In His Shoes

In preparation for going back to school, we paid our regular visit to the local Stride Rite store to find some new shoes for James.  This is normally a very easy experience, where Ryan and I find a pair we like that fits our budget, James tries them on, we pay, and leave.  Easy as pie.

This time, our mission was the same, and the only requirement we had was that James could easily put on and take off the shoes we purchased, since his last pair of shoes were insanely difficult and left us all feeling frustrated.  Not a good thing when you are three and learning to do things independently.

While Ryan kept Rhys busy, I found a really cool pair of blue and gray tennis shoes that would work well for school and playing at home.  James put them on by himself in record time, ran around the store a bit, and when the salesman asked if he liked them, James replied, “No.”

What?

I tried to convince him that the shoes were awesome, that they would make him jump really high and run really fast, but James was having none of it.  He pointed to another pair on the shelf, some old-fashioned, canvas sneakers with a wide, white band, and I immediately envisioned the dirt that would cover these as soon as we got home, the bright blue that would clash with his school outfits, the flat bottoms that wouldn’t support him as he climbed the playscape at the park.

James struggled with the shoes, but finally put them on with a little help from the salesman; then he ran around the store, grinned from ear to ear, and announced that THIS was the pair he wanted.

I wanted to buy both pairs, but Ryan wisely pointed out that James loved the second pair so much that he would, in all reality, probably refuse to even wear the first pair.  My pair, the ones I had picked out.

So, we came home with the second pair, which James loves, and which, as I had expected, are already dirty from our trip the very next day.

(James’ new shoes, already a little dirty.)

But he adores these bright blue shoes and has to wear them every day, so who am I to say anything?  I know this won’t be the last time I will have to keep my opinion to myself, and it was good practice for me.  If James can learn to put on his own shoes, then I can learn to let him wear them.

And when we got home, he asked if I would paint his toenails, since mine are always painted, and I was more than happy to oblige!

We may not agree on his choice of shoes, but we do agree on this: rainbow toes are awesome!!