On Our Feet

Little shoes make me sad.

Tracey from Picture This has great pictures of little feet and little shoes on her “Best Shot Monday” post for this week.

Here are Elias's first pair of shoes-- hand sewn by the auntie of one of my former  students--that he never got to wear:

By the time he left the isolette and weighed a whopping three pounds, his feet had grown too big for them.

Elias has a duffel bag filled with hand me down shoes that he may never get to wear. They do not fit over his braces. Or his feet do not flex enough to fit them. We’ve passed along shoes, brand new Merrell’s and Teva’s, cute enough to eat, that Elias outgrew without his feet ever touching the inside.

When you’re feet prefer to be dragged behind your knees, when your main mode of mobility is crawling, then shoes can be a burden. Bulky soles and unruly laces that impede your progress.

I love shoes.

Every step down to our basement has multiple pairs of shoes piled on top of each other and most of them are mine. Dansko's. Puma's. Sorel's. Crocs, Simple's. Salomon’s. And bright orange fleece lined Merrell clogs.  To name a few. All sturdy. All comfortable. 

All made for walking.

I made this rule for myself when I moved to Alaska—no uncomfortable shoes-- and though I've broken my rule to buy heels for a wedding or cute shoes from a thrift store that I did not wear long enough to realize they rub the top of my foot all wrong, I’m pretty religious about wearing comfortable shoes. 

I still like style and am willing to pay more for shoes than for any other item of clothing but only if they cradle my feet.

And so today, when Mary, our PT, told me that she thinks we should see how Elias’s feet move without the braces for awhile, to see if they are making a difference, I didn’t think about how hard it is to gage if his therapeutic interventions are helping or about how much trial and error is involved in treatment.

No.

I thought: He can wear a pair of his cute shoes to preschool tomorrow!

Comments

[Robbin]

I only wear comfortable shoes. ONLY. And I am the biggest shoe-a-holic around. I lost about 100 pair in Katrina. And I already own about 2 dozen again. It's the only girlie-girl compulsion I have that I am truly ashamed of.

Seriously? I would have had the same first thought.

[Glyn]

YAY!! I expect some pictures of shoes with feet in them soon! =)

I don't know if you noticed (what with babies in isolettes and all), but I only wear comfortable shoes, too. I used to own as many as 2 or even 3 pairs. Now, I'm at one pair, my walking shoes. I must have misplaced my "dress" shoes (black flats) in the move, and haven't found them yet. Comfort is very important in our family and in life. Take time to be happy and enjoy those around you, and let them wear shoes! (If only once in a while. =))

(I don't know if you watch American Idol, but there's one guy on there that's determined to go barefoot throughout the competition! Talk about comfort! =))

[Tracy]

Comfort is more than important here. My aunt learned the hard way that her shoes were causing foot problems, and eventually she had to have surgery to fix the problems. Not fun. Comfort is worth it!

Someone I know recently bought a pair of shoes from this site http://www.hatchbacksfootwear.com -
her dd is 3 with CP, and is wild over her new Mary Jane type shoes - though she just calls them her "pretty shoes".

Those little shoes are so adorably cute. Little feet are so cute!

Have fun with the cute shoes :-) I think that would probably be high on my list of things to think too.

[Sonja]

What would become of us if we didn't focus on stylish and comfortable footwear (at least once in a while)?!! Congrats on a cute-shoe-school-day

[angie]

Yeah for shoes!! I am an addict also...there could be worse things, right? My child currently has 25 pairs that fit?????? Am I a little over the top??? YES!! I'm so glad that Elias gets to wear cute shoes to pre-school tomorrow....can't wait to see a picture:).

[dregina]

What a lovely post. And what a lucky boy Elias is to have such a thoughtful, loving Momma. He's a cute kid, of course you want to put cute shoes on him!

[Ginna]

BTW, those brown clogs you wanted are still here -- snatched them out of the Big Bros Big Sis bag just in time...

[Kyla]

For BubTar, I purchased millions of tiny shoes. He has always had more shoes than any other child I know. For KayTar, I didn't. Even from the beginning, I didn't buy her shoes. I thought, let's wait until she's walking, then we'll buy shoes. And we waited. And waited. And waited. One time I caved and bought a pair of tiny pink Cons. She wore them one time so I could snap a photo. She got her first real pair right before Christmas. They are called Pip-squeakers and they squeak each time she takes a step, but not when she crawls. She actually likes wearing them.

Here's to shoes! :)

[Kyla]

I have something for you over at my blog...it isn't shoes, but I hope you like it.

[Christy]

We were running late, wait let me fix that, I was running late, so Elias wore his worn leather hockey shoes to preschool on Thursday. And though they may not be his cutest, for a boy who crawls more than he walks the soft stretchy Robeez are pretty near perfect...even with the holes wear he drags his toes. Our PT also recommended the Hatchbacks that Tracy linked to so those may be our next purchase.

And Kyla, I am so honored, Thank you!