this point! In the end we bought the shoes…

Last week we were lucky enough to be invited by Next to their Go Wild event at London Zoo – a fantastic opportunity to look at their new Spring/Summer range (although based on the weather that day it could have done with a few more jumpers and woolly hats!) We love Next clothes and both children have quite a few items from there. They wash and last really well which is important when you have messy children. Recently I've also been a big fan of their service where if you order by 10pm you can get next day delivery – very handy when you suddenly discover that your son has overnight grown out of nearly everything he owns!

At the event it did feel very much like history repeating itself. There I was looking at some pretty dresses with Little Miss C when suddenly she was off and heading straight for a pair of shoes. Within second the shoes were in her hand and she was heading towards a spot on the floor to try them on. The fact that they were about 5 sizes too big didn't matter. This was a little girl on a mission!

For about ten minutes she tottered around the room in them as pleased as punch. She just kept telling me that I needed to go and "pay the lady for them" so at least she now understands that things aren't just there for the taking. Trying to explain to her that we weren't in a shop wasn't quite to easy!

All the clothes and accessories we saw that day were lovely. After a few years of just looking at girls' clothes it's also nice to be able to look at all the very cute boys' stuff too and I'm finding that I have a bit of a thing for Master C wearing dinosaurs.

I think LMC must have a bit of an eye for fashion – and in particular accessories – as this is how she insisted on going to bed that night. A very happy girl after a morning of clothes and an afternoon visiting the zoo animals. I wonder how long it will be before he pocket money if put towards clothes and shoes rather than toys.

Disclaimer: We were invited to the Next Go Wild day at London Zoo which included lunch and entry to the zoo for the three of us. We also all received goodie bags.