The weather has turned downright fallish around here complete with cool temps and rain. The crowd had outgrown all of their closed toe shoes and had worn their sandals out so we had getting new zapatos on the horizon. However, as the co op feild trip loomed and the weather forecast was dreary (60 degrees and rain for a park picnic. Yeah!), we decided we had to get the new kicks pronto.
The resulting trip to target was quick and nearly painless. Philip wanted shoes that looked “cool.” We’d ask how a pair felt and he’d say “Fine. But do you like how they look?” Tess, meanwhile, was all girl. She didn’t much care about the look of the shoe so much as the trying on process. “Boots!” “Lightning!” We couldn’t keep her out of the shoes or in any one pair for longer than a minute. When we finally didtake her to the “big girl” aisle, she literally gasped and hoarsely whispered “Carkle!!!” (that’s Sparkle to you) as her eyes glazed over. It was awesome. Max we had the toughest time with simply because we couldn’t find anything suitable in his size. Just as he was begrudgingly agreeing to some dull pair I suggested that maybe he’d like some tie shoes to practice tying his shoes because I was thinking maybe he was ready for that. The boy came alive. “Yes!!!” I truly believe I couldn’ve given him a pair of geriatric black loser shoes and he would’ve fallen in love. Instead, they are white and silver and “sooo cool.”
The next morning, they were all clamoring for their new shoes. Every day since, Philip asks “Can I wear my new shoes again?” Max tied his shoes all by himself that morning – really, he’s a wonder. Once they were on, he struck a pose. “Mom? Seriously, do I look like a athlete? Because when I put these shoes on I feel like a athlete on the inside and I want to look like it, too.” TLD list .
