When my daughter was born I remember asking her pediatrician if a newborn needed shoes, he kindly responded explaining that she was not walking and her feet were growing so it was best to not put shoes on her until she began to walk. I did what any other mom of a girl would do and when she began to crawl I bought her a pair of the most girly mocs I could find at our local children's shoe store. By the time she was 2 years old she already had more pairs of shoes than I did!
To this day she is all about shoes, bright, colorful, sparkly and even sometimes with fur and lights in them. Each step she takes they light up.
Then when my son was born we did the same, however he kept taking his shoes off and off and off! Even the socks would come off. He is a winter baby and well in Southern California there really isn't much of a winter weather low 50s to mid 40s at night so I honestly was more relaxed about the shoe situation with him.
A couple of days after his first birthday he began to walk and almost immediately to run! By then he already had shoes that he liked wearing. Sneakers that were navy blue with neon green accents. Last Spring he had 2 pairs of shoes and a pair of sandals. During the summer all he wanted to wear were his sandals for obvious reasons, but I thought he looked cute in them. Then his feet grew and again we were left to scramble to find a pair he would like and enjoy to wear.
That's when the "braoun shos" -that's what he calls them- came into our life.
These shoes are comfortable and they are warm enough for those cold winter days. He has jumped in puddles of rain and they are still going strong. I did not find any other pairs of shoes that he would wear or let me try them on him to see how he liked. We were alright with it and that was that.
I remember when my daughter was younger that a close friend of mine had to buy her son the same exact pair of shoes in different sizes as he would not wear any other shoes! I in all honesty couldn't believe what she was telling me and kept saying that she was the mom, she should teach her son about options. Little did I know that I was in for it big!
Two weeks ago we took my son to get a new pair of shoes, the ones he has still fit but in a little bit they wont. Getting to the mall was an adventure of its own! He is simply a complete and total boy and goes along with the stereotype that men do not enjoy shopping. As we walked into the store with him the battle began. He just did not want to sit down, typical toddler wanted to go up and down the escalator. Ok, so we knew his shoe size so we selected a pair for him, paid and were on our way.
As we got home we were excited to try on his new blue shoes. He wouldn't have it! He kept asking for "braoun shos" after a couple of tries that same week we thought well maybe it is because they are not as padded as the other ones. I went back to the store to exchange them for a more padded shoe and paid a small difference. Anything for his comfort.
Again same story as the pair before, in short after 3 different pairs of shoes I'm now leaning towards the same exact shoe in a larger size! I had no idea boys could be so picky. Or is it just a coincidence that I now know 5 boys from different families that went through the same exact adventure?
Also the girl that helped us at the shoe store told me that most of her customers that have sons do the same... buying the same pair in different sizes! She even told me there is a family that has the same shoe in all the sizes it is made! Well that's a thought.
Do you have a son? Is he loving the same pair of shoes? Tell me about your adventure with shoes and kids.
