Denise Hosh has learned an important lesson: never, ever leave your children alone with your credit card.
How did she learn this lesson?
By handing over her card to her children Hannah, 13, and Matthew, 11, and allowing them to nip into the supermarket – only for them to return with a pair of sandals for their pet cockerel.
In their defence, the shoes were on sale, so at least they scored a bargain.
Denise had pulled up outside Walmart and asked her kids to run inside, and was stunned when they came back with a pair of children’s shoes for their cockerel, Jack.
She had always said no to buying Jack a pair of shoes, despite the children loving to dress the rescue cockerel up in outfits, so Hannah and Matthew decided to take things into their own hands.
And it all worked out for the best, really, as Jack absolutely loves his new footwear.
Even Denise, 46, has since admitted the choice was ‘spot on’ and ‘brilliant’, and has since bought Jack a bandana and a bow tie.
Denise, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US, said: ‘They ran over to the clearance section and spotted the shoes and Hannah instantly said “we should get these for Jack” – and instead of talking her out of it, Matthew totally talked her into it.
‘They jumped in and said “we owe you $3, we’ll pay you back” – she was in the front seat and opened the bag and was like “look we bought Jack sandals – they were on clearance”.
‘I’m slightly annoyed as they didn’t even get what daddy needed – I asked them why they bought them. They are so impractical, they are going to only put them on for 10 seconds.
‘She said because they’re regularly $9.77 and it would have been a crime not to – and I thought how do you argue with that?
‘She’s been begging me to buy the chicken shoes for a long time and I’ve always said no – I guess the one time I leave them unsupervised with a credit card it happens.’
A couple of days later Denise looked at her camera roll and discovered that the pair had actually dressed Jack up in his size two pair of shoes.
She shared the photos on Facebook, advising parents: ‘NEVER let your children go into Walmart alone’.
Those photos ended up receiving more than 210,000 likes, comments, and shares.
Denise, who homeschools her children, said: ‘It’s your house, your floors and your children so you want to be the disciplinary – but you can’t stop laughing and I was like “oh my gosh Jack, these are funny”.
‘I do trust them and their discernment is spot on, as clearly as you can see I’m definitely wrong on this one – the purchase was brilliant.
‘The children and I love laughter and light-heartedness – I love that it’s inspired people to laugh, and we have not stopped laughing at the hilarious comments that people have shared.
‘They took him outside and I was shocked at how fast and coordinated he was in them.
‘He’s a very gentle bird – he was just walking really cautiously and carefully in them – he wasn’t flapping.
‘People were like this is brilliant for bumblefoot – so there was actually a practical end to it.’
Since Jack’s fashion debut Hannah and Matthew have been heading to the clearance aisles and bagging more bargains for him to wear.
Denise said: ‘We have always dressed the chickens in dolls clothes, but this was the first time that she’d bought something specifically for Jack, and now they have their eyes open.
‘We’ve been playing get that chicken undressed and out of the house for years – that’s a running line – “please undress that chicken and get it out of the house right now”.
‘I did say no to a tutu the other day – I did veto that one, but they got a few bandanas and bow ties which he’s been wearing.’
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