Shoes and Socks

“They’re bumpy!”

“They’re twisty!”

“They itch!”

“They bother me!”

Some of the worst battles I have experienced with my daughter, Danielle, now almost ten are related to socks and shoes.

Seamless socks, tights, all-cotton, some cotton/some rayon, ankle socks, knee socks, socks with beads, and finally no socks. I distract, I coerce, I bribe, I yell, I wait until we have arrived at our destination and still I don’t ever seem to win the battle of the socks and shoes. I comb every reputable parenting guide and (and some not so reputable!) for advice on what to do with ‘high-spirited’ children with sock and shoe issues. I talk to my friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, pediatrician and they all have differing ideas on how to prevail in the toddlers’ will to control the land of shod.

I attribute (blame) her sensitivity to all things feet on her father. My mother-in-law tells me stories of my husband, Tom, as a child continuously banging the toes of his shoes on the ground in order to get the fit just right. She tells me she bought Tom the same pair of shoes in subsequently larger sizes six years in a row because she could no longer bear the tortuous ordeal of finding and discarding shoes that were not ‘just right’.

I find myself in the same situation now with Danielle and I can thank God for the internet and eCommerce because I found the ‘right’ pair of sneakers that I can continue to order in the next bigger size as she outgrows or out-stinks her existing ones. Three clicks and I get these delivered to my doorstep with free shipping and returns. This usually buys me another six months of shoe sanity.

I have learned my lesson about taking Danielle shoe shopping. Either we end up with a pair of shoes that she ‘has to have’ that she wears home from the store and never again or we have a melt down because we have been to five stores and can’t find anything that works. I am happy that Danielle has two younger sisters that can someday, I hope, wear the results of some of these earlier shoe miscursions. We have a long list of shoe stores we can no longer visit due to painful experiences on my part and that of the patient store clerks.

My husband thinks I have been way too indulgent in the saga of the shoe. I recently sent him to the department store with Danielle to return a pair that I bought for her on my lunch-hour one day that was too large. We have subsequently added another shoe department to our list of ‘do not visit’ retail establishments.

I share this story because I think it is important to be able to talk about both the peaks and valleys when it comes to rearing our precious children.