Baby Steps

Kate's feet grow daily. Keeping her in shoes is comical, and every time we go in for new shoes the nice shoe man says, "wow, she's going to be tall". Neither Jack nor I are tall, not at any stretch, despite stretching by Mimi when I was young. I look at this long child and wonder how she came from me; we are, the women in my family, more of the short and squatty stature. This long limbed beauty is all mine and it amazes me.

At this shoe stop we found out that Kate had grown out of the only tennis shoes she has ever worn. Both she and Mary have always had the red, or blue, Keds sneaker, the one I wore when I was three. I felt like my child was getting ready to go to college, how could she grow out of this quintessential child shoe? And what would she wear now? It's bordering on impossible to find shoes for children that have laces. Everything is Velcro and either lights up or has wheels. And if you have girls, best to hope you really like either pink or purple because that is what's available. Or Dora, I'm sure you could get some great Dora shoes that light up with wheels and Velcro closures. But what for a mom who just wants some shoes?

Of course, Tretorns. And these come in navy and green and red, all cute and all still look like children's shoes, without children gimmicks.

We stopped at Piggy Toes on our way home from soccer. Kate sat down, took off her shoes and apologized to the shoe man, "I am so sorry if my feet are stinky. I didn't take a bath today and I just came from soccer". Thankfully she fit in the first pair he tried.