I have created monsters.

[SillyC]

Today, I attempted to purchase shoes for my daughters, who are 5 and 7. Let's just say it was an epic fail.

Rewind a bit - in October, I went to NYC and stopped in at the Terra Plana Store. I purchased some Vivo Barefoot Kids Pallys for the girls - they are black Mary Janes. They got last season's shoes, so they were only around $40 a pop if I recall correctly. While I know some people don't like to spend much on kids shoes, my girls have very small feet and tend to wear their shoes into the ground rather than outgrow them. We've found that it pays to purchase quality shoes for them as well, since they've to date never outgrown a shoe before it fell apart.



They both LOVE their Terra Planas. Love them. My 7 year old even convinced the gym teacher that she should be able to wear them instead of athletic shoes.



Anyhow, they won't even wear Chuck Taylors. There we were in sears, and the girls were going back and forth about ALL of the shoes...

"Does Terra Plana make sneakers? Because none of these are as good as my Terra Planas."

"Yeah - I can't move my toes in these."

"Yeah - and they are stiff in the middle. How am I supposed to wear that?"

"Look, this one doesn't even bend at all."

"Mom, do they make those toe-shoes you have for kids?"

"Let's go back to New York City and go to the Terra Plana Store again."

"Maybe there's a Terra Plana in Boston. We could go there."

"MOM! SOME GUY JUST LOOKED AROUND THE AISLE AND STARTED LAUGHING AT ME!"

"WHY ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE LAUGHING AT US!"

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Good mommy.

Good mommy.

 

[barefoot kean]

smart kids

smart kids

 

[migangelo]

want to teach mine? teenage

want to teach mine? teenage girls won't listen to their crazy dad anymore.



mike

 

[fetish4running]

So what'd you end up doing? 

So what'd you end up doing? I hope you didn't buy them foot coffins!

 

[Danjo]

Good monsters. If more people

Good monsters. If more people let their kids find out how bad normal shoes suck than traditional running shoes probably wouldn't even exist anymore. Keep up the good parenting, and hopefully you can find your kids some shoes. (Zems have kids models right? And they aren't that expensive.)

And the people are just laughing because they're secretly embarrassed by the fact that little kids know something they will most likely never figure out for themselves.

 

[SillyC]

We bought some clunky

We bought some clunky snowboots - a necessity here in Massachusetts. Other than that, we came home empty handed, or, er, footed. I may buy some Terra Plana Rootys in their size.

Further complicating the shoe issue is that the 7 year old has gone bananas about sustainable leather and would prefer no leather at all. This crusade is not my doing. The kid used the computer and found out that they are cutting down rainforest in the Amazon to ranch cattle, and she started foaming at the mouth about the evils of leather. I don't know whether this is a "parenting in the internet age" fail or a win. At the same time, she's having some issues about realizing that she's "different" from everyone else in her class, so she wants the normal shoes just to fit in... but she can't bring herself to actually wear them. Her teacher and the guidance counselor swear up and down that she's doing wonderfully socially and is very well liked, and that this crisis is internal.

I bought them both a pair of Vegan Simples a couple of months ago, but Simples run large and we are waiting for them to grow into them.

 

[Barefoot Mary]

Man what a crazy problem!I

Man what a crazy problem!

I guess Soft Stars are an option???

Donno what I'm gonna do when I have kids...if I'm a crusader just like my mum, I will be pretty big on my kids being barefoot-esque.

Best of luck!

 

[Kittyk]

 *Laugh*It reminds me of my

*Laugh*

It reminds me of my son in a Sports good store. He's only 6 and for the life of me I can't remember why, but he decided he wanted to go for a run..

So he announces in a loud voice... "Mummy, I am going to run", he then kicks of his shoes and starts running up and down the store in his socks.

What could I say? I couldn't chastise him because heck.. "monkey see, monkey do". I did feel rather proud though that he thought of running and immediately assumed he shouldn't wear shoes..

Sometimes mommies take pride in the strangest things.