Shoe Fetish

I am obsessed with buying my daughter shoes.

Or, more accurately, my daughter is obsessed with shoes and I enjoy fulfilling her desires.

Before A started walking (a mere two months ago) I would wistfully eye the adorable shoes at Stride Rite, Target, and other children's shoe places. I always bought A one pair of shoes at a time---sturdy walking shoes from Stride Rite. The kind that our physical therapist recommended to help give her walking support. While the shoes were cute, I always had my eye on the fancy shoes in the display: the black patent leather Mary Janes, the retro saddle shoes, the sparkly sneakers. I guess I could have bought them for her, but I kind of figured "what's the point"...she was crawling and those shoes were made for walking! I made a deal with myself that as soon as she was walking I would buy her a pair. Or two.

Well, a Pandora's box has been opened, and A now has about 7 or 8 pairs of shoes. All bought in the last two months. Mostly inexpensive shoes I find at Target (a bargain at around $15 a pop!). She has white sparkly shoes, black sparkly shoes, and red sparkly shoes that look exactly like Dorothy's ruby slippers. She has cotton shoes with jewels on them, pink shoes with flowers on them. And of course, black patent leather Mary Janes.

And as much as I love the shoes, A loves them more! Every morning she insists not only on picking out her own shoes, but also her own socks (she loves socks too and has them in many colors). Most mornings she matches, sometimes she doesn't (she LOVES the yellow socks and they just don't go with many outfits!) but I don't care, I let her wear what she wants.

I myself used to have a shoe fetish, back in my 20s, but that has long passed. Oh, I still like shoes, and have many pair, but these days I can be found in one of 5 shoes: in the winter my black Sketchers or Uggs, in the summer one of my many pairs of Birkenstocks or Crocs, and year round my running shoes. Sure, if I go out with J, or with my girlfriends, I might slip on a cute pair of black boots, or sandals, but by and large I live in the shoes I just described. As much as I like shoes, these days I am all about budget and comfort.

But now that A is walking, I can't help but indulge her, and decorate her feet. It took her 3 1/2 years to walk, and those magic feet have to be decked out in style.