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Ugliest Shoes Ever




Did you ever beg your parents to buy you something as a kid? Maybe it was a pair of designer jeans, a hot pink two piece bathing suit, a pair of impractical shoes or a petticoat.  (I'm answering yes to all of the above.)

When I was in the seventh grade, I begged my mom for a pair of mint green Sam and Libby tennis shoes. She warned me they would match nothing and they didn't.  But still, I had to have them.  She bought them for me and my friends and I took turns taking pictures of each other modeling them individually. True story.  They were pretty awesome.

Last week, I had a weak moment as a mom.  I went into a shoe store to see if they carried kids shoes and immediately, each of my boys found a pair of shoes they just had to have.  While I was reluctantly helping Luke try on his coveted Star Wars light up shoes, Jett managed to find (and put on) a pair of "handsome" red leather Lightening McQueen shoes.  Yes, they were coincidentally his perfect size.

So there I was, sitting on the floor of Famous Footwear, watching my kids run up and down the aisle wearing light-up shoes that were clad with cartoon characters.  Not exactly what I had in mind for them.  Don't they know those are NOT what the cool kids wear?

But then something happened.

I got lost in their smiles and their laughter and their pure joy over the "coolest shoes ever."  The ones they "want to wear forever."  And I thought to myself, "Well, apparently they've inherited my love for shoes darnit"  If I were sitting here with a little girl, would I deny her a pair of these or these?  Absolutely not! And I thought back on all the "impractical" shoes in my own closet.  The bright orange pumps, the red patent leather flats, the black and white wedges...the list goes on and on and on.

And when the sales clerk looked at me skeptically and asked, " What do you think of the shoes?  Do you like them?"  I replied, "No, they're pretty much the ugliest shoes I've ever seen but I'll take both of them."

$74.00  later, we all went home happy and the boys have modeled their shoes proudly ever since.  It was a frivolous purchase but one I will never forget.  Not because the shoes are so ugly but because the boys were absolutely over the moon and it doesn't get much better than that.


5 comments:

  1. Such a good mom. :) I know this will be a hard lesson for me because I always think I know whats the cutest for them. ha!
    Putting their happiness above style :)

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  2. Too funny. I had some really awful light up shoes- looking back I wish my mom had said no! Happy Monday.

    Cheers, Elizabeth of The Corner Apartment

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  3. I promised myself I would never buy ugly "charachter items" but it seems WA's playroom is filled with Cars Movie stuff. And some Mickey Mouse stuff too. Blech!

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  4. I laugh because Will currently has the Star Wars ones. He said they were the "coolest" and had to have them! :) Love it!

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  5. You are in the running for Mom of the year no doubt. I am sure my parents thought the same thing of my Strawberry Shortcake shoes at that age.

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