Dirty Shoes

As many of you know, I have weird feet. Specifically, my right foot is two sizes bigger than my left foot. Most people have a slight difference in size between feet, but two sizes is rather odd. In my case, there's no real reason for the difference. My feet have just been this way for most of my life.

I always sort of hoped that one day my left foot would catch up, but it's never happened. My right foot is a respectable 6.5, and my tiny left foot is a comical 4.5. Let me say right here that shoe shopping for me has never been enjoyable. I have dreaded it my entire life.

Historically, my options were:
(1) buy two pairs of shoes, one for each foot.
(2) buy shoes that fit the bigger foot and stuff the left shoe to make it work.

Because we didn't usually have the cash flow to buy me two pairs of shoes, Option 2 was most popular growing up. As a result, I always had to wear lace-up shoes, because it was easier to make a lace-up shoe stay on my little foot. Oh, how I longed for ballet-style flats and jelly shoes! I remember one occasion in my entire childhood when my mom bought me two pairs of shoes. My Aunt Sherry was getting married, and I got a two pairs of brown leather flats, one for each foot. I was in heaven!

In case you are wondering, there are two departments stores that will actually intentionally mis-match shoes for you, and sell you the shoes you need without charging you more. Can you guess which ones? Parisienne, which no longer exists I believe, and... Nordstrom! Nordstrom is the best. Of course, one pair of shoes from Nordstrom is about the same price as two pairs of shoes from someplace else, so I don't really go shopping there all that much.

Here's the kicker. If you can believe it, my husband has two really different-sized feet as well. His left foot is 1.5 sizes bigger than his right foot. He has some medical/childhood accident reasons behind his foot size discrepancy, but that's a story for another post. I'm telling you though, when I learned he had two different-sized feet too, I knew he was the one for me. :-)

Wearing a shoe that's too big for you on one of your feet raises a few issues. Specifically, you tend to trip going up stairs, because you don't anticipate the "extra shoe" at the end of your foot. I had a particularly horrendous experience with this in high school summer gym. Again, that's a story for another post. Thankfully, I don't trip as much as I used to. Knock on wood.

Also, as much as you stuff the toe and add heel grips to the back, the oversized shoe never fits quite right. Eventually, it stretches and you've got to add more stuffing and padded insoles, etc. Fun times.

So, all these "ishoes" (ha ha! I just made that up. Get it? Like "issues"?) have meant that I just don't buy too many shoes. It's expensive and frustrating. And I take good care of the shoes I have - especially dress shoes - because it's so dang hard to find shoes that fit me well. Shoes are an investment to me.

Recently, I took the boys to get new tennis shoes for the summer. Mason was in desperate need, and Dan was outgrowing his hand-me-downs. We sucked it up and went to Stride Rite during a sale (my kids both have "wide feet," which rules out shoes from Target, etc.), and I ended up buying three pairs of shoes (2 for Mason, 1 for Danny). It was a substantial bill. WAY more than I ever spend on myself because, as I already mentioned, I rarely buy shoes.

Well, my kids love the outdoors. They especially love dirt and sand and freshly cut grass. Consequently, their fairly new white tennis shoes are already looking a little worn. This has bothered me greatly! At first, I started to wipe them down with the Mr. Clean Eraser at night, after they were in bed. I wanted those beautiful shoes to maintain their gleaming whiteness! But after a few days of that, I realized I couldn't keep up. So I changed my attitude.

I'm embracing the dirty shoes.

After all, when it comes to little boys, dirty shoes mean they're lived in. They're played in. They've seen the playground and the sandbox and mud puddles. They're going to be scratched and scraped and drug through the weeds and that's OK. They'll run and skip and jump and yes, occasionally even trip. Come fall, I expect them to be worn clean out. And I'll be thankful for two energetic little boys who made the most of them.