This is us in the thrift store today buying new shoes. One look at the picture should be enough for you to imagine the circus it was. Charlotte insisted on trying on her shoes behind a large pile of stacked mattresses that she insisted was her private changing room. Ruby wasn't willing to consider any pair of shoes other than a pair of purple crocs that were both scribbled on with indelible black marker and a size too small for her. And Arden, ever more mobile and increasingly curious, was determined to break away from the scene and check out all the marvelous treasures the salvation army had to offer. Throw in some Christmas carols, a pair of scooters, and that pesky daylight savings time and you pretty much have my afternoon.
I am of two minds when it comes to buying shoes for kids. On one hand, I feel as though I should be investing in their feet. After all they are on their feet all day, they are growing and I don't want to mess with their bones by giving them improper footwear, and they are extremely active people. Surely they deserve to be in shoes that offer both good fit and good support for their tiny little toes. On the other hand… They are very hard on their shoes, they grow out of them pretty darn quickly, and because these shoes get left at school over the winter they seem destined to be lost in the shuffle at some point along the way. So the four dollar price tag seems like a pretty good option. As you can see, today, we opted to go the thrift store route.
I should say that it astonishes me that I am buying shoes at all. There is a Rubbermaid bin in our basement that is large enough to hold approximately 6 whole watermelons but instead of storing watermelons it is completely full to the brim with shoes. Shoes adorned in every shade of pink imaginable. Shoes with sparkles, sequins, polkadots, faces of cartoon characters, and embossed hearts. Flip-flops, sandals, rain boots, water shoes, ballet shoes, hiking shoes, running shoes, slippers, sneakers, party shoes, and winter boots. Hand-me-downs, impulse buys, back to school purchases, and let's look nice for the Christmas party. Okay, I lied about the Rubbermaid bin. There are, in fact, two Rubbermaid bins full of shoes in our basement. Astonished or not, there we were buying shoes on a Monday afternoon at the thrift shop. Charlotte had declared that her current school shoes were both too small and that the laces were taking too long to tie up. Ruby, trooper that she is and stuck in the position of middle child, was, remarkably, currently in a shoe size for which no pair of shoes existed in our Rubbermaid bins in the basement. Therefore she has been trying to make the best of the situation for a few weeks now with a pair of shoes that are at least one size too large for her but the shoes she is wearing are just too big and keep falling off her feet. Because she is Ruby, she thinks this is hilarious. Because I am her father, I am not keen to watching her walk around the playground in her socks.
In the end, Ruby and Charlotte both seem to have ended up with new shoes that they are happy with. And, as much as anything else, I like the fact that when you buy shoes at the thrift shop you can afford to let them make a choice for themselves that you wouldn't necessarily support, for whatever reason, because if it doesn't work out the Salvation Army is always taking donations. We dropped off a pair shoes today.
3 Ginger Snaps 