Happy Feet

Why is it that some things just can’t be easy or cheap? I’m not talking about one complicating factor involved in a situation, but issue after issue blocking your way and making what should be a simple situation a difficult one.

Take the kids and their shoes. I firmly believe in good shoes for kids, especially early on, but my tune has slightly changed as the kids grew, multiplied and I noticed the perfectly adorable and affordable Target or Payless shoes that other kids wear. After trying them out, I realized that Logan’s feet are too narrow for inexpensive shoes and Riley’s are somewhat wide, leaving her with all sorts of blisters from anything but really well-fitted shoes. (Think $$$.)

I’ve finally succumbed to the fact that I’ll be spending a fortune to keep their feet happy, much to my wallet’s dismay. Now comes Finn, with his marshmallow feet, so squishy and wide they resemble mini-soufflés – all you have to do is barely touch them and they deflate. I guess I thought, “He’s a rough and tumble boy – he’ll be able to blow through pair after pair of Target shoes!” No such luck. After five separate shoe store trips and trying on at least 20 pairs of 6.5 extra wide sandals, I had three choices: I could buy a pair I didn’t like (too fancy), I could send a $70 pair away to Chicago to have the straps lengthened so that the Velcro could be fastened, or he could wear gym shoes all summer.

I opted for the $66 fancy ones and wasn’t thrilled about it, but I needed something – right now his foot doesn’t even fit in a Croc! Apparently kids with really wide feet need very good shoes to adequately support their large insteps and Crocs wouldn’t cut it anyway. When I got home, I ended up finding a much more affordable (yippee - $39!) Stride Rite pair online and planned yet another trip to the shoe store to do my return.

Anyway, as I was driving home, I thought about something that the shoe salesman had said.

“The good thing is that his feet are so soft and squishy – that means they’re still going to thin out a bit.”

“Great,” I said.

But later, I chuckled as it occurred to me, “Does this same principle hold true for the soft and squishy area between my rib cage and hip bones?” If so, I’d be one happy mama to my kids sporting happy feet!