Lili,
Today Dad and I bought you your first pair of shoes. They are purple suede and not exactly the style I envisioned for you but they were on sale. Sorry to be a cheap-o but I can’t fathom buying a shoe for a kid over $40. Absurd. Especially at the rate in which you are growing!
I am even more sorry that I took you to the shoe store with that car salesman of a shoe store guy. Hopefully he didn’t leave a lasting impression on you.
Why is he gross and annoying? Because he checks out all the Moms in the shop and has a panicky Fox news style scare tactic approach to shoe selling. For example here are two gems I overheard him saying to some paranoid mothers today:
“You should really, really buy the upgrade for your kid. I know those ones aren’t on sale but these others might gather moisture and create mildew in your child’s shoe. Earlier in the week I had a mother come in and her child’s sock had fungus…“
“I would suggest this shoe from France. It is top of the line. You don’t want your kid wearing some cheap shoe that could deform their small bones and give them problems walking later in life…”
Unfortunately Lili you will have to encounter people like this in your life. When you grow up I will teach you the definition of a sleeze ball by merely bringing you to this shop and introducing you to this man. Then I will teach you how to kick him in the balls.
I just wanted to comment about the shoes thing – i dont know if this is scientifically true but my mom always put me in the cheapest shoes when I was very little. She was young and poor and couldn’t afford good quality. But then this was back in the late 70s/early 80s. Anyway, I have had major feet problems since then. My feet are completely flat and I can’t wear heels. I get pain so much that I can’t walk sometimes. I don’t know if some of that is genetic but even my podatrist said that wearing crappy shoes as a kid didnt help. Not that you bought crappy shoes. I’m sure they are very nice and nowadays even cheaper shoes are probably better quality than back in the 70s. So there could be some truth to wearing cheap shoes as a baby/kid.
Hey KW,
Here’s my take on kids shoes….
Get the kids foot measured at the store but don’t buy anything there. Go to zappos.com and order the shoes from them. They have everything, they’re cheaper and shipping both ways is free.
As far as cheapo shoes, I always put my guys in plain Keds canvas sneakers until they are old enough to complain that they look like baby shoes.
I did break that rule for Mae b/c I found the most AWESOME pair of sparkly maryjane sneakers my morgan+milo that neither of us could live without. Zappos had ‘em
xoxo
aly
At last! Someone who undrseatnds! Thanks for posting!
see kai run is a great brand. pretty inexpensive. my one year old has had a pair for a couple months now and still has room to grow! Oh and I found them on sale!
hey, just a word to say that zappos is NOT cheaper. they use their free shipping gimmick by adding $5-$10 to all their products plus this past year I’ve found their prices to be almost 20% higher. i have talmudic shopping knowledge and I still clip coupons so trust me on this. if the store you are talking about is peekaboo i just got a pair of european boots for #1 that were THIRTY bucks cheaper than zappos – no joke. this is to say the only hands-down lowest prices are at daffy’s for top end shoes but the best inventory is for girls and small sizes. you really do have to shop around. also, soula on smith has reasonable prices on their kid shoes – rick the owner does his homework. xx, jenn