Momma Used to Love Shoes

Before you have kids shoe shopping is fun. You can wonder the mall and try on all the shoes or go to the little hip boutique for the fun of it. Then you have a baby girl and your ability to leisurely shop goes away, but everyone tells you how fun it is to dress a girl. Of course they leave out the part that your girl is not a doll and will have her own fashion opinions by age two. But that is a different post. 

So shoe shopping is suppose to be fun. Shopping for your little girl is supposed to be fun. But I find it tough. I used to go to the expensive store that fit my daughter's shoes. It was partly because I believe as she learned to walk she need nice, supportive, well fitted shoes. But it was also because I honestly didn't know how to know how to buy her shoes on my own. What is too big? Too small? How much will she grow?

As she got older, I gained more confidence and hit the smorgasbord which is the Target shoe aisle. I actually did pretty well and found cute, cheap shoes that fit. I thought I had figured out the magical balance between growing room and too big. And, you can't beat Target prices. But then I realized, I was getting cocky. 

It started with the "sparkly shoes". Every 3 year old I know has a pair of Target Sparkly Shoes. My daughter asked for a pair so I bought her some. They were awful. They were stiff and would pop off her heal when she kneeled down to play. I thought they were too big so I bought her a smaller size. Same thing happened. She kept taking them off. Because I am a glutton for punishment, I even tried the bigger size again with Dr. Scholl's pads in the heals. Nothing worked. I don't know how and why these are so popular. 

Then it came time to buy sandals. I have a laundry list of complaints about shopping for sandals. They only come in 2 colors for girls (white and pink) and they both get dirty fast. Also, I had to look beyond Target since they don't make rugged canvas sandals for girls. Don't get me started on that one. So, I went to the one last remaining  shoe place that measures feet and they only have rugged shoes in boy colors for $55. UGH. But I did learn she is an 8. 

So I found shoes online and bought her a size 8. The shoes are perfect but the 8s seemed HUGE. So I bought a 7 and waited another week to get them. They seemed to fit but had less growing room than we would like. So now, we had to choose which ones to keep. I am a smart, professional, college educated person that is stumped by this decision. I realized that had not moved beyond my early shoe angst. I don't know how much room is enough to last the summer and what is too much. In the end, we kept the bigger size. She seemed to do fine in them. We let her wear them outside. 

And then she did a face plant in the kitchen that we know was caused by catching the front of the shoe. Would it have happened with the smaller shoe? Does she need to get used to it? Or did we make the wrong decision. I was already pondering this when she fell again ouside but this time we don't know if it was the shoes. 

So my daughter has a bruised chin and 2 scrapped knees potentially because I can't pick shoes. What is a mom to do. Do I suck up the $30 and put her in the smaller size? Do I hope she gets used to it?

While I am pondering that, here is my wish list...

- That places that fit shoes had better selections and weren't so expensive. 

- That people like me aren't contributing to the problem by buying cheap shoes at Target. 

- That sizes were consistent, so when they said she is an 8 it means something. 

- That shoes shopping was fun again.