Today is the day that C gets her first pair of "real" shoes. Since she started walking 6 months ago, all she has worn are these soft, little moccasins (only she has the cheapie ones from Target) that don't have a real sole on them. She does also have a pair of green rubber boots that she loves, but they stay at her grandmother's house for when the two of them go to the park and such on wet days.
But now that the weather is getting nice (supposedly), and she's actually running and jumping and climbing, she's ready for big girl shoes that will protect her feet properly when she goes to the playground or runs around in the yard. So today E and I are going to take her to get some shoes. I guess that will likely involve a trip to the mall - shudder - since that is the home of Stride Rite, which is the only store in Knoxville that still properly sizes and fits little people who can't actually tell you whether the shoe feels too tight or too loose.
Toddler shoes certainly have improved since H was a baby in the early 90s. At that time, all I could find for him when he was C's age were the old fashioned, white leather, lace-up, high-top baby shoes - you know, the kind people used to bronze and keep forever. Those things were impossible to get on and off of him, and they always seemed really uncomfortable to me. But the shoe salesman assured me that he needed "proper ankle support." Who was I to argue? I was 24 years old and knew nothing, and he was a professional baby-shoe salesman. I bought what he told me to buy.
I was thrilled, however, when about the time H turned two or three, I was suddenly able to find much cuter shoes, which seemed more comfortable, and which had - gasp- velcro! I immediately became a huge fan of shoes with velcro for young children, even though my grandmother continually fretted that H would never learn to tie his own shoes. She was so worried about it that she would have him practice on pairs of her own (almost equally tiny) lace-up walking shoes. So that's how H learned to tie laces - on his great grandmother's shoes.
Today there are as many adorable and pricey designer baby and toddler shoes on the market as there are shoes for women. I recently inherited a box of gorgeous, never-worn, designer shoes for C from my friend Denise, who is a doctor, and who has only one, very well dressed child. We love getting their hand me downs. The shoes in this box are so beautiful that I want to pick them up and nibble on them. They are tiny pieces of brightly colored pedestrian art - and I know they certainly cost more than any pair of shoes I own. But alas, they aren't going to fit C for another year.
So today's it's off to Stride Rite, where I'll be a little sad to slip the wee, well-worn moccasins off of her deliciously fat, little feet for the last time, and mark a big step beyond babyhood.
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